France, England, and Spain were the three European powers in the New World. Each had come

for different purposes.

The first Spanish came to the New World searching for wealth, power, and glory. There they explored(探险) and conquered much of North, South, and Central America. The English, on the other hand, generally came to build new land. They built settlements(殖民地) along the coast.

Different from both Spain and England, the French were less interested in conquest(征服) than in trade. Their first settlements were trading posts(贸易区) where they sold cloth, knives, and guns to the Indians for the skin of the beaver(河狸). Like the Spanish, they seldom brought their families. Unlike the English, they didn't fight against the Indians for the possession of the land.

Because there were far fewer French than English in America, they did not threaten the India way of life as the English did.

"The New World" refers to ______.

A．Europe

B．India

C．Africa

D．America