When did globalization begin? Many scholars say it started with Columbus’s voyage to the New World in 1492. Yet people traveled to nearby and faraway places long before his voyage,【小题1】their ideas, products, and customs along the way. The Silk Road is perhaps the most well-known early example. As globalization developed, new technologies played a【小题2】role in the Silk Road trade. Advances in transportation led to the building of roads connecting the major empires of the day, and increased【小题3】production meant more food could be transported. Along with all kinds of products, ideas such as Buddhist beliefs and the secrets of paper-making also【小题4】through trading.

Unquestionably, these types of exchanges were accelerated (加速) in the Age of Exploration, when European explorers were【小题5】new sea routes to Asia. Again, technology played an important role in the maritime (海上的) trade routes that flourished between the old and the newly discovered【小题6】.

The web of globalization【小题7】to spread out through the Age of Revolution, when ideas about liberty and equality spread like fire from America to France to Latin America and beyond. It rode the waves of industrialization, colonization, and war through the 18^th, 19^th and 20^th centuries, powered by the【小题8】of factories, railways, steamboats, cars, and planes.

With the Information Age, globalization went into overdrive. The【小题9】in computer and communications technology launched a new global era and redefined what it meant to be “connected.”

Jiading--Centuries of History, Decades of Change

A book entitled “Jiading–Centuries of History, Decades of Change” by American writer Kate Baker has recently been published in Shanghai. New book launch was held last week at the Old China Hand Style, a major【小题1】of a series of walking guide books called “Beyond the Concession: Six Walks in Shanghai’s Other Districts.” And Baker’s “Jiading” runs the fourth among the six.

From a foreign point of view, the book has【小题2】the history of Jiading District back between the year Tang Dynasty(618-907) and the Song Dynasty(960-1279), when Jiading had been “a leading economic and intellectual influence in the region long before Shanghai became a major trading port,” as Bakeris 【小题3】in her book.

Baker first landed in Shanghai in 2011 with her husband, an engineer with Ford, who was sent to work in Shanghai to prepare for the【小题4】of the Lincoln brand in China. “I and my husband have been traveling around the world in the past 20 years,” Baker said at a(n)【小题5】with Shanghai Daily. “Wherever I go, I would jump into the local history and culture quickly and deeply.”

Having taken a 15-month online course of Chinese with Harvard’s “ChinaX”, Baker started【小题6】out on her own. An occasional excursion into the north west of Shanghai, she “discovered” and fell in love with Jiading. Since then, she has visited Jiading【小题7】, bringing family, friends, and tour groups. At the end of 2013, the Jiading Tourism Bureau officially invited Baker to write a book on Jiading.

With up-to-date facts, useful information and【小题8】pictures, Baker’s “Jiading” is a well researched guide about interesting areas less than one hour from Shanghai. There are chapters on celebrating the seasonal and agricultural festivals that are unique to the region; stories of【小题9】figures living in Jiading; changes to the Nanxiang Old Town; tours to numerous gardens, museums and temples; and the development of outdoor recreational activities in Jiading’s Anting Town, such as the F1 car racing, horse riding and golf.

With good public【小题10】and enough green space, Baker sees Jiading a high growth district of Shanghai, which offers a quality of lifestyle and tourism. “I see a better-planned and forward-thinking of the district government. And I sincerely thank the people of Jiading who welcomed me to their community and trusted me with their narrative,” Baker says.

The course of human history has seen several changes in the forms of energy. Human inventions have dramatically increased the average amount of energy 【小题1】 for use per person. The first step toward the developing of more efficient fuels was taken when people discovered that they could use vegetable oils and animal fats instead of 【小题2】 or cut wood. Charcoal gave off a more intensive heat than wood and was more easily obtainable than organic fats. The Greeks first began to use coal for metal smelting in the 4th century, but it didn’t come into extensive use until the Industrial Revolution.

In the 1700s, more energy used in the United States and other nations 【小题3】 industrialization came from renewable sources such as wood, water streams and wind etc. These were 【小题4】 obtainable supplies. By mid-1800, 91 percent of all commercial energy consumed in the United States and European countries was obtained from wood. However, at the beginning of the 20^th century, coal became a major energy source and replaced wood. Although in most regions and climate zones wood was more 【小题5】 accessible than coal, the latter represents a more concentrated source of energy. In 1910, natural gas and oil firmly replaced coal as the main source of fuel because they burned more cleanly and 【小题6】 less. Unlike coal, oil could be refined to manufacture liquid fuels for vehicles, a very important 【小题7】 in the early 1900s, when the automobile arrived on the scene.

Nowadays, fuels such as oil and natural gas provide over 82 percent of commercial and industrial energy to 【小题8】 the world economic growth. Other forms of energy derived from nuclear fission and solar power 【小题9】 for 18 percent. However, with the petroleum prices rising and the limitations in fossil fuels, energy 【小题10】 will eventually become more attractive to reduce the dependency on oil and natural gas.