A mobile phone service which makes your handset (手机) scream when it's been stolen has been started, with its makers claiming it could put an end to mobile theft altogether.

  The Remote XT system uses software to link customers' mobile phones directly to a secure remote server, which stores all their data from phone numbers to text messages and e-mails. If the owner's phone is lost or stolen? he can dial a 24-hour call centre and have it registered as stolen. The handset is then disabled, and cannot even be used if a new SIM card is put in. At the same time, the system sets off an alarm sounding like a highpitched (声音尖锐的) scream, which can only be stopped by removing the battery.

  Existing data is also wiped off the phone but, because the information has been stored centrally, it can be retrieved as soon as the victim gets a new phone, the system design-ers said.

  “By making mobiles unusable to anyone but the rightful owner, the phones become worthless and we will see the market for sto-len handsets stopped once and for all, ”said Mark Whiteman, managing director of Re-mote XT. “Such phones cause disaster for the huge criminal industry that has profited from mobile theft for too long. ”

  For the moment the system is aimed at business customers and comes with a fee of 9. 99 pounds per month, possibly available to the majority of average user within two years as mobile technology advances.

  According to the latest UK government statistics, mobile phone theft has risen 190 per cent in recent years, with one third of all UK robberies now only involving mobile phones. It's estimated a mobile handset is stolen every 12 seconds in Britain costing UK consumers around 390 million pounds ($ 735 million) every year.

(1) The passage mainly focuses on________.

[  ]

A.a mobile phone security system

B.the advance in mobile technology

C.suggestions on mobile phone use

D.mobile phone theft in the UK

(2) Which of the following is NOT true about the Remote XT system?

[  ]

A.It uses software to disable customers' stolen phones.

B.It takes remote control of phones sto-len or lost.

C.Owners can get their phones back with the help of it.

D.Now only business customers benefit from it.

(3) The underlined word “retrieved” (in Par-agraph 3) probably means “________”.

[  ]

A.destroyed

B.restored

C.examined

D.protected

(4) According to the passage, phone theft in the UK can be best described as________.

[  ]

A.severe

B.illegal

C.civil

D.popular

People have been painting pictures for at least 30,000 years. The earliest pictures were painted by people who hun??ted animals. They used to paint pictures of the animals they wanted to catch and kill. Pictures of this kind have been found on the walls of caves in France and Spain. No one knows why they were painted there. Perhaps the painters thought that their pictures would help them to catch these animals. Or per??haps human beings have always wanted to tell stories accord??ing to pictures.

About 5,000 years ago the Egyptians and other people in the Near East began to use pictures as a kind of writing. They drew simple pictures or signs to represent things and ideas, and also to represent the sounds of their language. The signs these people used became a kind of alphabet(字母表).

The Egyptians used to record information and to tell sto??ries by putting picture-writing and pictures together. When an important person died, scenes and stories from his life were painted and carved on the walls of the place where he was bur??ied. Some of these pictures are like modem comic-strip sto??ries. It has been said that Egypt is the home of the comic-strip. But, for the Egyptians, pictures still had magic power. So they did not try to make their way of writing simple. The ordinary people could not understand it.  

By the year 1,000 BC, people who lived in the area a-round the Mediterranean Sea had developed a simpler system of writing. The signs they used were very easy to write, and there were fewer of them than in the Egyptian system. This was because each sign, or letter, represented only one sound in their language. The Greeks developed this system and formed the letters of the Greek alphabet. The Romans copied the idea, and the Roman alphabet is now used all over the world.

These days we can write down a story, or record informa??tion, without using pictures. But we still need pictures of all kinds: drawings, photographs, signs and diagrams. We find them everywhere: in books and newspapers, in the streets, and on the walls of the places where we live and work. Pic??tures help us to understand and remember things more easily, and they can make a story much more interesting.

6. Pictures of animals were painted on the walls of caves in France and Spain because ________.

A. the hunters wanted to see the pictures  B. the painters were animal lovers

C. the painters wanted to show imagination D. the pictures were thought to be helpful

7.The Greek alphabet was simpler than the Egyptian system for all the following reasons EXCEPT that ________.  

A. the former was easy to write         B. there were fewer signs in the former

C. the former was easy to pronounce    D. each sign stood for only one sound

8. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The Egyptian signs later became a particular alphabet.

B. The Egyptians liked to write comic-strip stories.

C. The Roman alphabet was developed from the Egyptian one.

D. The Greeks copied their writing system from the Egyp??tians.

9. In the last paragraph, the author thinks that pictures __________.

A. should be made comprehensible         B. should be made interesting

C. are of much use in our life             D. are disappearing from our life

阅读理解。
     She was known to millions as the "Queen of Crime" or the " Duchess (女公爵) of death". But surprisingly,
she hated violence and blood, and knew nothing of the weapons most often used in murder."I don't think I dare
look at a really horrible and damaged body." Agatha Christie once said.
     But her pen dared travel where her eyes would not. In a 50-year writing career, Christie's murder stories
made her the world's best-known mystery writer. She is outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare.
     Her works have been turned into films and TV series, and a line of computer games is to be released over
the next six years.
     "My grandmother liked to use new ways to reach people who wanted to enjoy her work," said Christie's
grandson, Mathew Pri- chard."Turning her stories into PC games allows us to introduce classic mysteries to
new audiences.
     Born in 1890 in England, Christie was educated at home and began her writing career while working as a
nurse during World War I. She went on to produce 79 novels and numerous short sto- ries, dying at the age
of 86.
     "With her knowledge of murder, Christie could have been a teacher at police academies," said one fan.
1. By which means can't we learn the works of Christie?
A. Watching TV.
B. Going to the cinema.
C. Reading novels.
D. Playing computer games.
2. Mathew Prichard's words suggest that ____.
A. Christie had been trying to write different stories in different styles
B. Christie was fond of changing styles while writing
C. Christie's works are short of audiences
D. People began to lose interest in Christie's works
3. The fifth paragraph mainly _____ .
A. tells us Christie is a productive writer
B. gives us a brief introduction of Christie
C. tells us when Christie took up writing
D. tells us why Christie was popular

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