TPO17-1 歐洲和亞洲的早期海上貿易

08-21

來自專欄托福閱讀精讀指南

第一段解釋了歐洲開闢海上貿易路線的原因

?Paragraph 1:

In the fourteenthcentury, a number of political developments cut Europes overland trade routesto southern and eastern Asia, with which Europe had had important and highlyprofitable commercial ties since the twelfth century. This development, comingas it did when the bottom had fallen out of the European economy, provided an impetusto a long-held desire to secure direct relations with the East by establishinga sea trade. Widely reported, if somewhat distrusted, accounts by figures likethe famous traveler from Venice, Marco Polo, of the willingness of people inChina to trade with Europeans and of the immensity of the wealth to be gainedby such contact made the idea irresistible. Possibilities for trade seemedpromising, but no hope existed for maintaining the traditional routes over land.A new way had to be found.

第一句直接點出開闢海上路線的原因：在14世紀，一些政治發展切斷了歐洲與東亞和南亞之間的貿易路線，歐洲從12世紀開始就和這些地區有利潤豐厚的商業聯繫。

第二句是解釋陸地貿易路線被切斷的結果：這一時期歐洲經濟跌入低谷，這個發展刺激了人們長期想要和東方建立直接海上貿易路線的渴望。

第三句進一步解釋開闢海上路線的原因：像著名旅行家馬可波羅一類人物關於中國人樂意和歐洲人貿易以及從這類貿易中可以獲得巨大財富的描述讓這個想法不可抵抗。

第四、五句是結果：貿易的可能性存在，但是維持路上貿易路線已經不可能了，新的路線必須被發現。

第一段總結：歐亞路上貿易被切斷，所以需要開闢海上路線。

（歐亞路上貿易路線）

第二段提出了開闢海上貿易路線面臨的困難

Paragraph 2:

The chiefproblem was technological: How were the Europeans to reach the East? Europesmaritime tradition had developed in the context of easily navigable seas—theMediterranean, the Baltic, and, to a lesser extent, the North Sea betweenEngland and the Continent—not of vast oceans. 因果New types of ships were needed,new methods of finding ones way, new techniques for financing so vast a scheme. The sheer scale of the investment it took to begin commercial expansion at sea reflects the immensity of the profits that such East-West trade couldcreate. Spices were the most sought-after commodities. Spices not only dramatically improved the taste of the European diet but also were used to manufacture perfumes and certain medicines. But even high-priced commodities like spiceshad to be transported in large bulk in order to justify the expense and troubleof sailing around the African continent all the way to India and China.

第一句提出開闢海上路線面臨技術問題：歐洲如何到達東方？歐洲的海上運輸是在容易航行的海域中發展起來的—地中海，波羅的海，和更小程度上，英國和大陸之間的北海—而不是在大洋中。

第二句提出三步解決方案：新型船隻被需要，新的尋找路線的方法，給這個巨大計劃籌集資金的新技術。

第三句：開始海上貿易擴張巨大的投資規模反映了這種東西貿易能夠創造的巨大的利潤。

第四-六句講香料的例子：香料是最受歡迎的商品。香料不僅提升了飲食的味道，而且還能生產香水和藥品。但是即使高價的香料也必須被大量運輸為了抵消繞過非洲一直到達印度和中國的航行巨大的花費和麻煩。

第二段總結：開闢海上貿易路線面臨的困難和巨大的成本。

（從上圖可以看出北海、波羅的海和地中海都是內陸海，風浪小易於航行）

（達伽馬繞非洲航行路線）

第三段講歐洲人建造可以在大洋中航行的新船。

Paragraph 3:

The principalseagoing ship used throughout the Middle Ages was the galley, a long, low shipfitted with sails but driven primarily by oars. The largest galleys had as many as 50 oarsmen. Since they had relatively shallow hulls, they were unstable whendriven by sail or when on rough water: hence they were unsuitable for thevoyage to the East. Even if they hugged the African coastline, they had littlechance of surviving a crossing of the Indian Ocean. Shortly after 1400,shipbuilders began developing a new type of vessel properly designed to operatein rough, open water: the caravel. It had a wider and deeper hull than the galley and hence could carry more cargo: increased stability made it possible to add multiple masts and sails.並列 In the largest caravels, two main masts held large square sails that provided the bulk of the thrust driving theship forward, while a smaller forward mast held a triangular-shaped sail,called a lateen sail, which could be moved into a variety of positions to manage the ship.

第一、二句講解原來的船：中世紀主要的航海船是galley船，長且淺的船，雖然有帆，但是主要靠槳。最大的galley船有50個槳手。

第三、四句解釋為什麼galley不行：因為他們船體相對淺，當靠帆驅動或有波浪時很不穩定；因此不適合用於通往東方的航行。即使它們緊貼非洲海鹽縣，他們也無法穿過印度洋。

第五句介紹新船：1400年後不久，造船者開始研發可以在開放洶湧大洋中航行新船：Caravel。相比galley，它有更寬更深的船體，因此可以攜帶更多的貨物：增加的穩定性使它可以增加多個桅杆和帆。

第六句介紹船的工作原理；在最大的caravel中，兩個主要的桅杆支撐大正方形帆，帆提供船前進的主要動力，更小的前桅杆支撐三角帆，它可以移動到不同位置來調整船隻。

第三段總結：發明可以在大洋中航行的caravel帆船。

(galley，雖然有帆，但主要靠槳提供動力）

（caravel,前面兩個正方形帆提供動力，後面三角帆調整方向）

第四段講了尋找海上航行路線的方法。

Paragraph 4:

The astrolabe had long been the primary instrument for navigation, having been introduced in the eleventh century. It operated by measuring the height of the Sun and thefixed stars: by calculating the angles created by these points, it determined the degree of latitude at which one stood (The problem of determining longitude, though, was not solved until the eighteenth century.) By the early thirteenth century, western Europeans had also developed and put into use the magnetic compass, which helped when clouds obliterated both the Sun and the stars. Also beginning in the thirteenth century, there were new maps refined by precise calculations and the reports of sailors that made it possible to traceones path with reasonable accuracy. Certain institutional and practical normshad become established as well. A maritime code known as the Consulate of the Sea, which originated in the western Mediterranean region in the fourteenthcentury, won acceptance by a majority of sea goers as the normative code formaritime conduct; it defined such matters as the authority of a shipsofficers, protocols of command, pay structures, the rights of sailors, and the rules of engagement when ships met one another on the sea-lanes. Thus by about1400, the key elements were in place to enable Europe to begin its seawardadventure.

第一、二句介紹星盤：星盤一直是航海的主要工具，在11世紀被引進。它通過測量太陽和固定恆星的高度：通過計算這些點產生的角度，它能決定一個人所在的緯度（經度問題知道18世紀才解決）。

第三句介紹指南針：到13世紀早期，西歐也發展並開始使用指南針，它在烏雲遮蔽太陽和星星的時候起作用。

第三句介紹地圖：同樣在十三世紀，通過精確計算和水手報告改良的地圖使人們可以相對準確的追溯航行路線。

第四、五句介紹康索拉度海法：一部海洋法典（被稱作康索拉度海法），贏得了大多數航海員的認可，成為了海上管理的規範法典；它對很多事物做了界定，比如，高級船員的權利、命令的準則、薪資結構、海員的權利，以及當船隻在航路上遇到別的船時的交戰準則。

第六句講了這些進步的結果：因此大約1400年，主要元素準備完畢使歐洲可以開始海上冒險。

第四段總結：星盤、指南針、地圖和海洋法典使歐洲最終能夠開始海上航行。