Car Thieves Could Be Stopped Remotely

　　Speeding off in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch.But he is in a nasty surprise.The car is fitted with a remote immobilizer(使車輛不能調(diào)動(dòng)的裝置), and a radio signal from a control center miles away will ensure that once the thief switches the engine _1_ ，he will not be able to start it again.

　　For now, such devices _2_ only available for fleets of trucks and specialist vehicles used on construction sites.But remote immobilization technology could soon start to trickle down to ordinary cars.and _3_ be available to ordinary cars in the UK _4_ two months.

　　The idea goes like this.A control box fitted to the car incorporates _5_ miniature cellphone，a microprocessor and memory, and a GPS satellite positioning receiver. _6_ the car is stolen, a coded cellphone signal will tell the unit to block the vehicle’s engine management system and prevent the engine _7_ restarted.

　　There are even plans for immobilizers _8_ shut down vehicles on the move，though there are fears over the safety implications of such a system.

　　In the UK.an array of technical fixes is already making _9_ harder for car thieves.“The pattern of vehicles crime has changed，”says Martyn Randall of Thatcham.a security research organization based in Berkshire that is funded in part _10_ the motor insurance industry.

　　He says it would only take him a few minutes to _11_ a novice how to steal a car, using a bare minimum of tools.But only if the cal-is more than 10 years old.

　　Modern cars are a far tougher proposition，as their engine management computer will not _12_ them to start unless they receive a unique ID code beamed out by the ignition key.In the UK，technologies like this _13_ achieve a 31 per cent drop in vehicle-related crime since 1997.

　　But determined criminals ore still managing to find other ways to steal cars.Often by getting hold of the owner’s keys in a burglary.In 2000,12 per cent of vehicles stolen in the UK were taken using the owner’s keys double the previous year’s figure.

　　Remote-controlled immobilization system would _14_ a major new obstacle in the criminal’s way by making such thefts pointless.A group that includes Thatcham，the police，insurance companies and security technology firms have developed standards for a system that could go on the market sooner than the _15_ expects.

　　詞匯：

　　immobilizer/n.使車輛不能調(diào)動(dòng)的裝置

　　trickle/v.慢慢移動(dòng)

　　cellphone/n.移動(dòng)電話，手機(jī)

　　immobilization/n.使車輛不能調(diào)動(dòng)

　　ignition/n.點(diǎn)火

　　burglary/n.夜竊行為;盜竊

　　1. A) off B)on C)at D)of

　　2. A) is B)was C)were D)are

　　3. A) can B)have to C)need to D)should

　　4. A) after B)for C)in D)at

　　5. A) the B)/ C)a D)an

　　6. A) With B)If C)But D)And

　　7. A) helping B)being C)get D)be

　　8. A) whose B)who C)that D)when

　　9. A) life B)Cars C)warning D)problem

　　10. A) about B)to C)by D)on

　　11. A) use B)inform C)ask D)teach

　　12. A) let B)allow C)make D)give

　　13. A) have helped B)helped C)had helped D)was helped

　　14. A) speak B)have C)link D)put

　　15. A) lawyer B)doctor C)customer D)specialist