Marco Polo was born in Italy in 1254． When he was 17， he travelled along the Silk Road with his father． who wanted to trade with the Chinese． Finally， they arrived in Beijing． They were guests at the Emperor's Palace． Marco was very clever and could speak four languages． The Emperor was impressed by him and they became friends． He asked Marco to serve in his court （宫殿） and sent him to do many important jobs all over the country．
Marco was amazed by how beautiful China was． He was impressed by Beijing and the Emperor's Palace， especially the Summer Palace which was described as "The greatest palace that I've ever seen"． The walls were covered with gold and silver and the hall was so big that it could easily hold 6，000 people for dinner．"
Marco was also attracted （吸引） by the inventions and developments in China which couldn't be found in Europe at that time． Marco was surprised to see Chinese people using paper money in the markets． In Europe， people paid for goods（货物） with gold and silver． He could not understand how people paid for food and valuable things with paper! He was also puzzled by the black stones people used to burn to produce heat． The black stones were coal， but Marco had never seen coal before!
After he served the Emperor for 17 years， in 1291， Marco returned to Italy． He was a very wealthy man then． A writer wrote down all the stories that Marco told him in a book called The Description of the World， which became one of the best﹣selling books in Europe．
People enjoyed the book， but many of them thought that Marco's stories about China were too fantastic to be true． However， Marco always stood by his tales． Just before he died， aged 70， Marco was asked the question， "Was it all true？" And this was his answer， "I have only told a half what I saw!"
Marco Polo and China |
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Before arriving in China |
◆ In 1254， he was born in Italy． ◆ At the age of 17， he travelled along the （1） with his father to trade with the Chinese． |
During his living in China |
◆ He made friends with the Emperor and served in the court． ◆ He did many （2） _____around China． |
◆ The beauty of China impressed him． |
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◆ The （3） _____in China attracted Marco． ①Paper money was used to buy goods in the markets． ②Chinese people used （4） to produce heat． |
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After returning to Italy |
◆ He became wealthy． ◆ A book written about his traveling experiences around the world sold well in Europe． |
◆ The underlined sentence tells us that （5） ． |
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