ORACLE: someone or something
believed to disclose hidden
knowledge, information, or secrets
A famous oracle in Western history was
at the shrine of Apollo at Delphi.
An oracle is a person or object that is
believed to reveal hidden knowledge.
(p. 3)
PORCELAIN: a hard but delicate type of fine
china made with a special kind of clay
Ming porcelain vases command high prices
at auctions, and many can be found in art
museums.
They also made beautiful works in porcelain,
a very fine china. (p. 15)
SILK ROAD: a network or circuit of ancient
trade routes that connected China, the
Middle East, and Europe
The Silk Road, also called the Silk Route,
was followed by Marco Polo to reach
Cathay, an old name for China.
The Silk Road was not an actual road. It
was a system of overland trade routes that
linked China with Europe. (p. 9)
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© KIDS DISCOVER
MONGOLS: tribes of nomads currently living
mainly in Mongolia
The Mongols moved with their herds until
Genghis Khan captured China’s capital city
and ruled China.
They were known as the Mongols, and they
lived on the vast grasslands of central Asia.
(p. 12)
PHILOSOPHERS: seekers of wisdom
or enlightenment who offer thoughts
on profound questions or problems of
ethics
Confucius and Laozi were important
Chinese philosophers.
One of China’s most important
philosophers, or thinkers, lived near the
end of the Zhou dynasty. (p. 4)
SEISMOGRAPH: an instrument that measures
seismic waves, or vibrations, in earthquakes
The seismograph even showed the direction
that the vibrations came from.
In 132 CE, Chang Heng created the first
seismograph, an instrument to detect and
measure earthquakes. (p. 8)
TYPHOONS: a hurricane that occurs in
the northwestern Pacific Ocean
According to the National Ocean Service,
hurricanes and typhoons are exactly the
same kind of storm.
Mongol fleets trying to invade Japan were
destroyed by typhoons, or “divine
winds,” as the Japanese called them.
(p. 13)
VOCABULARY CARDS