You never see them, but they are with you every time you fly. They record where you are going, how fast you are traveling and whether everything on your airplane is functioning normally. Their ability to bear almost any disaster makes them seem like something out of a comic book. They are known as the black box.
When planes fall from the sky, as a Yemeni airliner did on its way to Comoros Islands in the India Ocean June 30, 2009, the black box is the best bet for identifying what went wrong. So when a French submarine detected the device’s homing signal five days later, the discovery marked a huge step toward determining the cause of a tragedy in which 152 passengers were killed.
In 1958, Australian scientist David Warren developed a flight memory recorder that would track basic information like altitude and direction. That was the first mode for a black box, which became a requirement on all U.S. commercial flights by 1960. Early models often failed to bear crashes, however, so in 1965 the device was completely redesigned and moved to the back of the plane-the area least subject to impact-from its original position in the landing wells (起落架舱). The same year, the Federal Aviation Authority required that the boxes, which were never actually black, be painted orange or yellow to aid visibility.
Modern airplanes have two black boxes: a voice recorder, which tracks pilots’ conversations, and a flight-data recorder, which monitors fuel levels, engine noises and other operating functions that help investigators reconstruct the aircraft’s final moments. Placed in an insulated case and surrounded by a quarter-inch-thick panels of stainless steel, the boxes can resist massive force and temperatures up to 2,000 F. When submerged, they are also able to emit signals from depths of 20,000 ft. Experts believe the boxes from Air France Flight 447, which crashed near Brazil on June 1,2009, are in water nearly that deep, but statistics say they are still likely to turn up. In the approximately 20 deep-sea crashes over the past 30 years, only one plane’s black boxes were never recovered.
1. What does the author say about the black box?
2. What information could be found from the black box on the Yemeni airliner?
3. Why was the black box redesigned in 1965?
4. Why did the Federal Aviation Authority require the black boxes be painted orange or yellow?
5. What do we know about the black boxes from Air France Flight 447?
问题1选项
A.It ensures the normal functioning of an airplane.
B.The idea for its design comes from a comic book.
C.Its ability to survive disasters is incredible.
D.It is a must on an airplane.
问题2选项
A.Data for analyzing the cause of the crash.
B.The total number of passengers on board.
C.The scene of the crash and extent of the damage.
D.Homing signals sent by the pilot before the crash.
问题3选项
A.New materials became available by that time.
B.Too much space was needed for its installation.
C.The early models often got damaged in the crash.
D.The early models did not provide the needed data.
问题4选项
A.To distinguish them from the color of the plane.
B.To caution people to handle them with care.
C.To make them easily identifiable.
D.To conform to international standards.
问题5选项
A.There is still a good chance of their being recovered.
B.There is an urgent need for them to be reconstructed.
C.They have stopped sending homing signals.
D.They were destroyed somewhere near Brazil.
