China's home-grown satnav system begins

江西南昌二十六中 黃舒偉

“復移小凳扶窗立，教識中天北斗星。 ”自古以來，北斗七星就被賦予了司南功能，用以指引方向、分辨四季、標定時刻，中國人對北斗有著熟悉而親切的認知。 如今，由人造衛星組成的新的北斗在宇宙中為人們指明方向，“北斗”群星更加璀璨。

題材科技 新聞報道體裁 文章詞數 建議用時約306 6分鐘

難詞探意

1. infrastructure /??nfr?str?kt??(r)/n. 基礎設施

2. triumph /?tra??mf/n. 偉大勝利；巨大成就

3. norm /n??m/n. 標準；規范

4. distress /d??stres/n. 遇難；悲傷

Thirty-five thousand kilometres above the island of Borneo, the final piece of a Chineseinfrastructureproject floated into place.The satellite was the last to join the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System(BDS), which has taken nearly30years to develop and build. China sees this as a moment oftriumph.

GPS was the earliest network to provide global coverage, so GPSenabled devices became thenormfor use by Chinese companies, citizens and soldiers. The system is owned by America's government, which means the signals coming from GPS satellites would be switched off under some circumstances. The main purpose of building BDS, which is operated by China National Space Administration, is to give China full control over a navigation system it can rely on.

Work on BDS began in 1993 and has involved three stages. The first two provided coverage in China and then across the rest of the Asia-Pacific region. As was the case with GPS, building it has focused on military applications. When the second stage was being tested in 2013, the Chinese navy relied on BDS data during exercises in the South China Sea. The third stage provided global coverage.It affords more accuracy, and allows users to send short text messages and distress signals.

The completion of BDS puts China ahead technologically. BDS's satellites are more advanced than those of GPS. In the Asia-Pacific, BDS claims accuracy to 10 cm, compared with 30 cm offered by GPS. China hopes to cash in on BDS globally. In December officials said China had exported BDSenabled products to 120 countries and regions worldwide. Pakistan's armed forces have started using the system. BDS receivers may eventually be installed in all phones. It would add little cost and give devices access to more satellites when finding and showing a location. BDS is finding its place in the world.

1. Why did China build BDS?

A. To make money.

B. To compete with GPS.

C. To collect information around the world.

D. To gain full control over a navigation system.

2. What's the third paragraph mainly about?

A. The process of work on BDS.

B. The challenge of building BDS.

C. The application of BDS.

D. The accuracy of BDS.

3. What can we know about BDS?

A. It has taken twenty years to build.

B. The work of it involves mainly two stages.

C. It puts China ahead technologically.

D. Nearly thirty countries have started using it.

Sentence for writing

The satellite was the last to join the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), which has taken nearly 30 years to develop and build.

【信息提取】which在該句中引導一個非限制性定語從句，起補充說明作用，是先行詞the Bei-Dou Navigation Satellite System(BDS)的附加說明，去掉了也不會影響主句的意思。

【句式仿寫】他的學習很少出過問題，他的老師們很欣賞這點。