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. 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(环绕…运行) the Earth. The receiver contacts at least four of the satellites and calculates 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. Also there will be new uses for the GPS. Perhaps they will become like watches. Everyone will have one and you will never be lost anywhere.

1.GPS can help you find your position, can’t it?

2.What does a GPS look like?

3.How many things are mentioned that GPS devices can be put into?

4.Why do some people think GPS devices will be popular in the future?

5.What is the use of ground stations?

6.What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?

用所给单词的适当形式填空。每个单词限用一次。

Among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the oldest one is the Great Pyramid of Giza. There are three large pyramids at Giza, outside the modern capital of Egypt, Cairo. The largest and most famous one is called the Great Pyramid. The workers built it as a tomb (坟墓) for the Pharaoh Khufu (法老胡夫).
It took more than twenty years to build the Great Pyramid. When it was built, the pyramid was about 146.5 metres high. Over the years it has lost about eight metres off its top.
The pyramid is made of large stone blocks (石块) — 2,300,000 of them! Each of these blocks weighs over 2,000 kilograms. The ancient Egyptians did not have any modern machines. How did they build the pyramid? The pyramid shows that the ancient people were intelligent and had great skills.
People once thought that the Egyptians made slaves (奴隶) do all the work on the Great Pyramid. But in fact, they used farmers.
【小题1】From the passage we can learn that _____.

Joan is an American girl. She lives in China now. She is in my class. Her parents work in China, too, but her brother works in the U.S.A. He often writes letters to them. Joan likes Chinese class very much, and likes speaking Chinese with us after class. Her father teaches us English well. We all like his class. Her mother is a nurse. On Sundays, Joan goes to the People's Park with her father and mother. Sometimes she goes shopping with her mother. They like the Chinese food very much. It's a happy family.
【小题1】Joan is from ______.
A. China             B. Japan
C. the U.S.A.        D. Canada
【小题2】Joan likes speaking ________with us after class.