【真題測試】passage 3
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Speeding off in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch. But he is in for an unwelcome surprise. The car is fitted with a remote immobiliser (鎖止器), and a radio signal from a control centre miles away will ensure that once the thief switches the engine off, he will not be able to start it again.
The idea goes like this. A control box fitted to the car contains a mini-cellphone, a micro-processor and memory, and a GPS (全球定位系統(tǒng)) satellite positioning receiver. If the car is stolen, a coded cellphone signal will tell the control centre to block the vehicle’s engine management system and prevent the engine being restarted.
In the UK, a set of technical fixes is already making life harder for car thieves. ‘The pattern of vehicle crime has changed,’ says Martyn Randall, a security expert. He says it would only take him a few minutes to teach a person how to steal a car, using a bareminimum of tools. But only if the car is more than 10 years old.
Modern cars are far tougher to steal, as their engine management computer won’t allow them to start unless they receive a unique ID code beamed out by the ignition (點火) key. In the UK, technologies like this have helped achieve a 31% drop in vehicle-related crime since 1997.
But determined criminals are still managing to find other ways to steal cars, often by getting bold of the owner’s keys. And key theft is responsible for 40% of the thefts of vehicles fitted with a tracking system.
If the car travels 100 metres without the driver confirming their ID, the system will send a signal to an operations centre that it has been stolen. The hundred metres minimum avoids false alarms due to inaccuracies in the GPS signal.
Staff at the centre will then contact the owner to confirm that the car really is missing, and keep police informed of the vehicle’s movements via the car’s GPS unit.
31. What’s the function of the remote immobilizer fitted to a car?
A) To help the police make a surprise attack on the car thief.
B) To allow the car to lock automatically when stolen.
C) To prevent the car thief from restarting it once it stops.
D) To prevent car theft by sending a radio signal to the car owner.
32. By saying “The pattern of vehicle crime has changed” (Lines 1-2. Para. 3), Martyn Randall suggests that ________.
A) it takes a longer time for the car thief to do the stealing
B) self-prepared tools are no longer enough for car theft
C) the thief has to make use of computer technology
D) the thief has lost interest in stealing cars over 10 years old
33. What is essential in making a modem car tougher to steal?
A) A coded ignition key.
B) A unique ID card.
C) A special cellphone signal.
D) A GPS satellite positioning receiver.
34. Why does the tracking system set a 100-metre minimum before sending an alarm to the operations centre?
A) To leave time for the operations centre to give an alarm.
B) To keep police informed of the car’s movements.
C) To give the driver time to contact the operations centre.
D) To allow for possible errors in the GPS system.
35. What will the operations centre do first after receiving an alarm?
A) Start the tracking system.
B) Contact the car owner.
C) Block the car engine.
D) Locate the missing car.
【文章分析】
第一段:首先描摹了偷車賊偷車后的一個場景,然后引出鎖止器的作用
第二段:具體說明鎖止器的工作原理。
第三段:裝有高科技防盜設備的現(xiàn)代車迫使偷車賊的老伎倆不管用了。
第四段:第一句說明為什么裝有高科技防盜設備的現(xiàn)代車的防盜性能更強,第二句則是說明這個優(yōu)勢的結果,即與車相關的犯罪率的下降。
第五段:偷車賊的其他花招。
第六段:系統(tǒng)中的100米的確認距離及其產生的原因。
第七段:報警后的操作過程。