高考英语专题阅读：The great Exploration你记得“Sailing” 这首英文歌吗？ 新航路的开辟是历史上一个伟大的转折点。 In the early 1400s, Europeans began exploring the west coast of Africa in search of an all water route to Asia. These early explorations were led by the Portuguese. （葡萄牙） In 1488, Bartholomeu Dias （迪亚斯） rounded the Cape of Good Hope （好望角）at the southern tip of Africa. In 1498, Vasco Da Gama （瓦斯科 达 伽玛）established an all water route to India. The success of these explorations led Spain to begin its own voyages. In 1492, Christopher Columbus （哥伦布）crossed the Atlantic Ocean and discovered the Americas for Spain. In 1519, supported by Spain, Ferdinand Magellan （麦哲伦）started on a voyage westward. He found a southern route around South America and came to the Pacific Ocean. Sailing west, he landed in the Philippine Islands, where he was killed in a fight with the people there. His men continued around Africa and back to Spain. These discoveries had a lasting impact on Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. European nations competed for colonies across the globe. These colonies were exploited for their raw materials, and used as new markets for European goods. Europeans had little regard （尊重） for most of the native peoples of these areas, and as a result, there was great loss of life and culture.The Age of Exploration is a turning point in history because it changed the way people lived across the world. The biggest aspect of this change deals with the exchange of people, plants, animals, ideas, and technology. This is known as the Columbian Exchange, because it started with Columbus. While many aspects of this exchange had positive effects, such as the exchange of foods between Europe and America, there were also negative effects, such as the exchange of diseases between Europe and America. Access to new and better foods allowed the European population to grow, and access to the New World gave these people a place to go. New World civilizations such as the Inca （印加人） and Aztecs （阿兹特克人）, faced near total destruction of their cultures either through disease brought by the Europeans, or by colonization. Africa faced a diaspora,（离散） or forced movement of its people, as slavery became the main labor force in the Americas. The Age of Exploration was both a positive and negative experience for many civilizations.
