单项选择题

Task 1
Direction: After reading the following passage, you will find 5 questions or unfinished statements, numbered 36 through 40. For each question or statement there are 4 choices marked A), B), C) or D). You should make the correct choke and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.

Early in the 16th century men were trying to reach Asia by traveling west from Europe. In order to find Asia they had to find a way past South America. The man who eventually found the way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific was Ferdinand Magellan. Magellan sailed from Seville in August 1519 with five ships and about 280 men. Fourteen months later, after spending the severe winter on the coast of Patagonia, he discovered the channel which is now called Magellan’s Straits. In November 1520, after many months of dangers from rooks and storms, the three remaining ships entered the ocean on the other side of South America. They then continued, hoping to reach Asia. But they did not see any land until they reached the islands off the coast of Asia. Before they arrived at these islands, later known as the Philippines, Magellan was killed in battle. The remaining officers then had to get back to Spain. They decided to sail around Africa. After many difficulties, one ship with eighteen men sailed into Seville three years after leaving. They were all that remained of Magellan’s expedition. However, their achievement was great. They were the first men to sail round the world.

The purpose of Magellan’s expedition was ______.