单选题 Questions 14~16 are based on the following conversation. You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 14~16.
单选题 What was the cause of the tragedy?
A. Bad weather. B. Human error.
C. Breakdown of the engines. D. Communications system failure.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 14-16
M: Did you hear about the air crash that occurred in South America recently? It was quite a tragic accident!
W: No, I didn't see anything in the news about it. What happened?
M: A foreign airliner was attempting to land at night in a mountainous area in Argentina and flew into a hill!
W: That sounds really terrible! Did anyone survive?
M: No, everyone aboard, including the crew, was killed instantly.
W: What were the circumstances? Were they bad weather, a fire, or engine failure?
M: Apparently, there were some low clouds in the area, but mostly it was just miscommunication between the pilots and the air traffic controllers.
W: Weren't they both speaking in English, the official international aviation language?
M: Yes they were, but the transition from poor quality radios was slightly distorted and the accents of the Spanish speaking controllers was so strong that the pilots misunderstood a vital instruction.
W: How could a misunderstanding like that cause such a serious accident?
M: The pilots were told to descend to 22,000 feet. The instruction actually meant 22,000 feet, but they thought they heard descend 2,000 feet. That's a huge difference, and it should have been confirmed, but it was not. Unfortunately, the terrain of the mountains in Norweija ascend to 2,000 feet.
W: So the pilots did descend to the wrong altitude then, because they were following the air controller's instructions.
M: Sadly enough, yes they did. It was a really bad mistake. Many people died as a result of the simply misunderstanding.
W: Wow, that's a powerful lesson on how important it can be to accurately communicate with each other.
单选题 How high are the mountains in Norweija?
A. Two thousand feet. B. Twelve thousand feet.
C. Twenty thousand feet. D. Twenty-two thousand feet.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】
单选题 What lesson could be drawn from the accident?
A. Accurate communication is of utmost importance.
B. Pilots should be able to speak several foreign languages.
C. Air controllers should keep a close watch on the weather.
D. Cooperation between pilots and air controllers is essential.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】