How would we travel without maps? It would be a bit adventurous (冒险的) to set off from Oxford University to go to London Bridge if there wasn't a map of the London Underground at each station. In fact, a lot of the early map-makers were adventurers and explorers, 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. And it was much more logical (合理的) to use time, not distance, to measure (计量) journeys: the next village is a three-hour ride, for example.
In fact, in the earliest maps, people didn't draw landmarks. They drew the stars. It was very easy to see the night sky and use it for navigation (航行). The sky was a lot clearer before the light pollution from cities that we have today. When towns and cities were built, people drew road maps which gave correct 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 wasn't the same as driving your car across London. Passengers only needed to know which stations to change at. His new design (设计) for the Underground map wasn't very popular with the train panies at first. But the passengers loved it and in 1933, 700,000 copies were printed.
These days, of course, you can ride a bike, drive a car or go through a forest and know where you are exactly, using a GPS. It's really difficult to get lost!
【小题1】What was drawn in the earliest maps?A．Stars.B．Landmarks.C．Cities and towns,D．Mountains and rivers.【小题2】When did road maps e 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 appeared.【小题3】Which of the following is true?A．A GPS helped people to travel long time ago.B．Ancient people could travel on a horse without maps.C．The sky was polluted by light before cities were built.D．Henry Beck's map wasn't popular with the passengers.【小题4】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 without maps.D．Henry Beck designed a new map.A
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(答案→)A
解析：文章体裁为说明文。文章主要围绕地图进行讲述，内容包括地图的用途，地图何时被使用，在没有地图的时候，人们怎么旅游和判断方向。
【小题1】细节题。答案在原文的第三段第一句和第二句In fact, in the earliest maps, people didn't draw stars. They drew stars.
【小题2】细节题。答案在原文的第三段第五句即本段的最后一句When towns and cities were built, people drew road maps which gave correct distances and directions.
【小题3】推断题。答案在原文的第二段第二句。it was quite easy to use natural signs like mountains and rivers if you were travelling on foot or riding a horse.
【小题4】主旨大意题。第一段讲15，16世纪爱冒险的人没有地图如何旅行；第二段讲在没有地图之前人们怎么出行；第三段讲早期地图的使用；第四段讲近期地图的设计和使用；第五段讲现代的我们用GPS。所以整篇文章讲的是地图的发展，介绍地图的历史过程。