Tourism probably started in Roman times. Rich Romans visited friends and family who were working in another part of the Roman Empire. But when the empire broke down, this kind of tourism stopped.
In the early 17^th century, the idea of the “Grand Tour” was born. Rich young English people sailed across the English Channel（英吉利海峡）. They visited the most beautiful and important European cities of the time, including Paris in France, and Rome and Venice in Italy. Their tours lasted for two to four years, and the tourists stayed a few weeks or months in each city. The “Grand Tour” was an important part of young people’s education---but only for the rich.
In the 18^th century, tourism began to change. For example, people in the UK started to visit some towns, such as Bath to “take the waters”. They believed that the water there was good for their health. So large and expensive hotels were built in these towns.
In the 19^th century, travel became much more popular and faster. When the first railways were built in the 1820s, it was easier for people to travel towns, so they started to go for holidays by the sea. And some started to have holidays in the countryside as cities became larger, noisier and dirtier.
Traveling by sea also became faster and safer when the first steamships were built. People began to travel more to faraway countries.
The 20^th century saw cars become more and more popular among ordinary people. Planes were made larger, so ticket prices dropped and more people used them.
Thus tourism grew. In 1949, Russian journalist Vladimir Raitz started a company called Horizon Holidays. The company organizes everything---plane tickets, hotel rooms, even food----and tourists pay for it all before they leave home. The package tour and modern tourist industry was born.
The first travel agency in China was set up as early as 1949. But tourism did not take off until 1978. In 2002, the industry was 500 billion yuan and became an important part of China’s social development.
In the early times, the travelers _____.

A．all came from Roman	B．were very young and strong
C．had lots of money	D．traveled by boat

Which is NOT true about “Grand Tour”?

A．It was a long journey.	B．The young men learned a lot from it.
C．Those who took the tour weren’t rich.	D．Most of its destinations were in Europe.

_____ played the most important role in the tourism development.

A．Education

B．Money

C．Transportation

D．People’s ideas

Modern tourism was born _______.

A．in 1949

B．in Roman times

C．in the early 17^th century

D．in the early 19^th century

The underlined phrase “take off” in the last paragraph means ______.

A．a plane rising into the air	B．develop very fast
C．remove hats and clothes	D．bring down the prices