Joe Templer should have known better: after all, he works for a large auto-insurance company. It won't hurt to leave the key in the truck this once, he thought, as he filled his gas tank at a self-service gas station. But moments later as he was paying the money he saw the truck being driven away.
In 1987, 1.6 million motor vehicles were stolen in the United States -- one in every 20 seconds. If current trends continue, expert predict annual vehicle thefts could exceed two million by the end of the decade.
Vehicle theft is a common phenomenon, which has a direct impact on over four million victims a year. the cost is astonishing.
Many police officials blame professional thieves for the high volume of thefts. It is major money-maker for organized crime. Typically, stolen cars are taken to pieces and the parts sold to individuals. But as many as 200,000 care are smuggled out of the country every year. Most go to Latin America, the Middle East and Europe.
Only about 15 percent car thefts result in an arrest, because few police departments routinely conduct in-depth auto-investigations. When thieves are arrested, judges will often sentence them to probation, not immediately put them in prison because the prisons are overcrowded with violent criminals.
One exception is a Michigan program that assigns 92 police officers to work full-time on the state's 65,000 car theft cases a year. Since 1986, when the effort began, the state's auto-theft rate has fallen from second in the nation to ninth.
How can you protect your car? If you live in a high-theft city or drive an expensive model, consider a security system. It may cost anywhere from '25 to '1,000. Some systems engage automatically-simply removing the key disables the fuel pump and the starter. When cars are equipped with such systems, thefts may drop by one-third. In some states, you may be able to use a device that transmits radio signals, allowing stolen cars to be tracked by police.
Questions: 71. What is the passage mainly about? 72. What does the author think Joe Templer should be blamed for? 73. How serious did the author think the annual vehicle theft could be in the United States in 1989? 74. What are the two ways thieves sell the stolen cars? 75. What type of security system can help the police track down a stolen car?
答案：71. Vehicle theft and security system in U.S. 72. Having left his key in the truck. 73. Over 2 million vehicles would be stolen. 74. Selling by parts and smuggling into other countries. 75. The type transmitting radio signals.
