What we have been aware of is that people from Italy speak Italian and people from Russia speak Russian．But have you ever wondered the reason why people speak Spanish in so many South American countries？Do you know why the brilliant footballers of Brazil speak Portuguese？And why is French the first language of some people in Canada？ The answer is that all these countries belonged to European empires at one time．The next question is：How did these empires begin？ To answer that question we have to probably go back to the 15th and 16 centuries，the golden age of European explorers．

Although this period is known as the golden age of European explorers，it was not the beginning of European exploration．As you probably know，Marco Polo travelled a long way to China at the end of the 13 century and some people say that the Vikings discovered America long before Columbus set sail in 1492．However，it is during this "golden"period that some   famous voyages took place．Columbus' voyage to America is the best known voyage of exploration，but Ferdinand Magellan sailed round the world in this period，and Spanish explorers such as Central and Pizarro reached South America． Cortez defeated the Aztecs in what we now know as Mesico and Pizarro defeated the Incas in what we now know as Peru． The roots of the Spanish empire were established and that is why he Spanish language is so widely spoken in Central and South America today．

根据短文内容，选择最佳选项．

（1）When is the golden age of European explorers？ 　　

A．	The 15 ^thcentury
B．	The 16 ^thcentury．
C．	The l3 ^thcentury．
D．	The 15 ^thand 16 ^thcenturies．

（2）Which is not the voyage of exploration taking place during the golden period？ 　　

A．	Columbus sailed to America．
B．	Marco Polo travelled to China．
C．	Ferdinand Magellan voyaged round the world．
D．	Cortez and Pizarro reached South America．

（3）Who defeated the Aztecs in what we now know as Mexico？ 　　

A．	Pizarro．
B．	Cortez．
C．	Incas．
D．	Columbus．

（4）According to the passage，some countries in America didn't use to belong to 　　．

A．	Portugal
B．	Spain
C．	Canada
D．	France

（5）From the passage，we can know that 　　．

A．	Many countries in South America have been influenced by European countries
B．	The period of the 15h and 16h centuries was the beginning of the European exploration
C．	European explorers occupied some American countries in a peaceful way
D．	Ferdinand Magellan's voyage round the world is not famous at all

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