Question

How would we travel without maps? It would be a bit adventurous (冒險(xiǎn)的) to set off from Oxford University to go to London Bridge if there was not a map of the London Underground at each station. In fact, a lot of the early map—makers were explorers (探險(xiǎn)家), especially in the 15th and 16th centuries.

So what did people do before there were maps? Well, it was quite easy to use natural signs like mountains and rivers if you were travelling on foot or riding a horse. People took small boats down rivers and followed coastlines (海岸線). And people world use time, not distance (距離), to measure(測量)the way they went; the next village was a three—hour ride, for example.

In fact, in the early maps, people did not draw marks. They drew stars. It was very easy to the night sky and use it for navigation (航行). The sky was a lot clearer before the light pollution from cities appeared. When towns and cities were built, people drew road maps which gave distances and directions.

The London Underground was opened in 1863 and it also used a road map style. But a man called Henry Beck realized that travelling by train was not the same as driving your car across London. Passengers only needed to know which stations to change. His new design for the Underground map was not very popular with the train companies at first. But the passengers loved it and 700,000 copies were printed in 1933.

These days, of course, you can ride a bike, drive a car or go through a forest and know where you are exactly with a GPS. It’s really difficult to get lost!

1.When did road maps come out?

A. Around 15th and 16th centuries.

B. When people began to travel by train.

C. When people began to travel by sea.

D. When cities and towns were built.

2.Which of the following is TRUE?

A. GPS helped people to travel long time ago.

B. Ancient (古代的) people could travel on a horse without maps.

C. The sky was polluted by light before cities were built.

D. Henry Beck’s map was not popular with passengers.

3.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Maps have a long history.

B. We never get lost these days.

C. We can’t travel with maps.

D. Henry Beck designed a new map.

Answer 1