Zheng He,born in 1337 in Yunnan province,made several voyages during his lifetime and contributed greatly to the science of navigation in China between

Columbus was Spanish sailors.He made four voyages. He was the first man who discovered Amercia. James Cook was a British captain. He made maps of Australia and New zealand

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese sea captain. He found the channel, known as the Strait of Magellan, which led to the Pacific. Abel Tasman was a D utch explorer, best k nown for his voyages o f 1642 and 1644.

Question: How many continents are there in the world ? Asia Europe North America South America Oceania Antarctica Pacific Ocean Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Arctic Ocean Africa

India the middle east-----Rome Silk road coasts of India Ocean---Ceylon(Sri Lanka)

The Silk Road over sea 明朝前期，中国古代的航海事业达到了高峰。明朝政府组织大规模 的船队，由郑和率领，七下西洋，访问了东南亚、南亚、阿拉伯和东 非等地区的 30 多个国家和地区，最远到达索马里和肯尼亚，航程 10 万 余里。

Trade and curiosity. Fast reading Q1:Who were the real explorers long before? Q2: How many Chinese explorers are mentioned in the text? Q3: In your opinion, what makes people explore the new place? Q4:What is the main idea of the whole passage? Brave merchants Three Chinese explorers. They are Gan Ying, Du Huan, Zheng He. It talks about Chinese explorations, especially the contacts between China and Africa.

Q : Find information in the text about contacts between China and other places and fill in the blanks. Careful reading:

periodnameWay of travel goodsdestination The earliest time In 97 AD In In the 11 th century In Chinese merchants Silk roadspices, glass India, the Middle East, Rome Han Dynasty Gan Ying Over land rhinoceros horns the East Rome Empire Dang Dynasty Du HuanBy boat China Song Dynasty the AfricansBy boat A bronze statue of a lion China Ming Dynasty Zhenghe By fleet giraffes,zebras, shells, elephant ivory… Africa

Put the sentences in good order. 1. In the eleventh century, the Africans made several voyages to the court of the song dynasty. 2. Merchants from the Arabic countries began to travel to the Swahili kingdom and the islands off the African coast to trade with them. 3. People of the Han Dynasty exchanged silk for spices and glass with Indians and Romans by way of the Silk Road. 4. The Chinese traveller, Du Huan, wandered through Arabic countries for about 10 years. 5. Christopher Columbus and other European explorers searched for routes to Asia. 6. Zheng He made seven voyages and discovered the eastern coast of Africa. 3 – 4 – 2 – – 5

Post reading The Africans were reaching out to China. Paraphrasing: → The Africans left the African land and came for a visit to China by sea.

The time was ripe. → In the Ming Dynasty both China and the eastern coast countries became very prosperous, and there came the great needs for state-to-state contact.

The mouth of the Red Sea → The part of ocean where the Red Sea meets the Indian Ocean.

For a short time, China had ruled the seas. → For a short period of time, China held the power of sea for she had large navy, experienced sailors and an excellent admiral—Zheng He.

Homework : Write an essay about a form of sports, ask the students to contrast the two viewpoint.