阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C和D四个选项中,选出最佳选项。Willie Sutton, a once celebrated American criminal, was partly famous for saying he robbed banks because "that's where the money is." Actually, museums are where the money is. In a single gallery there can be paintings worth more, taken together, than a whole fleet of jets. And while banks can hide their money in basements, museums have to put their valuables in plain sight.Nothing could be worse than the thought of a painting as important as The Scream, Edvard Munch's impressive image of a man screaming against the backdrop of a blood-red sky, disappearing into a criminal underworld that doesn't care much about careful treatment of art works. Art theft is a vast problem around the world. As many as 10,000 precious items of all kinds disappear each year. And for smaller museums in particular, it may not be a problem they can afford to solve. The money for insurance on very famous pictures would be budget destroyers even for the largest museums.Although large museums have had their share of embarrassing robberies, the greatest problem is small institutions. Neither can afford heavy security. Large museums attach alarms to their most valuable paintings, but a modest alarm system can cost $500,000 or more. Some museums are looking into tracking equipment that would allow them to follow stolen items once they leave the museums. But conservators are concerned that if they have to insert something, it might damage the object. Meanwhile, smaller museums can barely afford enough guards, relying instead on elderly staff.Thieves sometimes try using artworks as money for other underworld deals. The planners of the 2006robbery of Russborough House near Dublin, who stole 18 paintings, tried in vain to trade them for Irish Republican Army members held in British prison. Others demand a ransom(赎金) from the museum that owns the pictures. Once thieves in Frankfurt, Germany, made off with two major works by J. M. W. Turner from the Tate Gallery in London. The paintings, worth more than $80 million, were recovered in 2012 after the Tate paid more than $5 million to people having "information" about the paintings. Though ransom is illegal in Britain, money for looking into a case is not, provided that police agree the source of the information is unconnected to the crime. All the same, where information money end s and ransom begins is often a gray area.
(1)
Why do smaller museums face a greater challenge in preventing art theft?
A . They lack experienced staff.
B . They cannot afford high-tech security systems.
C . They do not have valuable artworks.
D . They lack interest in art conservation.
(2)
What is the concern of conservators regarding the use of tracking equipment to prevent art theft?
A . It might damage the artwork.
B . It is too expensive for smaller museums.
C . It is difficult to insert into the paintings.
D . It is ineffective for valuable paintings.
(3)
From Paragraph 4, we can learn that ____.
A . the thieves demanded a ransom from the Tate Gallery
B . the Tate Gallery regained the lost paintings illegally
C . the money paid was considered an information fee, not a ransom
D . the police requested the Tate Gallery to pay the money
(4)
The purpose of this passage is ____.
A . to remind criminals to protect and preserve the painting
B . to give suggestions on how to avoid the crimes of art theft
C . to urge museums to set up more advanced security systems
D . to make people aware of art theft and the necessity of good security systems
答案: B
A
C
D