《問題》 次の英文の中で青色で示した語句の意味を答えてください。
(初めに右欄で英語を1つ選び、続いて選択肢から1つを選んでください。やり直すときは、英語を選び直すことから始めてください。右の[単語帳]を参考にすることもできます。)
You may be wondering about the name of this new land.
If Christopher Columbus was the first European to attempt to settle the new world, why is it called "America"? The answer lies with the name of an Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci.
He visited the coast of South America in fourteen ninety-nine. He wrote stories about his experiences that were widely read in Europe. In fifteen-oh-seven, a German mapmaker read Vespucci's stories. He decided that the writer had discovered the new world and suggested that it be called America in his honor. So it was. Spanish explorers sought to find gold and power in the New World. They also wanted to expand belief in what they considered to be the true religion, Christianity. The first of these Spanish explorers was Juan Ponce de Leon. He landed on North America in fifteen thirteen. He explored the eastern coast of what is now the southern state of Florida. He was searching for a special kind of water that people in Europe believed existed. They believed that this water could make old people young again. Ponce de Leon never found it. Also in fifteen thirteen, Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean. In fifteen nineteen, Hernan Cortes landed an army in Mexico and destroyed the empire of the Aztec Indians. That same year Ferdinand Magellan began his three-year voyage around the world. And in the fifteen thirties, Francisco Pizarro destroyed the Inca Indian empire in Peru. Ten years later, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado had marched as far north as the central American state of Kansas and west to the Grand Canyon. About the same time, Hernan de Soto reached the Mississippi River. Fifty years after Columbus first landed in San Salvador, Spain claimed a huge area of America. The riches of these new lands made Spain the greatest power in Europe. But other nations refused to accept Spain's claim to rights in the new world. Explorers from England, France and Holland also were traveling to North America. 【終り】
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○ Amerigo Vespucci:アメリゴ・ヴェスプッチ,コロンブスは見つけた大陸をインドだと考えたのに対して,ヴェスプッチは新大陸だと考えた。 ○ the Aztec:アステカ ○ Inca:インカ ○ Hernan Cortes:コルテス ○ Francisco Pizarro:ピサロ ○ Ferdinand Magellan:マゼラン |
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*** リーディングのポイント ***
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