China to Help Europe Develop GPS1 Rival
China is to contribute to a new global satellite navigation system being developed by European nations. The Galileo satellite system2 ____1____ a more accurate civilian alternative3 to the Global Positioning System (GPS)， operated by the US military. China will provide 230m Euros (USD 259m)4 in ___2___and will cooperate with technical， manufacturing and market development. “China will help Galileo to ____3_____ the major world infrastructure for the growing market for location services，” said Loyola de Palacio， EU transport commissioner.
A new center that will coordinate co-operation was also announced __4___ the European Commission5， the European Space Agency (ESA)6 and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology not long ____5____. The China-Europe Global Navigation Satellite System Technical Training and Cooperation Center will be ___6____ at Beijing University. China has a substantial satellite launch industry and could potentially help launch the Galileo satellites.
The US has claimed that Galileo could interfere____7____ the US ability to downgrade the GPS service during military conflicts. European officials say this is unfounded and counter that US opposition ____8___ the commercial challenge Galileo would present to GPS. Galileo will be precise to within a meter， while the civilian GPS service is accurate to around 10 meters.
The Galileo satellite constellation7 will ____9____ 27 operational and three reserve satellites orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 23，600 km. The satellites will be strung8 along three medium-Earth orbits at 56 degrees inclination to the equator and will provide global coverage. The system should be operational by 2008 and the entire project is expected to ___10___ around 3.2 billion Euros (USD 3.6 billion)。
The European Commission has said Galileo will primarily be used for transportation technology， scientific research， land management and disaster monitoring.
Galileo will provide two signals; a standard civilian one and an encrypted， wide-band signal ___11___ the Public Regulated Service (PRS)9. This second signal is designed to withstand localized jamming and will be used by police and military services in Europe. European Commission ____12_____ have said China will not be given access to the PRS10.
The first Galileo satellite is scheduled to launch late in 2004. Clocks on board11 the _____13____ will be synchronized12 through 20 ground sensors stations， two command centers and 15 uplink stations.
Receivers on the ground will use time signals from the satellites to precisely calculate their ____14____. A “search and rescue” function will also ____15____ distress signals13 be relayed through the constellation of satellites.
詞匯：
infrastructure n.基礎結構，基礎設施
encrypt v.軌把……編碼
withstand v.抵擋；經受住
downgrade v.使降級
jam v.(信號)干擾
unfounded adj.無事實根據的
sensor n. 傳感器；敏感元件
constellation n. (衛星)群集
uplink n.(從地球到通訊衛星的)上行線路，向上傳輸
inclination n.傾斜
注釋：
1. GPS： Global Positioning System全球定位系統
2.the Galileo satellite system：伽利略人造衛星系統。指以意大利物理學家和天文學家伽利略(1564一1642)命名的人造衛星系統。
3.A more accurate civilian alternative：一種更精確的民用系統。alternative：另一種選擇。這里是相對美國軍用衛星導航系統而言的民用系統。alternative可以與to連用，又如：1 wanted to go out，but I had no money. I had no alternative to staying at home.我想出去，可是沒錢：只能呆在家里。
4. 230m Euros(USD 259m)：230 million Euros(USD 259 million)：二億三千萬歐元(二億五千九百萬美元)。Euro歐元。USD美元。
5.the European Commission：歐洲貿易委員會6.European Space Agency (ESA)：歐洲航天局7.the Galileo satellite constellation：伽利略人造衛星群8.strung： string的過去分詞形式，意思是：to arrange in a string or series使排成一行或一系列。
9.the Public Regulated Service (PRS)：公共調控服務系統10. China will not be given access to the PRS：中國無權使用公共調控服務系統。access to：有權使用11. on board：在船上，在公共交通工具內(in or on a ship or public vehicle)。又如：We went on board the ship.我們登上了輪船。
12. Clocks…will be synchronized： 鐘表將與……時間同步
13. distress signals：遇難信號
練習：
1. A) offer B) offered C) will offer D) has offered
2. A) funding B) providing C) paying D) charging
3. A) build B) use C) become D) do
4. A) in B) at C) on D) by
5. A) before B) ago C) after D) later
6. A) found B) produced C) positioned D) located
7. A) with B) for C) about D) above
8. A) results in B) gives rise to C) is due to D) causes
9. A) be made from B) consist of C) consist in D) be consisted of
10. A) spend B) gain C) give D) cost
11. A) offered B) called C) used D) turned
12. A) officials B) countries C) organization D) agreement
13. A) / B) the satellite C) the satellites D) satellites
14. A) speed B) direction C) distance D) location
15. A) send B) let C) allow D) transmit