Have you ever counted the number of digits (数字) in your mobile phone number? Your number has 11 digits. You may sometimes find it hard to remember your number. That’s because China has the longest mobile phone numbers in the world. Why is that?

The 11 digits can be divided into three parts. Each part has a different meaning. The first three numbers tell you which mobile phone service provider (提供者) you are using For example, 135 is for China Mobile Communications Corporation and 188 is for China Unicom. The fourth to the seventh digits tell you where the number is registered (注册). And the last four digits are random (随机的).

The main reason for using 11 digits is that we have the largest population in the world. We once had 10 numbers. But as our population grew, there were not enough numbers for us to use. So we began to use 11 digits starting from 1999. Eleven digits can be used to make tens of billions of mobile phone numbers. That’s enough for each person to have seven or eight phone numbers to use in China.

And mobile phone numbers can be recycled. Usually, the service provider will reuse a canceled number after three to six months. If you call a number that you haven’t contacted (联系) for a long time, you may find that its owner has changed.

Besides China, Britain and Japan also use 11-digit mobile phone numbers. But their numbers always start with 0. So they cannot create as many numbers as we can. Countries like the United States, Australia and India use phone numbers with 10 digits. Canada’s mobile phone numbers are perhaps the shortest in the world: they use seven digits.

56. Is China the only country that uses 11-digit mobile phone numbers in the world?

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57. What can we know from the fourth to the seventh digits of a mobile phone number in China?

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58. Why does China use 11 digits for mobile phone numbers?

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59. When can a mobile phone number be recycled in China?

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60. Which country perhaps has the shortest mobile phone numbers in the world?

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【答案】56. No, it isn’t. / No.

57. We can know where the number is registered.

58. Because China has/we have the largest population in the world.

59. After three to six months.

60. Canada.

【解析】

【分析】

短文大意：本文介绍了我们国家的手机号码为什么是11位及一些国家的手机号码的位数。

【56题详解】

题意：中国是世界上唯一使用11位数手机号码的国家吗?考查细节理解题。根据第五段第一句Besides China, Britain and Japan also use 11-digit mobile phone numbers.，可知答案是否定的，故填No, it isn’t. / No.。

【58题详解】

题意：中国为什么使用11位数的手机号码?考查细节理解题。根据第三段第一句The fourth to the seventh digits tell you where the number is registered，可知是因为人口众多，故填Because China has/we have the largest population in the world.。

【59题详解】

题意：在中国，手机号码何时能被回收?考查细节理解题。根据第四段第二句Usually, the service provider will reuse a canceled number after three to six months.可知，手机不使用三到六个月后被取消，故填After three to six months.。

【60题详解】

题意：哪个国家的手机号码可能是世界上最短的?考查细节理解题。根据最后一句Canada’s mobile phone numbers are perhaps the shortest in the world: they use seven digits.，可知是加拿大，故填Canada。

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