Question

PERTH—Search crews will send a submarine(潜航器)deep into the Indian Ocean on Monday for the first time to try to determine whether signals detected by sound-locating equipment are from the  missing Malaysian plane's black boxes, the Australian head of the search said.

    Angus Houst on said the crew on board the Ocean Shield  will send the underwater vehicle sometime Monday evening. The Bluefin 21 submarine can create a sonar(声呐)map of the area to chartany wreckage(残骸)on the seafloor.

    The move comes after crews picked up a series of underwater sounds over the past two weeks that were consistent with an aircraft's black boxes.

   “We haven’t had a single detection in six days, and l guess it’s time to go under water,” said Houston.

   “Analysis of the four signals has reduced the search area on the ocean floor. The experts have therefore determined that the Australian Defense Vessel Ocean Shield will stop searching with the Towed Pinger Locator(拖曳声波定位仪)later today and use the underwater vehicle Bluefin 21 as soon as possible," he said at a news conference in Perth.

   But Houston warned the switch to the submarine will not automatically "result in the detection of the aircraft wreckage. It may not.”

   He said the submarine will take 24 hours to do each task, including two hours to dive, 16 hours to search the bottom, then two more hours hack up and four hours to download data.

   Recovering the plane's flight data and cockpit(飞行员座舱)voice recorders is necessary For investigators to try to figure out what happened to Flight 370, which disappeared on March 8. 

   Houston said the search using the submarine will be a slaw and painstaking process.

   The submarine takes six times longer to cover the same area as the pinger locator,and will need about six weeks to two months to examine the present underwater zone. The signals are also coming from 4,500 meters (15,000 feet) below the surface, which is the deepest the submarine can dive.

1.The submarine will be sent deep into the Indian Ocean on Monday to _____ .

A. create a sonar trap of the area

B. pick up underwater sounds

C. see if the signals detected are from the target black boxes

D. reduce the search area on the ocean floor

2.According to the passage, the submarine_______ .

A. will download data of the black boxes

B. can find the aircraft wreckage within 24 hours

C. will recover the plane's flight data and voice recorder

D. can dive to a depth of no more than 4,500 meters

3.The underlined sentences in the passage indicate that______.

A. the switch of the submarine may not function properly

B. the Ocean Shield will switch to submarine when it is necessary

C. the submarine will detect the wreckage of the plane automatically

D. the detection of the wreckage can't be guaranteed by using the submarine

4.The search will be a slow and painstaking process, mainly because _____ .

A. the underwater sounds were consistent with an aircraft's black boxes

B. the submarine travels slowly and the ocean is deep

C. they haven't had a single detection in six days

D. Ocean Shield stops searching wine the towed pinger locator

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.D

4.B

【解析】

试题分析:MH370失踪以来，人们在地面上未能找到任何痕迹。人们决定首次将潜航器送至深海检测那些被信号是否来自失事飞机的黑匣子。然而，由于潜航器的航行速度和大海的深度，这个过程将十分缓慢。

1.PERTH—Search crews will send a submarine(潜航器)deep into the Indian Ocean on Monday for the first time to try to determine whether signals detected by sound-locating equipment are from the missing Malaysian plane's black boxes可知，其目的是检测信号是否来自黑匣子。

2.The signals are also coming from 4,500 meters (15,000 feet) below the surface, which is the deepest the submarine can dive.可知，信号来自海底4500米深的地方，那也是潜航器能到达的最深的地方。故选D。

3.Houston认为潜航器的使用并不一定意味着能找到飞机残骸，也可能那不是失事飞机的残骸。故选D。

4. The submarine takes six times longer to cover the same area as the ginger locator,and will need about six weeks to two months to examine the present underwater zone. 可知，潜航器比定位器要多花六倍的时间覆盖检查相同的地方，并且需要六周到两个月的时间检测水下区域。说明潜航器航行地非常慢，而最后一段说明信号来自水下4500米深的地方，所以要花很久的时间。故选B。

考点：考查科技类短文阅读。