Question

You never see him, but they're with you every time you fly. They record where you are going, how fast you're traveling and whether everything on your airplane is functioning normally. Their ability to endure almost any disaster makes them seem like something out of a comic book. They're 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 on June 30, 2009, the black box is the best bet for identifying what went wrong. So when a French submarine (潜水艇) detected the box'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 withstand crashes, however, so in 1965 the box was completely redesigned and moved to the rear 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 (隔绝的) case and surrounded by a quarter-inch-thick panels of stainless steel, the boxes can stand massive force and temperatures up to 2,000℉. When submerged, they're 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're 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?

A．It is an indispensable device on an airplane.　

B．The idea for its design comes from a comic book.

C．Its ability to avoid disasters is incredible.

D．It ensures the normal functioning of an airplane.

2.What does the underlined word in the 3rd paragraph mean?　

A．witness           B．experience        C．resist　           D．ensure

3.Why was the black box redesigned in 1965?

A．New materials became available by that time.

B．Too much space was needed for its installation.

C．The early models didn't provide the needed data.

D．The early models often got damaged in the crash.

4.What do we know about the black boxes from Air France Flight 447?

A．There is an urgent need for them to be reconstructed.

B．There is still a good chance of their being recovered.　

C．They have stopped sending homing signals.

D．They were destroyed somewhere near Brazil.

Answer

1.A

2.C

3.D

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文介绍了飞机黑匣子的发展历程以及相关的信息。

1.A 细节题。根据第三段2,3行That was the first mode for a black box, which became a requirement on all U.S. commercial flights by 1960.说明这个装置成为了飞机上必不可少的装置，故Ａ正确。

2.C 推理题。根据文章第三段Early models often failed to withstand crashes, however, so in 1965 the box was completely redesigned and moved to the rear of the plane说明原来的装置不能承受飞机坠毁时的冲击，故该词指抵制的意思，故C正确。

3.D 细节题。根据第三段Early models often failed to withstand crashes, however, so in 1965 the box was completely redesigned and moved to the rear of the plane说明原来的装置不能承受飞机坠毁时的冲击，所以后来重新设计了，故D正确。

4.B 细节题。根据文章最后一段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're still likely to turn up.说明这个飞机的黑匣子仍然是有可能最找到，故B正确。

考点：考查科普类短文阅读