We’ll go shopping without mobile phones

◆Susan

A UK supermarket has become the first in the world to let shoppers pay for groceries using just the veins(靜脈) in their fingertips.Customers at the Costcutter store, at Brunel University in London, can now pay using their unique vein pattern to identify themselves.The firm behind the technology, Sthaler, has said it is in “serious talks” with other major UK supermarkets to adopt hi-tech finger vein scanners at pay points across thousands of stores.

It works by using infrared(紅外線) to scan people’s finger veins and then links this unique biometric map to their bank cards.Customers’ bank details are then stored with payment provider Worldpay, in the same way you can store your card details when shopping online.Shoppers can then turn up to the supermarket with nothing on them but their own hands and use it to make payments in just three seconds.

It comes as previous studies have found fingerprint recognition, used widely on mobile phones, is vulnerable(易受攻擊的) to being hacked and can be copied even from finger smears(污點) left on phone screens.But Sthaler, the firm behind the technology, claims vein technology is the most secure biometric identification method as it cannot be copied or stolen.Sthaler said dozens of students were already using the system and it expected 3,000 students out of 13,000 to have signed up by November.

The technology uses an infrared light to create a detailed map of the vein pattern in your finger.It requires the person to be alive, meaning in the unlikely event a criminal hacks off someone’s finger, it would not work.Sthaler said it take just one minute to sign up to the system initially and, after that, it takes just seconds to place your finger in a scanner each time you reach the supermarket checkout.

Simon Binns, commercial director of Sthaler, told theDaily Telegraph： “This makes payments so much easier for customers.This is the safest form of biometrics.There are no known incidences where this security has been breached.When you put your finger in the scanner it checks you are alive, it checks for a pulse, and it checks for hemoglobin(血紅蛋白).Your vein pattern is secure because it is kept on a database in an encrypted(加密的) form, as binary(二進制) numbers.No card details are stored with the retailer or ourselves, it is held with Worldpay, in the same way it is when you buy online.”

閱讀理解

1.From the first paragraph we can learn that _____.

A.at present the UK has the first one supermarket using the veins to pay the bills

B.the hi-tech fingerprint payment is very popular in the UK

C.the firm behind the technology needn’t persuade supermarkets to cooperate

D.the technology will be promoted worldwide in the near future

2.According to the first two paragraphs, we can infer that ______.

A.all students at Brunel University can pay without money

B.people shall talk seriously with the supermarket before paying

C.paying with vein pattern may take a long time in the supermarket

D.there are no persons in the world who have the same vein pattern

3.What’s the main idea of the third paragraph?

A.Fingerprint recognition was used widely on mobile phones.

B.The number of the students studying in the university is very big,

C.Vein technology cannot be copied but easy to steal.

D.Many students have accepted the security of the technology.

4.The reasons why vein technology is the most secure biometric identification method are ____.

①it cannot be reproduced②it cannot be stolen③the payer must be alive ④it takes one minute to finish a scan⑤there is no need to register

A.①②⑤ B.①②③ C.③④⑤ D.②③④

5.Which statement about the hi-tech payment is NOT its characteristic?

A.It makes payments much easier for customers.

B.It is the safest form of biometrics.

C.The passwords are kept in the same way as online.

D.Pay successfully only by your fingerprints.

答案與解析

1.A。細節理解題。文章第一段第一句話可以知道A選項與之相符，其他選項都不符合句意。

2.D。推理判斷題。根據文章第一段和第二段的第一句話中“unique”一詞可以知道D正確。

3.D。主旨大意題。連詞But之后的內容是作者強調的重點，故D正確。

4.B。細節理解題。根據第三段第二句話和第四段第二句話可以知道①②③符合題意。

5.D。細節理解題。文章最后一段Simon Binns的話可以看到各選項內容，只有D不符合文中句意。

長難句分析

1.The firm behind the technology, Sthaler, has said it is in “serious talks” with other major UK supermarkets to adopt hi-tech finger vein scanners at pay points across thousands of stores.

發明這項技術的公司Sthaler表示，他們正在和英國其他主要超市“認真溝通”，讓數千家商店的收銀處采用高科技指尖靜脈掃描儀。

這是個復合句。賓語從句中serious有“認真的”之意。賓語從句中的不定式是目的狀語。

2.It requires the person to be alive, meaning in the unlikely event a criminal hacks off someone’s finger, it would not work.支付者必須是活人，這意味著一旦犯罪分子切下某人的手指，那也是行不通的。

這是個復合句。句中meaning及其后面的內容是分詞做狀語，“it would not work”是虛擬語氣。例如：If I were in Beijing now, I would visit the Forbidden City.如果我現在在北京，我就去參觀紫禁城了。