Zheng He, the Columbus of the East, was an amazing man.
     He was born in 1371 and, 11 years later, was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di
and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they
became close friends. In 1403 Zhu Di was made the King of China and he asked Zheng He to join his new
government.
     The King wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He ordered many
new ships to be built and made Zheng He their leader. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led seven sea trips
to different parts of the world. He certainly travelled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think
his ships may have even reached South America and Australia.
     Each trip lasted between two and four years and it is believed he sailed more than 50 000 kms during the
years of his travels. With 28 000 men and over 300 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers'
horses, Zheng He led a fleet (舰队) whose size would not be equalled by Europeans for over 500 years I
     On these trips he brought with him many Chinese goods like silk and medicine to give to foreign kings or
to sell for local goods. He returned from each trip with boats filled with expensive things such as gold and
jewellery, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.
     It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He' s travels. After he died in 1433, the new
king, who believed these trips were unlucky and too expensive, had them stopped and he burned almost all
the books about Zheng He's travels. It is only in the last 50 years that historians have begun to carefully study
the adventures of the great Zheng He.

1. Why did the Chinese King want Zheng He to sail to many different countries?

A. To bring new countries under the control of China.
B. To show the world how strong the King was.
C. To receive gifts from the kings of other countries.
D. To discover unusual animals.

2. What do we know about Zheng He from the passage?

A. He sailed to all seven continents.
B. Each of his trips lasted one year.
C. He died at the age of 62.
D. He was a successful businessman.

3. Which of the following did Zheng He NOT bring with him from China?

A. Medicine.
B. Gold.
C. Animals.
D. Silk.

4. What happened after Zheng He died?

A. He was forgotten for ever.
B. His ships were all burned.
C. The new king wrote a book about him.
D. Sea trips to other countries were stopped.

5. In what order did the following happen?
a. Zhu Di became the King.
b. Zheng He was caught by soldiers.
c. The books about Zheng He were all burned.
d. Foreigners were brought to China.
e. Zheng He visited India.
f. New ships were built.

A. e, b, a, f, d, c
B. b, a, e, d, c, f
C. f, a, b, d, c, e
D. b, a, f, e, d, c

    Kong Linghui, the Chinese former (前) table tennis genius who claimed gold metals for ping pong at
three world-level events, said during his career (一生事业) that he had two wishes: to be an "ever-green
tree" in the table tennis field; and to contribute to the Olympic Games in his homeland.
    One of those wishes is soon to come true. On the morning of October 18 last year the Chinese champion,
who won the World Table Tennis Championships, Table Tennis World Cup, and Olympic Games, boarded
a bus to the table tennis training base in Zhengding, Hebei Province. He was about to spend his 31st birthday
as coach of the Chinese women's ping pong team for the Beijing Olympic Games.
     A week earlier Kong had made an emotional announcement that he was retiring. "I really don't want to
drop my ping pong bat," he said, before following with the news about his new coaching role, to a burst of
applause (掌声).
     "I'm so excited and this applause gives me great encouragement to switch from a player to a coach," he
added.
     "It's still hard for the young table tennis players in Sweden to surpass (超过) the veteran Waldner if they
want to continue their career, but it's not the same here in China, where young ping pong talents keep
popping up and overtaking the old generation."
     The game of table tennis first appeared in the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988. Since then China has
claimed 11 gold medals, and in many Chinese fans' eyes nothing but first place is good enough. It is a
position that puts a huge amount of pressure on Kong as he prepares the women's team for 2008.
     "I think he's going to be a good coach based on his presence and glorious past achievements. He's going
to make a difference in the Beijing Games," said Liu Guoliang, one of Kong's ex-teammates and now coach
of the national men's team.
     Kong's father is also a table tennis coach. He started playing ping pong when he was 6 years old. During
his 25-year career Kong produced many memorable moments of table tennis brilliance, of which two
definitely deserve mentioning. 
     One was in 1995, when the 20-year-old Kong won his first men's singles title in gripping style at the
World Table Tennis Championships. Another was at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 when he defeated
Swedish star Waldner by a tiny margin (差距) and then kissed the Chinese national flag printed on his
T-shirt, howled and burst into tears.
     Kong's story cannot be told without mentioning Liu Guoliang, who is one year younger, but was already
lead coach for the Chinese men's team when Kong took on his new role. They met each other for the first
time at the national training camp for juniors at the end of 1987.
     In the round robin of the team Liu defeated Kong. Rather than turning Kong against Liu, his defeat
brought the pair closer and they worked together vowing to some day become world champions.
     In 1995 Kong beat Liu in the male singles final at the 43rd World Table Tennis Championships. Stepping
down from the winner's platform, Kong shook hands with Liu and said to him that competition is cruel, on
which Liu agreed. It marked the beginning of a friendly rivalry between the close friends that lasted years.

1. Kong Linghui will act as a ______ for China in 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

A. player
B. coach
C. reporter
D. businessman

2. Waldner is a (an) ______ ping pong player in ______.

A. young; China
B. old; Sweden
C. old; China
D. young；Sweden

3. The game of table tennis has been an event of Olympic Games for ______.

A. about 100 years
B. nearly 20 years
C. about 4 years
D. more than 20 years

4. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Liu Guoliang hates Kong Linghui.
B. Liu GuoLiang beated Waldner at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.
C. Kong Linghui is older than Liu Guoliang.
D. Kong Linghui became a coach earlier than Liu Guoliang.