Passage Three
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 (锁止器), 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 (全球定位系统) 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 bare minimum 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 (点火) 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.(C)
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(B)
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.(A)
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.(D)
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.(B)
这是一篇讲述汽车防盗系统的说明文。文章开头另辟蹊径，以场景描述开篇，叙述一个偷车贼在偷车逃跑的过程中如何受困于防盗系统。这个场景言简意赅，概括了本篇所述的防盗系统的三个要点：immobiliser (锁止器)，a control centre(控制中心)，以及其结果not be able to start it again(不可启动)。第一段以场景描述形象地向读者介绍了本篇讨论的核心内容，引起读者的阅读兴趣，随后的第二段马上以专业语言对这一系统进行描述。这种布局法显然好于开篇就直接介绍防盗[考试大]系统的工作原理。
接下来的一段援引一个安全专家的话介绍了英国国内汽车偷盗现象的现状：因为车上安装了一套技术装置(a set of technical fixes)，使得现在的偷车贼无法再用以前的方法轻松地偷车成功。
第四段进一步讲解了这套技术装置的原理，并指出这种技术使与车辆有关的犯罪发生率下降了31%(achieve a 31% drop in vehicle-related crime)。第三、四这两段说明的目的是为后文新的防盗系统的出现做好铺垫——因为旧有的方法不再奏效，许多偷车贼开始使用一种更为原始的方式：getting hold of the owner’s keys(偷钥匙)，本文的所介绍的防盗系统就是为了应付这种偷盗方式而出现的——这是第五段的内容。
文章的最后两段具体说明了这种系统的工作方式。第六代说明的是汽车失窃的第一阶段：发出信号“send a signal to an operations centre that it has been stolen”。第七段说明第二阶段：工作人员确认失窃，并协助警方追捕盗贼。
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.(C)
题目问轿车上安装的远程锁止器的功能是什么。
文章第一次提到锁止器是在第一段第二行，纵观四个题支，其内容涉及得基本全部是第一段。把第一段的内容理解透彻之后，得出正确结论并不难。
第一段前两句是一种场景描述，意在构筑类似小说的情景。最后一个长句才是关键。前半句The car is fitted with a remote immobilizer，汽车安装了一个远程锁止器;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，一个数英里外的控制中心会发送一种无线电信号，一旦窃贼关掉引擎，就不可能再点着了。乍看之下，作者并没有说锁止器和引擎失效之间的联系，因为锁死引擎的信号是控制中心发出的，而控制中心和锁止器在这一段中并没有发生联系。要详细了解这套系统的工作方式，还要看第二段。第二段给出了具体说明：车上安装了一套设备，如果汽车被偷，就会发出手机信号告知控制中心锁死汽车的引擎控制系统，不让引擎再次启动。
A，帮助警察对偷车贼发动突然袭击。在本文的例子中，锁止器确实帮了警察这个忙(he is in for an unwelcome surprise)，但很显然帮警察发动突然袭击不是它的功能。
B，使汽车被偷时自动锁死。Automaticlly，自动地。但由第二段signal will tell the control centre to block可知，锁死汽车的是控制中心，汽车并不是自动锁死的。
C，它停止时防止偷车贼重新启动它。这句话应该就是出题者心目中的答案。不过从纯语言的角度讲，这句话也存在问题，问题就在于it指代不清。题目问的是What’s the function of the remote immobilizer fitted to a car?那么完整的回答就应该是the function of the remote immobilizer fitted to a car is to prevent the car thief from restarting it once it stops。在这个句子中，后面的it不可能是指的car，因为car是thief的定语，不是实体。按照这句话的结构，it指的应该是锁止器，那么C的说法就错了。如果出题人能把题支改成To prevent the car thief from restarting the engine once it stops就没有问题了。
D，通过向汽车主人发送无线电信号防止汽车被偷。根据第三段的内容，无线电信号是发送给了控制中心(signal will tell the control centre to)，而不是汽车的主人。