第1题:D
第2题:A
第3题:C
第4题:C
第5题:A
第1题:
【选项释义】
1. What does the author say about the black box? 1. 关于黑匣子，作者说了什么？
A. It ensures the normal functioning of an airplane. A. 它保证了飞机的正常运行。
B. The idea for its design comes from a comic book. B. 它的设计灵感来自一本漫画书。
C. Its ability to survive disasters is incredible. C. 它在灾难中幸存的能力令人难以置信。
D. It is a must on an airplane. D. 这是飞机上的必需品。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】第一段第二句指出“它们可以记录你的飞行方向、飞行速度以及飞机上的一切是否正常”可知，黑匣子是用来记录飞机上的一切是否正常，然后后面三段举例证明黑匣子对于分析飞机事故原因是至关重要的，说明黑匣子是飞机上必不可少的东西，该题选择D项“这是飞机上的必需品”符合题意。
【干扰项排除】
A项“它保证了飞机的正常运行”，文中没有提到飞机的正常运行和黑匣子有关，该项属于无中生有；
B项“它的设计灵感来自一本漫画书”，原文第一段第三句只是提到“它们承受任何灾难的能力让它们看起来就像漫画书里的人物”，并不是说黑匣子的设计灵感来自于漫画书，该项属于曲解原文；
C项“它在灾难中幸存的能力令人难以置信”在原文虽然提到了黑匣子具有能承受任何灾难的能力，但该项中的incredible在原文没有体现，该项属于过度推理。
第2题:
【选项释义】
2. What information could be found from the black box on the Yemeni airliner? 2. 从也门航班的黑匣子中可以找到什么信息？
A. Data for analyzing the cause of the crash. A. 用于分析事故原因的数据。
B. The total number of passengers on board. B. 机上乘客总数。
C. The scene of the crash and extent of the damage. C. 坠机现场和损坏程度。
D. Homing signals sent by the pilot before the crash. D. 坠机前飞行员发出的归航信号。
【考查点】细节事实题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位至第二段第一句“2009年6月30日，一架也门客机在飞往印度洋科摩罗群岛的途中从空中坠落，黑匣子是确定事故原因的最佳选择”，理解可知，从也门航班的黑匣子中可以找到事故发生的原因，该题选择A项“用于分析事故原因的数据”符合题意。
【干扰项排除】B项“机上乘客总数”、C项“坠机现场和损坏程度”和D项“坠机前飞行员发出的归航信号”都没有提及，这三项属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
3. Why was the black box redesigned in 1965? 3. 为什么黑匣子在1965年被重新设计？
A. New materials became available by that time. A. 那时有了新的材料。
B. Too much space was needed for its installation. B. 安装它需要太多的空间。
C. The early models often got damaged in the crash. C. 早期的型号经常在碰撞中损坏。
D. The early models did not provide the needed data. D. 早期的型号没有提供所需的数据。
【考查点】细节事实题。
【解题思路】根据第三段第三句“然而，早期的型号往往无法承受坠机，因此在1965年，飞机被完全重新设计，并从最初的着陆井位置移到飞机后部——受冲击最小的区域”，可知黑匣子在1965年被重新设计是因为早期的型号无法承受坠机带来的损坏，该题选择C项“早期的型号经常在碰撞中损坏”符合题意。
【干扰项排除】A项“那时有了新的材料”、B项“安装它需要太多的空间”和D项“早期的型号没有提供所需的数据”都没有提及，这三项属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
4. Why did the Federal Aviation Authority require the black boxes be painted orange or yellow? 4. 为什么联邦航空管理局要求黑匣子被涂成橙色或黄色？
A. To distinguish them from the color of the plane. A. 把它们和飞机的颜色区分开来。
B. To caution people to handle them with care. B. 提醒人们要小心使用。
C. To make them easily identifiable. C. 使它们容易辨认。
D. To conform to international standards. D. 符合国际标准。
【考查点】细节事实题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位至第三段最后一句“同一年，联邦航空管理局要求这些实际上并不黑的黑匣子被涂成橙色或黄色，以提高能见度（to aid visibility）”可知，联邦航空管理局要求把黑匣子涂成橙色或黄色是为了使它们容易辨认，C项“使它们容易辨认”符合题意。
【干扰项排除】A项“把它们和飞机的颜色区分开来”、B项“提醒人们要小心使用”和D项“符合国际标准”没有提及，这三项属于无中生有。
第5题:
【选项释义】
5. What do we know about the black boxes from Air France Flight 447? 5. 关于法航447航班的黑匣子，我们知道些什么？
A. There is still a good chance of their being recovered. A. 它们仍有机会被找回来。
B. There is an urgent need for them to be reconstructed. B. 它们急需重建。
C. They have stopped sending homing signals. C. 它们已经停止发送归航信号。
D. They were destroyed somewhere near Brazil. D. 它们在巴西附近被摧毁了。
【考查点】细节事实题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位至最后一段倒数第二句“专家认为，2009年6月1日在巴西附近坠毁的法航447航班上的黑匣子就在差不多这么深的水中，但统计数据显示，它们仍有可能被找到（they are still likely to turn up）”可知，Air France Flight 447的例子主要是用来证明其前面的论点“当被淹没时，它们还能从2万英尺的深处发出信号”，所以关于法航447航班的黑匣子，我们可以知道它的黑匣子仍然有机会被找到，该题选择A项“它们仍有机会被找回来”符合题意。
【干扰项排除】
B项“它们急需重建”和D项“它们在巴西附近被摧毁了”没有依据，这两项属于无中生有；
C项“它们已经停止发送归航信号”与原文相反，原文提到黑匣子还能从2万英尺的深处发出信号，该项属于反向干扰。
