Columbus（哥伦布）

Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa（热那亚，意大利一城市）. His father was a wool merchant（羊毛商）. When he was 26 years old, he became to make merchant voyages（商业航行）. The farthest countries he reached were Iceland（冰岛，欧洲北部一国家） and Guinea（几内亚）. 
　　At that time, many European countries became stronger and stronger. Their ships reached Africa and Asian. They got gold, silver, silk, tea and other things from the orient（东方诸国）. Columbus wanted to make another way to China and India. 
　　On August 2, 1492, Columbus left Spain and began his first voyage. He had three ships. After two months’ hard sailing, on October 12, they got to an island in the Bahamas（巴哈马群岛）. On October 29, they reached Cuba（古巴）. But a few days later, one of his ships left them. And on December 25, his flagship（旗舰） sunk（沉没）. Fortunately（幸运的是）, the ship that left them rejoined him again. They went back to Lisbon（里斯本，葡萄牙首都） on March 4, 1493. 
　　Although they didn’t get to rich orient countries and took back wealth, they found a new place that nobody had gone to. Columbus thought it was India and called the islands the West Indies（西印度群岛）. From 1493 to 1504, he sailed to America three times. He reached most of the coast of southern America and set up many colonies（殖民地）. 
    On May 20, 1506, Columbus died because of disease（疾病）.

新大陆的发现者—哥伦布

1451年，哥伦布出生于意大利热那亚的一位羊毛商人家。26岁时，他开始随商船出海。在他早期的航海中，他到过北欧的冰岛和非洲的几内亚。  
　　那时，许多欧洲国家逐渐强大起来，他们的船只沿非洲海岸到达富庶的亚洲，带回大量的金银、丝绸、茶叶等贵重物品。哥伦布想另外开辟一条通往印度和中国的航线。 
　　1492年8月2日，哥伦布带着三条船离开西班牙海岸，向西开始了他的第一次远航。经过两个月的艰苦航行，10月12日，他们到达巴哈马群岛中的一个岛。10月29日，到达古巴。但几天以后，有条船擅自离开船队。12月25日，他们遇上了风暴，哥伦布的旗舰沉没了。幸运的是，离开他们的那条船与他们会合了。1493年3月4日，他们回到里斯本。 
　　 虽然他们没有到达富有的东方，没有带回统治者梦寐以求的金银财宝，但是他们到了一个欧洲人从来没有发现的地方。哥伦布一直认为他所去的地方属于印度，他把那些岛叫做“西印度群岛”。  
    1493年到1504年间，哥伦布又三次航行至美洲。他到了南美的大部分的海岸，建了众多的殖民地。 
    1506年5月20日，哥伦布因病去世。