When Melissa Mahan and her husband
visited the Netherlands, they felt imprisoned by their tour bus. It forced them
to see the city according to a particular route and specific schedule--but going
off on their own meant missing out on the information provided by the guide. On
their return home to San Diego, California, they started a new company called
Tour Coupes. Now, when tourists in San Diego rent one of their small, brightly
coloured three-wheeled vehicles, they are treated to a narration over the stereo
system about the places they pass, triggered by Global Positioning System (GPS)
satellite technology. This is just one example of how GPS is
being used to provide new services to tourists. "What we really have here is a
technology that allows people to forget about the technology," says Jim Carrier
of IntelliTours, a GPS tourism firm which began offering a similar service over
a year ago in Montgomery, Alabama. The city is packed with sites associated with
two important chapters in American history, the civil war of the 1860s and the
civil-rights movement a century later. Montgomery has a 120-year-old trolley
system, called the Lightning Route, which circulates around the downtown area
and is mainly used by tourists. On the Lightning Route trolleys, GPS-triggered
audio clips point out historical hotspots. Other firms, such as
CityShow in New York and GPS Tours Canada in Banff, Canada, offer hand-held GPS
receivers that play audio clips for listening to while walking or driving. In
South Africa, Europcar, a car-rental firm, offers a device called the Xplorer.
As well as providing commentary on 2 000 points of interest, it can also warn
drivers if they exceed the local speed limit. If such services
prove popular, the use of dedicated audio-guide devices could give way to a
different approach. A growing number of mobile phones have built-in GPS or can
determine their locations using other technologies. Information for tourists
delivered via phones could be updated in real time and could contain
advertisements. "Location-based services", such as the ability to call up a list
of nearby banks or pizzerias, have been talked about for years but have never
taken off. But aiming such services at tourists makes sense--since people are
more likely to want information when in an unfamiliar place. It could give
mobile roaming a whole new meaning.
单选题
In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 第二段开头：This is just one example of how GPS is being used…．
[深层剖析] 本题测试的是考生对文章第一段内容的理解及作者引出话题的手段。文章第二段开头明确表示这只是GPS提供新式旅游服务的一个范例。因此[A)正确。本选项的难点在于不少同学对[A]中的illustration理解不到位。除有“图表、插图”之意外，它还有“例证”之意，可视为example的同义词。
[主干扰项分析] 本文为信息传播型的文章，在第二段并未解释，而是又继续举例。(信息传播型文章的表达方式是事实多、细节详细、阅读时要尽量记忆各条信息，可以根据文章内容进行分析，提纲挈领地记住短文的中心思想。)因此[D]选项错误。
[次干扰项分析] [B]选项和[C]选项一般在科普性的文章中较为常见。
单选题
Melissa Mahan's story is mentioned in the text to ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 第二段开头：This is just one example of how GPS is being used…to tourists．
[深层剖析] 本题测试的是考生对文章第一段内容的理解以及作者的写作目的，从考点来看，与第一题相同。 [B]选项谈到“引出主题”这一概念，正符合题干。因此，[B]正确。本选项的难点在于有些同学认为Location-based services是在文章结尾提到的，而题干内容在文章开头，所以不敢选[B]。但文章主旨可以在文章中多次提到，只不过表达方式不同而已。
[主干扰项分析] [C]和[D]的意思与文章相符，但都是就事论事的选项，并未体现作者的写作目的。
[次干扰项分析] [A]选项在文中没有提及，错误较为明显，但考生需注意no more than和not more than的区别：前者的意思是“和…一样不”；后者的意思是“…不如…”。如：John is not better than Tom．约翰不如汤姆好。 John is no better than Tom．约矫和汤姆一样坏。
单选题
The word "chapter" ( Line 4, Paragraph 2) denotes ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 第二段第三句：The city is packed with sites associated with two important chapters in American history， the civil war of the 1860s and the civil-rights movement a century later．
[深层剖析] 本题是一个词汇题，考点为熟词生义，考生可以根据第二段第三句谈到的in American history推知 chapters指美国的两个历史阶段。本题的难点在于不少同学只知chapter有“章节”之意，不知它还有一个引申义，可以指a distinct period or sequence of events，as in history or a person's life“时期，如历史上或个人生活上的一个重要时期或系列事件”。故[D]正确。
[主干扰项分析] 同学会误选[A]选项是因为后文谈到the civil war(美国内战)和the civil rights movement(民权运动)，但它们用“事件”不足以涵盖，因此[A]不正确。
[次干扰项分析] [B]和[C]确实是chapter的两个含义，考生尤其对“篇章”一意更为熟悉，而对“一个组织的地方分会”的含义较为生疏，但这两个词意与文章上下文不符。
单选题
Which of the following is true of the text?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 第二段第二句：IntelliTours，a GPS tourism firm which began offering a similar service over a year ago；第三段：Other firms，such as CityShow…，offer hand-held GPS receivers that play audio clips for listening to while walking or driving．．．．，Europcar，a car-rental firm，offers a device called the Xplorer．．．．，it can also warn drivers if they exceed the local speed limit．
[深层剖析] 本题是一个无法用关键词进行定位的细节题，要求考生判断选项是否符合原文，其难度在于考生需阅读每个选项及其所对应的原文，然后作出判断，这无形中增加了阅读量。文章第四段结尾谈到Xplorer can also warn drivers if they exceed the local speed limit．，[D]中的offend就是对exceed the local speed limit的同义转换，因此[D]正确。
[主干扰项分析] 文章第二段第二句提到“IntelliTours公司在一年前提供的服务与Tour Coupes公司提供的服务很相似”，而不是第三段提到的CityShow公司，因此[C]错误。同样，CityShow公司提供了游客在步行或开车时可收听到声频剪辑的便携式GPS接收器，而非Europcar汽车租赁公司，因此[B)也错误。这两道题的错误都属于搭配错误，由于本文举例太多，所以考生容易记混各个公司的产：品和行为。
[次干扰项分析] 根据第四段第四句的but这个转折提示可知定位服务还未广泛使用，因此[A]选项错误。本选项考查的其实是对take off的理解。本词有9个常用含义，在考试中经常出现，考生需熟记，见后文“难词过关”。
单选题
When a traveler is in an unfamiliar place, ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 文章倒数第二句：But aiming such services at tourists makes sense-since people are more likely to want information when in an unfamiliar place．
[深层剖析] 由此句可知当一个人在陌生的地方时，他更想得到关于此地的信息。因此[B]正确。
[主干扰项分析] 其实由于旅行者身处陌生之地，所以才更有可能需要“定位服务”信息，而需要这些信息的目的是了解这个地方，[C]是达到[B]的手段，因此[C]不如[B]准确。任何事情的产生都会满足另外一个事物的需求，因此应慎选“…满足…”的选项，例如2006年22题的[C]选项，故[A]也错误。
[次干扰项分析] 选择[D]选项的同学应该是没有弄懂make sense这个词组的含义，make sense“有意义”；而 make sense of．．．才是指“搞清…的意思”，与understand同义。