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 withstand 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 toComorosIslandsin theIndiaocean June 30, 2009, the black box is the best bet for identifying what went wrong. So when a Frenchsubmarine (潜水艇) 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 withstand crashes, however, so in 1965 the device 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 withstand massive force and temperatures up to2,000℉. When submerged, they're also able to emit signals from depths of20,000 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. Why was the black box redesigned in 1965?
A. New materials became available by that time.
B. The early models didn't provide the needed data.
C. The early models often got damaged in the crash.
D. Too much space was needed for its installation.
2. What do we know about the black boxes from Air France Flight 447?
A. They have stopped sending homing signals.
B. They were destroyed somewhere near Brazil.
C. There is an urgent need for them to be reconstructed.
D. There is still a good chance of their being recovered.
【答案】1. C 2.D
【解析】
1. 考点出处倒数第二段Early models often failed to withstand crashes, however, so in 1965 the device was completely redesigned…
文中提到，早期的黑匣子经常抗不住空难的破坏(failed to withstand crashes)，因此在1965年，黑匣子重新设计(redesigned)，所以答案为C。
2. 考点出处最后一段Experts believe the boxes from Air France Flight 447, which crashed near Brazilon 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.
文中提到，专家相信法航447号的黑匣子是在水下20000英尺的深度，接着指出，但是统计数据显示他们仍然可能出现，即有可能被找到，接下来的具体统计数据也进一步说明了这一点，所以答案为D。
