Imagine the situation. You are driving along a desert or on a mountain. You have no idea where you are. You passed the last house two hours ago. Then your car breaks down. It is night and it is cold. You have no mobile phone. What do you do? Well, next time take a GPS with you. This invention may be able to help you. It is a device(装置) which uses satellites (卫星) to find the user’s position(位置). It can find your position to within 20 metres. A GPS cannot start your car, but at least you will know where you are.
GPS, which means Global Positioning System, is a small radio receiver. It looks like a mobile phone. You can hold it in your hand, or put in your pocket. It is sometimes put into a watch or a telephone. We also find GPS devices in cars, planes, or boats. Some of these devices have electronic maps, so you know where you are. For example, in a city they can tell you the name of the street.
There are three parts to the Global Positioning System. The first part is the receiver. You can hold it in your hand, or have it fixed into your car, plane, etc. The second part is a group of satellites orbiting the Earth. The receiver contacts at least four of the satellites and calculates(计算) its position. The third part of the system is a network of ground stations. They are all over the world. They control the satellites and make sure they are working well.
Some people think that in the future the GPS will be as common as the mobile. They are becoming cheaper and more and more accurate(精确的). There are also new uses for the GPS. Perhaps they will become like watches. Everyone will have one and you will never be lost again.
1.According to the passage, with the help of the GPS, people __________.
A. can’t be lost in a new city
B. can’t find their way in different countries
C. can learn about the culture of an unknown place
D. can spend the least time getting to another place
2.We can learn from the passage that ____________.
A. there are three parts to the GPS
B. a GPS can’t be put into a watch
C. a GPS can help you start your car
D. the GPS are becoming more and more expensive
3.The underlined word “They” in paragraph 3 means “____________”.
A. Receivers B. GPS devices
C. Satellites D. Ground stations
4. The passage is mainly about _______________.
A. the history of the GPS
B. the introduction of the GPS
C. the shape of the GPS
D. the three parts of the GPS
5.What can we infer(推断) from the passage?
A. All GPS devices have electronic maps.
B. People in many countries will use the GPS for free.
C. The receiver of the GPS contacts at least five of the satellites.
D. The GPS will become more and more common in everyday life.
New York is one of the last large American cities to have some of its policemen on horseback. The New York police have 170 horses working in certain parts of the city. The horses are expensive to feed, but it is even more expensive to look after them. Because the horses must walk on the streets, they need special horseshoes. In fact, they need more than 8,000 of them each year. Every police horse in New York gets new shoes every month. Keeping these shoes in good repair is the job of six blacksmiths. There are only about thirty-five of these blacksmiths in the whole United States.
The cost of shoeing a horse is between twenty dollars and thirty-five dollars, and it takes a good blacksmith two or three hours to do the job.
A blacksmith's job is not an easy one. He must be able to shape a shoe from a piece of metal and then fit it to the horse's foot. The blacksmith must bend over all the time when he is fitting the shoe and must hold the weight of the horse's leg while he works. Clearly, a blacksmith must be very strong. But even more important, he must be able to deal with horses——for before the blacksmith can begin his work, he has to get the horse to lift its leg.
One of the blacksmiths in New York is James Corbin. He came to the country from Ireland in 1948. He not only makes horseshoes for the police but also works for a group of horse owners near the city. Corbin became interested in blacksmithing because his father did it, and，as the puts it, “It’s a good way to make a living.”
1. According to the reading passage， a blacksmith must be likely a______ man.
A. clever B. rich C. strong D. lucky
2.James Corbin became a blacksmith because he__________.
A. was interested in horses
B. was needed by the policemen
C. drew a picture of the horseshoe
D. had a make a living
3.In the reading passage “to shape a shoe” is to__________.
A. fit it on the horse's foot
B. use it for two or three hours
C. make the from of a horseshoe from a piece of metal
D. draw a picture of the shoe
4. The best title for the passage is “__________."
A. Policemen on Horseback
B. Blacksmiths and Horseshoeing
C. James Corbin，a Blacksmith
D. Horseshoeing is a Good Way to Make a Living
5.Which of the following is true？
A. Only a few large American cities have some policemen on horseback.
B. New York is the only city in America to have some policemen on horseback.
C. Policemen on horseback enjoy travelling around the United States.
D. Policemen on horseback are less expensive than those in cars.
完形填空
Mark lived in a village far away. One day he became very ill and everyone thought he would ______soon. They sent for a doctor. Two days______the doctor came and looked over the sick man. ______asked for a pen and some paper to write down the name of the medicine. But there was no pen______paper in the village because no one could write.
The doctor______ up a piece of burnt wood from the fire and wrote the name of the medicine (药) on the______of the house. "Get this medicine for him," he said, " and he will soon get ______."
Mark's family and friends did not know______to do. They could not read the strange words. Then a young man ______ an idea. He took off the door of the house, put it on his carriage (四轮马车) and drove to the nearest______. He bought the medicine there, and Mark was soon well again.
1.A. wake B. cry C. move D. die
2.A. late B. later C. ago D. before
3.A. The sick man B. Mark C. The doctor D. The farmer
4.A. and B. or C. then D. also
5.A. picked B. held C. made D. looked
6.A. wall B. window C. ground D. door
7.A. well B. worse C. bad D. good
8.A. when B. what C. where D. which
9.A. thought B. hit C. caught D. had
10.A. shop B. farm C. hospital D. village
I ______ this magazine from the library last Friday, and have ______ it for more than a week.
A. lent ; kept B. borrowed ; borrowed
C. borrowed ; kept D. kept ; borrowed
The teacher always reads a story for the children ______ a day .
A. in the end B. at the end
C. in the end of D. at the end of
----- How soon are you leaving for Beijing ?
------ In _______ days.
A. a couple of B. a couple
C. a couple to D. a couple for
