DataDots - PAEG inglés CLM

If you own a mobile phone or an iPod, you may worry that it will be stolen. These items are attractive to thieves, because they are easily transportable and difficult to trace.

But now a new method of identifying personal property makes tracing stolen items much easier because each item is marked with microscopic dots containing a laser-etched ID number. By checking an online register, police are able to identify owners of the stolen items once they have been recovered.

Identification numbers are not new, but what makes this system different is the fact that thousands of dots can be applied to any item. An Australian company, DataDot Technology, has developed a spray that can apply thousands of dots within minutes. Each dot is smaller than a pinhole and the identification number must be read using a magnifying glass under ultraviolet light.

DataDots are being used successfully on many different kinds of items from boats to jewellery. In the past, cars were attractive targets for thieves because parts could be sold separately. DataDots now make it possible for police to identify each part, and car theft in Australia has fallen dramatically. The dots can even be incorporated into thread and sewn into labels, to eliminate the possibility of being able to counterfeit brand-name clothing.

It is no wonder that DataDot Technology markets one particular product with the name DataDotDNA, because in fact the dots provide an inanimate object with identification as unique, and as permanent, as a person’s DNA or fingerprint.

I.  READING COMPREHENSION

Add TRUE or FALSE and copy the evidence from the text to support your answer. NO marks are given for only true or false.

   

1.    Thieves like small electronic items because they are not difficult to use.

• False: (paragraph 1) “they are easily transportable and difficult to trace”

2.    DataDots may be used by police to find out who owns stolen items.

• True: (paragraph 2) “By checking an online register, police are able to identify owners of the stolen items once they have been recovered.”

3.    DataDot Technology developed the identification number system.

• False: (paragraph 3) “Identification numbers are not new”

4.    DataDot Technology markets only one product.

• False: (paragraph 5) “one particular product”

II.    CHOOSE TWO OUT OF THE THREE QUESTIONS:

A. EXPRESSING THE MAIN IDEAS

Answer the following questions according to the information given in the text. Where possible, use your own words. 

1.    Why is it now harder for stolen items to remain unidentifiable?

• Because it is easier to mark items and to identify them.

2.    Why has there been a decrease in the number of car thefts in Australia?

• Thieves used to steal cars for their parts, but now, each part can be identified, so it’s harder for thieves to sell them.

B. LEXICON

Find words or phrases in the text that mean the same as these given.

1.    possess: own (paragraph 1)
2.    moveable: transportable (paragraph 1)
3.    decreased: fallen (paragraph 4)
4.    lifeless: inanimate (paragraph 5)

C. PHONETICS

Find words in the text with the following phonemes.

1.    Write two words from the text that have the same diphthong sound as “bird”. (Underline the part of the word which contains the diphthong.)

• personal, permanent

2.    Which of the following words has the same vowel sound as “five” /ai/?

• 1. mobile   2. unique    3. different

3.    Write a past form from the text that sounds the same as “jumped” /t/.

• developed

III. USE OF ENGLISH

       Rewrite the following sentences starting with the words given.

1. “My iPod was stolen last night,” Sue said.   

• Sue said that her iPod had been stolen the night before / the previous night.

2. The dots can even be incorporated into thread.   

• It is even possible to incorporate the dots into thread. / for the dots to be incorporated into thread.

3. Car theft in Australia has fallen dramatically.   

• There has been a dramatic fall in car theft in Australia.

4. “What is the identification number?” the police asked.   

• The police asked what the identification number was.

5. If he doesn’t return my iPod, I will complain.   

• Unless he returns my iPod, I will complain.

6. Seeing the identification numbers is impossible.   

• It is not possible to see the identification numbers.

+EXÁMENES RESUELTOS