and the STAGE 2

chapter 7 while reading Before Reading 1 The of Dasht-e-Lut 2 Badakshan before reading activities (page 44) 3 The activity 1 before reading 4 The Desert of Lop 1 e 2 a 3 d 4 f 5 c 6 b 5 Sachow 6 Kanchow activity 2 before reading 7 , thirteenth, traveller, merchants, . chapters 8 and 9 while reading 1 + g When the men arrived, they gave the While Reading letters from Pope Gregory. 2 + h The Khan understood about the Polos’ Chapter 1 while reading

problem with the priests. activities A nswers 1 What . . .? The Description of the World. 3 + b In the Khan’s park there were snow white 2 Where . . .? China. horses. 3 What . . .? Paper money and gunpowder. 4 + e The city of had twelve big doors 4 How long . . .? 6,500 kilometres. and very high . 5 When . . .? In the second century BC. 5 + a After some time Marco became the Khan’s 6 What . . .? Silk, spices and other things to trade. ambassador. 7 Why . . .? To protect themselves against thieves 6 + i The Khan gave Marco a special gold passport. along the route. 7 + c In Kinsai, Marco was interested in the special 8 What . . .? The Great of China and . bath houses. chapters 2 and 3 while reading 8 + f On his journeys in South-East Asia Marco 1 The city of was rich in the thirteenth century. saw people with pictures on their skin. 2 Niccolo and Maffeo Polo were away for a long time. 9 + d Marco was the first person to tell Europeans 3 Marco’s mother died when he was a baby. about the islands of . 4 Marco learned to read and write Italian. chapter 10 while reading 5 Marco and his family lived in a house in the centre 1 F Niccolo went to and asked about of Venice. going home. 6 Niccolo and Maffeo first sailed to the city of 2 T . 3 F At first, Kokachin travelled with three 7 The ruled the north route of the Silk Persian ambassadors. Road. 4 T 8 Barka Khan gave the Polos a lot of jewels. 5 T 9 The Polos first met Kublai Khan at his in 6 F The journey from Zaiton to Hormuz took Khanbaliq. two years. 10 Kublai Khan was interested to hear news from 7 F On the journey, the Polos and Kokachin Europe. became friends. 11 The Khan asked the Polos to return with a 8 F After the Polos left Kokachin they had some hundred priests. bad news. 12 Marco was fifteen when his father and uncle came 9 T home. chapter 4 while reading 1 Y 2 N 3 N 4 Y 5 N 6 Y 7 Y 8 N chapters 5 and 6 while reading 1 a 2 c 3 c 4 b 5 a 6 b 7 a 8 b xford university press xford university © O

oxford bookworms Library stage 2 1 MARCO POLO AND THE SILK ROAD Marco Polo and the Silk Road STAGE 2

chapters 11 and 12 while reading I’m in Kinsai at last! I’ve heard so many wonderful 1 Thirty-nine. things about this place. When I arrived I immediately 2 A servant. thought of home because Kinsai is a city on the water 3 Old Mongol clothes. just like Venice. And there are thousands of bridges 4 They put on their old Mongol clothes and cut them everywhere – some of these are very high and the open. Hundreds of jewels then fell to the floor. big Arab and Persian ships go under them to get into 5 He fought for Venice against the city of . the city. 6 In prison. The people are always busy here. There are twelve 7 He was a writer and teller of exciting stories. different groups of workers, each with their own 8 Some of his ideas. part of the city and they make wonderful goods like 9 Priests, rich men and students. valuable plates or silk cloth. 10 His wife was called Donata Badoer. His daughters I need to leave tomorrow but I want to come back were called Fantina, Bellela and Moreta. here soon. activities A nswers 11 Il Milione. Because they thought that his book had a million things in it that were not true. activity 3 after reading 12 119. 1 Marco Polo. His father has arrived home. He’s 13 The began to fall. going to talk to him for the first time. 14 They learned about the markets on the Silk Road 2 Kublai Khan. He has seen Marco for the first time and the best goods to buy and sell in different cities. at his palace in Shangdu. He welcomes Marco. 15 . Marco later becomes his favourite. 3 Kokachin. She’s heard that she’s going to marry ’s son. She goes to meet her new husband After Reading but she cries when she leaves the Polos. 4 Rustichello of Pisa. He’s in prison with Marco activity 1 after reading and he has started to write The Description of the The phrase is: The Description of the World. World for him. Rustichello puts some of his ideas 1 The famous book written by Marco Polo. into the book. 2 Students’ own answers. For example: People translated the book into English, , activity 4 after reading German and other languages. Today we have 119 of his Open answers. early books. activity 5 after reading

activity 2 after reading Open answers. This is our third week in the terrible Desert of Lop and every day our journey becomes more and more difficult. Strong winds bring sand across the narrow road in front of us and sometimes it is impossible to see our route. We’re part of a huge caravan with hundreds of camels. At night the other merchants talk about strange voices that call travellers’ names. And these men tell stories about people who follow the voices and die all alone in the desert. I have journeyed across many but this is surely the most dangerous. xford university press xford university © O

oxford bookworms Library stage 2 2 MARCO POLO AND THE SILK ROAD