同等學力英語閱讀及翻譯專項練習 4

For more than 10 years there has been a bigger rise in car crime than in most other types of crime. An average of more than two cars a minute are broken into, vandalized ( 破壞 ) or stolen in the UK. Car crime accounts for almost a third of all reported offences with no signs that the trend is slowing down.

Although there are highly professional criminals involved in car theft, almost 90 percent of car crime is committed by the opportunist. Amateur thieves are aided by our carelessness. When the Automobile Association (AA) engineers surveyed one town center car park last year, 10 percent of cars checked were unlocked, a figure backed up by a Home Office national survey that found 12 percent of drivers sometimes left their cars unlocked.

The vehicles are sitting in petrol stations while drivers pay for their fuel. The AA has discovered that cars are left unattended for an average of three minutes—and sometimes much longer—as drivers buy drinks, cigarettes and other consumer items and then pay at the counter. With payment by credit card more and more common, it is not unusual for a driver to be out of his car as long as six minutes providing the car thief with a golden opportunity.

In an exclusive AA survey, carried out at a busy garage on a main road out of London , 300 motorists were questioned over three days of the holiday period. 24 percent admitted that they “always” or “sometimes” leave the keys in the car. This means that nationwide, a million cars daily become easy targets for the opportunist thief.

The AA recommends locking up whenever you leave the car—and for however short a period. A partially open sunroof or window is a further come-on to thieves.

Leaving valuables in view is an invitation to the criminal. A Manchester probationary ( 假釋期 ) service research project, which interviewed almost 100 car thieves last year, found many would investigate a coat thrown on a seat. Never leave any documents showing your home address in the car. If you have a garage, use it and lock it—a garaged car is at substantially less risk.

There are many other traps to avoid. The Home Office has found little awareness among drivers about safe parking. Most motorists questioned made no efforts to avoid parking in quiet spots away from street lights—just the places thieves love. The AA advises drivers to park in places with people around—thieves do not like audiences.

1. The passage seems to imply that payment by credit card ______.

A. is preferable for safe parking B. is now a common practice

C. takes longer than necessary D. aids a car thief in a way

2. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

A. In the UK , a million cars are stolen daily.

B. In the UK , there are amateur car thieves only.

C. There are more car crimes than any other type of offences.

D. One in ten drivers invites car theft due to carelessness.

3. The researches mentioned in the passage on car theft include all the following EXCEPT ______.

A. checking private garages B. interviewing motorists

C. questioning car thieves D. examining parking lots

4. The best way for a driver to avoid car theft is ______.

A. leaving documents showing one's home address in the car

B. locking one's car in a parking lot at any time

C. not leaving the car unattended for longer than necessary

D. not leaving a sunroof or window partially open

5. In the last paragraph, the term “safe parking” means ______.

A. not parking under street lights B. not parking in front of a theatre or cinema

C. avoiding traps set by a possible car thief D. parking where a lot of people pass by

十多年來，汽車犯罪率一直比大多數其他類型的犯罪率上升得都快。在英國，平均一分鐘就有超過兩輛的汽車被闖入、遭破壞或是被偷竊。汽車犯罪幾乎占了所有報道過的犯罪的三分之一，并且沒有跡象顯示這種趨勢正在減緩。

盡管所涉及的汽車盜竊案中有非常職業的罪犯，但是，幾乎百分之九十的汽車犯罪案都是機會主義者犯下的。我們的粗心大意助長了業余盜竊者的盜竊行為。去年，“汽車協會”的工程師在調查一個鎮中心的停車場時發現，百分之十被調查的汽車沒有上鎖，這一數字得到了內政部一次全國性調查的證實——該調查發現，百分之十二的司機有時不鎖汽車。

司機在付油錢時車輛就停在加油站。“汽車協會”發現，當司機去購買飲料、香煙和其他消費品然后到柜臺付款時，汽車無人照顧的平均時間為三分鐘——有時長得多。由于用信用卡付款越來越普遍，司機不在車里的時間長達六分鐘的現象也就不罕見了，這就為盜車賊提供了絕好的機會。

“汽車協會”在倫敦市外一條主干道旁的一家繁忙的汽車修理廠進行了一次專門調查，在為期三天的假期中詢問了三百名司機。百分之二十四的司機承認，他們“經常”或“有時”把鑰匙留在車上。這就意味著：在全國范圍內，每天有一百萬輛汽車容易成為機會主義盜竊賊的目標。

“汽車協會”忠告：無論你什么時候離開車輛，你都應該上鎖——不管多短的時間都應該這樣。對于盜車賊來說，開了一半的天窗和車窗也是一種誘惑。

對于罪犯來說，把你的貴重物品放在可以看得見的地方是一種誘惑。去年，對曼徹斯特的緩刑期服刑人員實施了一個研究計劃——該研究計劃采訪了一百名盜車賊，結果發現：許多盜車賊會研究扔在車座上的外套。千萬不要遺留任何顯示你家庭地址的文件在車里。如果你有車庫，你就應該利用它，并鎖上它——一輛開進車庫的汽車被盜竊的風險要小得多。

還有許多其他方法可以避免汽車被盜。內政部發現，司機幾乎沒有安全停車的意識。大多數被詢問的司機沒有盡量避免把汽車停在遠離路燈的僻靜之處——這種地方正是盜車賊喜歡的地方。“汽車協會”勸告司機把汽車停在周圍有人出入的地方——盜車賊不喜歡有旁觀者。

參考答案 ： 1 ． D 2 ． D 3 ． A 4 ． B 5 ． D