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(B)
题目问Randall所说的The pattern of vehicle crime has changed是指什么。
A，偷车贼偷窃汽车所费时间更长了。
B，自行准备的工具对于偷窃汽车来说已经不够用了。
C，窃贼不得不使用电脑技术。
D，窃贼已经对偷窃汽车失去兴趣超过十年了。
对于理解文中某句话的意义这类题，只能通过上下文的内容进行逻辑推理找出答案。这句话的本意是“车辆犯罪的方式已经发生了变化”。Randall说出这句话是在第三段中间部分，这一句之前的一句是In the UK, a set of technical fixes is already making life harder for car thieves，意思是在英国，一套技术装置已经让偷车贼们感到生活更为艰难了。之后的二句是He says it would only take him a few minutes to teach a person how to steal a car, using a bare minimum of tools. But only if the car is more than 10 years old，意思是一个偷车贼教会一个人用最少的工具偷车只需几分钟，但除非那车已经是十多年前的了。
第一句实际上对这句话的理解很有帮助，因为这句话里出现了change(变化)，而第一句里有harder(更为艰难了)，是一个比较级，含有变化的意思。不过从这句还看不出这种生活的艰难具体是指什么，而后面两句显然是对此的解释。“一个偷车贼教会一个人用最少的工具偷车只需几分钟”，这里涵盖的信息的是偷车贼使用很少的工具在很短的时间就可以偷车成功，相对于前面的harder，这无疑是一种轻松的生活。“但除非那车已经是十多年前的了”，意思是偷车贼的轻松生活只有在十多年前的车上实现，暗含有现在的车已经不是那样了的意思，这里表达的也是“change”。由此可见，文Randall的这句话意思就是偷[考试[大]车贼已经不能像十多年前那样只用很少的工具很少的时间就能偷车成功。四个答案中C和D存在明显的错误。A是说时间变长，B是说工具不够用了，这二者中起关键作用的还是工具不够用，时间变长实际上是工具不够用的结果，选择B更为合理。
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.(A)
题目问使一辆现代的轿车更难被偷的根本因素是什么。
A，加密点火钥匙。
B，唯一的身份卡。
C，特殊的手机信号。
D，GPS卫星定位接收器。
第三段引用Martyn Randall的话指明了当代汽车因为某种技术装置而难于被偷的事实，第四段就是对这种技术装置的详细说明。开头的一句话就是本题所问的问题：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 key，前半句是题目本身：现在的汽车远比以前难偷;而后是单词as，表示“因为”而不是“当”，as后面就是理由：“引擎控制系统的电脑不允许汽车发动，除非它们接到一个由点火钥匙发出的唯一的身份码。”
这里没有直接提到特殊的手机信号和GPS定位系统，这二者是在第二段的介绍中出现的，它们是锁止器系统中的要素，而本段讨论的是锁止器出现之前就已经普遍存在的防盗系统，正是因为这一系统使一些偷车贼转而去偷钥匙，最终促使锁止器系统的出现。
而在点火钥匙与身份卡之间，可以判断出身份卡是由钥匙发出的，有了钥匙就有了身份卡，身份卡不能独立于钥匙而存在，这样看的话，钥匙应该是核心因素。应该选择A。
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.(D)
题目问为什么跟踪系统要设置一个100米的最[考试[大]小行驶量，之后才向操作中心发出警报。
可以看到倒数第二段说明了设置这个100米最小行驶量的原因：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。第一句是题干里所述的情况，随后的一句对原因进行了解释：一百米的最小量可以防止由GPS不准确造成的假警报。
A，给操作中心发警报留出时间。文中没有提到。不过从逻辑上讲，如果跟踪系统不发出警报，控制中心是不会知道汽车被盗的，也就永远不会发出警报，谈不上留出时间。
B，使警察随时获知汽车的行驶方位。这是全文最后一句提到的内容，是在发出警报之后的事情了。
C，给驾驶者留出时间来与操作中心联系。汽车被盗后的驾驶者显然是偷[考试[大]车贼，偷车贼会和操作中心联系什么呢?
D，预防GPS系统的可能错误。与前面的分析一致。
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.(B)
题目问操作中心在接收到警报后首先要做的是什么。
A， 启动跟踪系统。
B， 联系车主。
C， 锁定汽车引擎。
D， 确定丢失车辆的位置。
倒数第二段讲到车辆被偷后，跟踪系统会把被偷的信息发给操作中心(the system will send a signal to an operations centre that it has been stolen)，这就是题目所说的操作中心接到了警报。接下来的一段讲的就是操作中心的反应：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。一共两点，第一是首先联系车主确认车辆是否失踪，然后通过车上的GPS随时把车辆的位置告知警方。可见第一步是联系车主，B是正确的。
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