单选题
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[听力原文]33-35 Today, air travel is far safer than driving a car on a busy motorway. But there is a danger that grows every year. From the moment an airplane takes off to the moment it lands, every movement is watched on radar screens. Air traffic controllers tell the pilot exactly when to turn, when to climb and When to come down. The air traffic controllers around a busy airport may handle 1,000 planes a day. Any plane that flies near the airport comes under the orders of the controllers there. Even a small mistake on their part could cause a disaster. Recently, such a disaster almost happened. Two large jets were flying towards the airport. One was carrying 69 passengers and had come from Toronto. The other was carrying 167 passengers from Chicago. An air traffic controller noticed on his radar screen that the two planes were too close to each other. He ordered one to turn to the right and to climb, but he made a mistake. He ordered the wrong plane to do this. So, instead of turning away from the second plane, the first plane turned towards it. Fifteen seconds later, it flew directly in front of the second plane. They avoided each other by the smallest part of a second. The distance between them was less than that of a large swimming pool. This is an example of the danger that grows every year. 33.Which factor can most seriously endanger airplanes according to this passage? [解析] 奉题考查能对飞机造成最严重威胁的因素。结合文中提到的Any plane…come under the orders of the controllers there以及Even a small mistake…cause disaster可推知,可能对飞机造成最严重威胁的因素是空中交通控制的差错 (mistakes by air traffic controllers),故[C]项正确。
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[听力原文] What happened to the large jets? [解析] 文中的avoid each other by the smallest part of a second表明,收到空中交通控制员错误指令的两架大型喷气客机最终没有撞到一起(narrowly escaped crashing into each other),故 [C]为答案。narrowly escaped…表示“临险逃脱”。
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[听力原文] Why were the two large jets specially mentioned? [解析] 文中提到Even a small mistake… cause a disaster,由此推断,作者之所以举两架大型喷气客机的例子是为了说明空中交通控制的关键作用(the key role played by air traffic controllers),因此[A]为答案。