新东方网络课堂：2011年职称英语考试理工类阅读理解训练题3 World FlightPilot Linda Finch will take off on March 17, 1997 to repeat one of the most famous flights of all time-Amelia Earhart's 1937 round-the-world journey. The original flight did not end well. In July 1937, near the end of her trip, Earhart's Lockheed 10E airplane suddenly disappeared over the Pacific Ocean. Finch hopes that this time she will have a better chance. Though she is flying an exact copy of Ear, art's plane, she will have the latest navigation, communications, and weather-tracking tools. 'Amelia had to navigate by the stars,' an impossible task on a cloudy night, Finch says. Finch, in contrast, will be able to know her exact location-even while flying over the ocean-using the-Global Positioning system (GPS). This ring of orbiting satellites continuously transmits radio signals to Earth. To calculate her position, Finch's GPS receiver will measure how long it takes radio signals transmitted from various satellites to reach the plane. Knowing her location is especially important when flying around the equator, as Earhart did. In that region, thunderstorms are dangerous. 'I can't fly through thunderstorms,' says Finch, because, 'the winds 'moving up and down could break the plane.' And Finch will not be able to fly above the storms because her airplane Electra is not pressurized. That means the plane is not equipped to pump in outside air to make breathing easier at high altitudes. So Finch will fly around storms-or wait for them to pass. But unlike Earhart, Finch will know what weather is ahead. She will receive regular reports via radar from Naval stations around the globe. Finch will also be in communication with lots of ordinary people——maybe even with you! Through her computer and a satellite link, she will receive and transmit email messages. Finch hopes to touch down at her final stop in Honolulu, Hawaii, in May 1997. 41 What happened to Earhart? A She was successful in her world flight. B Her airplane was blown away by the strong winds over the equator. C She lost her way after failing in communicating with the Naval station around the equator. D Her airplane disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean. |
