Mapping Your World
Different forms of maps are appearing．They allow independent travelers to get local knowledge of places they are visiting, from the official to the unusual．Meanwhile, hi-tech developments are creating new ways for us to map the world．Here are two of our favorites：
Green Maps
Green Maps allows people to share with the world their knowledge of environmentally friendly places and attractions in the local areas．Users add information with a set of icons（图标）, making it easy to read any map, whatever the nationalities of those who produce it．At present there are over five hundred map projects being developed in 54 countries．Green Maps’ advertised idea is “think global, map local”．It is a wonderful way of gaining all sorts of information of a place, ranging from community gardens to good places of birdwatching．
Green Maps is not specifically intended for travelers．Not all of its maps are online, so it may be necessary for some users to communicate with the producers through the Green Maps website．
Maps Mashups
Many people use online maps developed by Google, but not many know about the mashups of them．Working in a similar way to Green Maps, Map Mashups allows people to add icons of their own to existing maps to express a certain topic．The mashups is so called because it combines all the knowledge you could ever need．It ranges from the extremely useful, such as where all the World Heritage Sites are, to the most bizarre （古怪的），such as where America’s drunkest cities are．With the mashups added to the basic Google Maps, a multi-layered （多层的） map can be created．
小题1:According to the passage, which of the following is a characteristic of Green Maps?
A．Introducing local attractions with icons
B．Aiming at environmental protection
C．Offering advice to independent travelers．
D．Collecting icons worldwide for local maps．小题2:Which of the following icons is most probably NOT used in Green Maps?
小题3:“Map Mashups” is named with the word “mashups” because ．
A．it is produced by users all over the world
B．it is a branch of Google Maps
C．it shares icons with Green Maps
D．it gathers various kinds of information小题4:What do Green Maps and Map Mashups have in common?
A．They are created by local people．
B．They are environmentally friendly．
C．Users can edit maps on the Internet．
D．Users need to communicate with producers．
