Question

Dec 21st 2018

On December 19th Gatwick airport, Britain’s second-biggest, was forced to close due to several sightings of drones（无人机）flying near its runways. The airport only reopened on the morning of December 21st.   ①  .

The potential for an incident of this scale has been recognized for some years now. The falling price of small drones in recent years has resulted in the number flying dangerously near aircraft to rise sharply.   ②  .

This is a threat that the authorities have to take seriously. Recent research suggests that small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be much more damaging than birds — a surprisingly common cause of aircraft crashes — at the same impact speed, even if they are a similar weight. The researchers found that the drones’ rigid and dense materials—such as metal, plastic and lithium batteries—can put aero planes at much greater risk than a bird carcass（动物尸体）. If a drone were to hit an aircraft’s fan blades when it is operating at its highest speed, the blades could break and power to the engine could be lost.

③  . But it also underlined the potential for destruction that drones afford. The British police do not think that terrorism was the motivation behind the latest incident at Gatwick. According to the Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper, environmental activists are suspected of being behind the attack, which has happened before.

As attention turns to what can be done to prevent a repeat, two solutions stand out. The first is regulation. Regulators in America and Britain already ban drones from flying too close to airports. America has introduced a compulsory registration scheme for drones and Britain plans to follow suit.

But as the chaos at Gatwick shows, even serious punishments will not stop those intending to cause harm deliberately.   ④  . Technology is the second, and more important, answer to the threat. In the US the FAA has experimented with a system. Drones can have pre-programmed software that keeps them away from prohibited areas, an approach known as “geofencing”. British engineers have come up with a system that catches drones with a net and then softly lands them with a parachute. Dutch police have even attempted to train eagles to catch drones in the sky and return them to their trainers as if they were song birds. The closure at Gatwick will give ideas such as these a mighty push forward.

1.Compared to birds, drones have become a more serious threat to airplane crash in that _____.

A.drones are much heavier than birds in general

B.drones usually fly even faster than birds

C.drones will attack airplanes on purpose

D.drones are made of rigid and dense materials

2.The sentence “The extended closure of Gatwick was a justified response to this threat.” should be put in _____.

A.① B.②

C.③ D.④

3.It can be inferred from the article that _____.

A.The decreasing size of drones recently has led to frequent accidents of this kind.

B.Among the solutions, technology is considered to be a more reliable one.

C.The FAA has adopted a “geofencing” system with the help of trained eagles.

D.The British police think environmentalists conducted the latest incident at Gatwick.

4.What can be a suitable title for the article?

A.Drones or birds, which is more harmful?

B.How to stop unmanned aerial vehicles?

C.Several drones close Gatwick airport.

D.Drones have become a pressing issue.

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.B

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇新闻报道。讲述了Gatwick机场因为几架无人机而被迫关闭的事情，分析了无人机导致事故的原因和人们对此采取的措施。

1.

细节理解题。根据第三段“The researchers found that the drones’ rigid and dense materials—such as metal, plastic and lithium batteries—can put aero planes at much greater risk than a bird carcass（动物尸体）”可知，无人机坚硬大密度的材料会比动物尸体更能让飞机陷入危险，所以与鸟类相比，无人机对飞机失事的威胁更大是原因无人机是由坚硬密度大的材料制成的，故选D。

2.

推理判断题。“But it also underlined the potential for destruction that drones afford.”句意为“但是它也强调了无人机的潜在危险”，“The extended closure of Gatwick was a justified response to this threat.”句意为“Gatwick的延长关闭是对此威胁的合理回应”，与前句构成转折关系，Gatwick延长关闭也正是表现了因为无人机的危险性很大，才会延长关闭机场，所以it指代的是Gatwick延长关闭，故判断出句子应该置于③。故选C。

3.

推理判断题。根据“The falling price of small drones in recent years has resulted in the number flying dangerously near aircraft to rise sharply.”可知，导致这种事故频繁发生的原因是无人机的价格下降，而不是尺寸变小，故A错；根据“Technology is the second, and more important, answer to the threat.”可知，技术是对此威胁更重要的回应，后文也提到可以通过技术追踪无人机或者提前预设无人机的飞行路线等来避免事故。由此判断出在众多措施中，技术是更可靠的。故选B。

4.

主旨大意题。这是一篇新闻稿，所以第一段为导语，是标题出处，根据“On December 19th Gatwick airport, Britain’s second-biggest, was forced to close due to several sightings of drones（无人机）flying near its runways.”可知，Gatwick机场因为几架无人机而被迫关闭，所以短文的最佳标题为“几架无人机接近盖特威克机场。”故选C。