历史名人的英语故事
古今中外，名人从不会缺少。下面是小编整理分享给大家的名人小故事英文版，感兴趣的朋友欢迎阅读鉴赏。希望对大家有所帮助!
郑和下西洋
Early in the 15th century, a huge fleet of ships set sail from Nanjing. It was the first of a series of voyages that would, for a brief period, establish China as the leading power of the age. The voyage was led by Zheng He, the most important Chinese adventurer of all time and one of the greatest sailors the world has ever known. In fact, some people think he was the original model for the legendary Sinbad the Sailor.
In 1371, Zheng He was born in what is now Yunnan Province to Muslim parents, who named him Ma Sanpao. When he was 11 years old, invading Ming armies captured Ma and took him to Nanjing. There he was castrated and made to serve as a eunuch in the imperial household.
Ma befriended a prince there who later became the Yong Le Emperor, one of the Ming Dynasty's most distinguished. Brave, strong, intelligent and totally loyal, Ma won the trust of the prince who, after ascending the throne, gave him a new name and made him Grand Imperial Eunuch.
Yong Le was an ambitious emperor who believed that China's greatness would be increased with an "open-door" policy regarding international trade and diplomacy. In 1405, he ordered Chinese ships to sail to the Indian Ocean, and put Zheng He in charge of the voyage. Zheng went on to lead seven expeditions in 28 years, visiting more than 40 countries.
Zheng's fleet had more than 300 ships and 30,000 sailors. The largest vessels, 133-meter-long "treasure ships", had up to nine masts and could carry a thousand people. Along with a Han and Muslim crew, Zheng opened up trade routes in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia.
The voyages helped expand foreign interest in Chinese goods such as silk and porcelain. In addition, Zheng He brought exotic foreign items back to China, including the first giraffe ever seen there. At the same time, the fleet's obvious strength meant that the Emperor of China commanded respect and inspired fear all over Asia.
While Zheng He's main aim was to show the superiority of Ming China, he often got involved in the local politics of places he visited. In Ceylon, for instance, he helped restore the legitimate ruler to the throne. On the island of Sumatra, now part of Indonesia, he defeated the army of a dangerous pirate and took him to China for execution.
Though Zheng He died in 1433 and was probably buried at sea, a grave and small monument to him still exist in Jiangsu Province. Three years after Zheng He's death, a new emperor banned the construction of oceangoing ships, and China's brief era of naval expansion was over. Chinese policy turned inward, leaving the seas clear for the rising nations of Europe.
Opinions vary on why this happened. Whatever the reason, conservative forces gained the upper hand, and China's potential for world domination was not realized. Records of Zheng He's incredible voyages were burned. Not until the early 20th century did another fleet of comparable size take to the seas.
15世纪初，一支浩浩荡荡的船队从南京启航。这次远航揭开了其后一连串海上航行的序幕，并在短暂时间内为中国确立了大国领先的地位。郑和统帅了这次远航，他是中国历史上最重要的探险家，也是举世闻名的最伟大的航海家之一。事实上，还有些人认为他是传说中水手辛巴达的原型。
公元1371年，郑和出生在现在的云南省的一个穆斯林家庭里。他的父母给他取名为马三保。马三保11岁时，被入侵云南的明军掳至南京，被净身后入宫，选去王府做内宫太监。
马三保在王府期间和王太子成为了好朋友，王子后来成为明成祖永乐皇帝，是明代最出色的皇帝之一。马三保英勇、强壮、足智多谋，又赤胆忠心，因此深得王太子的信赖。王太子登基之后，赐给马三保“郑和”这个新的名字，同时提升他为内宫监太监。
永乐皇帝是个雄心勃勃的皇帝，他相信通过国际贸易及外交上的“门户开放”政策，中国会在世界上享有更高的声望。公元1405年，永乐皇帝下诏让中国船队远航到印度洋，并派遣郑和负责此趟航程。在以后的28年里，郑和连续7次率领了海上远征探险的壮举，访问了40多个国家。
郑和的船队由三百艘大船及三万多名水兵组成。船队中最大的一艘船被称为“宝船”，其船身长达133米，船桅多达九根，可搭载一千人。郑和和汉人与穆斯林船员一起打开了中国在非洲、印度、及东南亚的贸易航线。
这几次远航刺激了外国对中国货物如丝绸、瓷器等的兴趣。此外，郑和也将外国的珍奇宝物带回中国，包括以前没见过的麒麟(长颈鹿)。同时，郑和船队显而易见的强大阵容，意味着中国皇帝获得了亚洲各国的敬畏。
郑和下西洋的主要目的在于宣扬大明的强盛国威，但他经常卷入出访地的政治。例如，在锡兰(即今天的斯里兰卡)，他扶持合法统治者重登王位。在苏门答腊岛(今天印尼的一部分)，郑和击退一支由残暴海盗领军的队伍，并将其首领押回中国处死。
郑和于公元1433年去世，并且可能葬身于汪洋大海之中，但江苏省现在仍有他的坟墓和一座小型纪念碑。郑和死后3年，新登基的皇帝下诏禁止远洋船舶的建造，中国这短暂的海军扩张时代也就到此结束了。中国的政策转而向内，把大海完全拱手让给欧洲新兴的国家。
中国的政策为何会发生这样的转变，一直众说纷纭。不管是什么原因，朝中保守势力占了上风，这样中国统治世界的潜力终究未能得到发挥。郑和令人惊叹的航海纪录也遭焚毁湮灭。直到20世纪初叶，中国才有另一支相当规模的船队驶向大海。
海伦
In 1882 a baby girl caught a fever that was so fierce she nearly died. She survived but the fever left its mark - she could no longer see or hear. Because she could not hear she also found it very difficult to speak.
1882年，一名女婴因高发烧差点丧命。她虽幸免于难，但发烧给她留下了后遗症-- 她再也看不见、听不见。因为听不见，她想讲话也变得很困难。
Before her seventh birthday, the family hired a private tutor - Anne Sullivan.
Anne was careful to teach Helen especially those subjects in which she was interested. As a result Helen became gentler and she soon learnt to read and write in Braille. She also learnt to read people's lips by pressing her finger-tips against them and feeling the movement and vibrations. This method is called Tadoma and it is a skill that very, very few people manage to acquire. She also learnt to speak, a major achievement for someone who could not hear at all.
在她快到七岁生日时，家里便雇了一名家庭教师 -- 安尼·沙利文。
安尼悉心地教授海伦，特别是她感兴趣的东西。这样海伦变得温和了而且很快学会了用布莱叶盲文朗读和写作。靠用手指接触说话人的嘴唇去感受运动和震动，她又学会了触唇意识。这种方法被称作泰德马，是一种很少有人掌握的技能。她也学会了讲话，这对失聪的人来说是个巨大的成就。
Helen proved to be a remarkable scholar.While she was still at college she wrote 'The Story of My Life'. This was an immediate success and earned her enough money to buy her own house.
海伦证明了自己是个出色的学者，上大学时她就写了《我的生命》。这使她取得了巨大的成功从而有能力为自己购买一套住房。
After her death in 1968 an organization was set up in her name to combat blindness in the developing world. Today that agency, Helen Keller International, is one of the biggest organizations working with blind people overseas
1968年她去世后，一个以她的名字命名的组织建立起来，该组织旨在与发展中国家存在的失明缺陷做斗争。如今这所机构，"国际海伦·凯勒"，是海外向盲人提供帮助的最大组织之一。
