美卫星揭示俄失事客机闪光

 　　A U.S. military satellite detected a heat flash at the time a Russian jetliner crashed over the Sinai Peninsula last weekend, authorities said Tuesday, but the cause of the accident remains¹ a mystery.

　　Authorities have ruled out the possibility that a missile hit the aircraft before it broke into pieces and plunged² 9,400 meters to the Sinai desert, killing³ all 224 people aboard. Neither a missile launch nor engine burn has been detected.

　　But experts told U.S. media outlets⁴ that the heat flash could point to a catastrophic event aboard the aircraft, such as an exploding bomb, the explosion of an aircraft engine, or a fire aboard the Metrojet A-321, or even just the aircraft parts hitting the ground.

　　Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Tuesday dismissed as "propaganda" claims by Islamic State insurgents⁵ they brought down a Russian jetliner that crashed in the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people aboard.

　　US Satellite Detects Flash At Time of Russian Plane Disaster

　　"When there is propaganda that it crashed because of ISIS, this is one way to damage the stability and security of Egypt and the image of Egypt," Sissi told the BBC, using an acronym⁶ for the Islamic State group.

　　"Believe me, the situation in Sinai, especially in this limited area, is under our full control," he said.

　　Meanwhile, investigators⁸ in Egypt began their examination of the flight recorders recovered from the wreckage⁹ of the Metrojet A-321 and Russian families began the sad process of identifying 140 bodies that were transported home to St. Petersburg.

　　A Russian emergency official said 10 of the crash victims had been identified. In addition, more than 100 parts of bodies, personal belongings¹⁰ and documents have been recovered the desert crash site.

　　The plane went down Saturday over the Sinai about 20 minutes after takeoff from the airport at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on a flight to St. Petersburg. Three Ukrainians and a Belarussian were among the fatalities¹¹.

　　'Minor¹² damage'

　　Russian transportation officials say the cockpit voice and flight data recorders recovered from the jetliner sustained only "minor" damage.

　　Cairo said Egyptian and Russian investigators are examining the so-called black boxes.

　　German and French specialists from Airbus, the plane's manufacturer, and from Ireland, where the plane was registered, are also looking at the flight recorders for clues to the cause of the accident.

　　One investigator⁷ said the initial analysis showed the plane was not struck from the outside and the pilot did not make a distress¹³ call before the plane disappeared from flight controllers' radar¹⁴.

　　Cairo and Moscow have played down claims from Egypt's Islamic State branch that it downed the plane.

　　Aviation and military experts have voiced doubt extremists had missiles capable of hitting a target at an altitude of 9,400 meters.

　　'No direct evidence'

　　In Washington, U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he knew of "no direct evidence" linking the crash to terrorism. He also said it was "unlikely" that Islamic State had the technical expertise¹⁵ to carry out such an attack, but said "I wouldn't rule it out."

　　White House spokesman Josh Earnest said U.S. investigators had offered to help probe the disaster. But he did not say whether that offer had been accepted by Moscow.

　　Russia's Ria Novosti news agency quoted Russian investigator Viktor Sorochenko as saying fragments of the Airbus A-321 were "strewn over a large area." He spoke¹⁶ after visiting the crash site.

　　Russian President Vladimir Putin said the crash was a tragedy.

　　"Without any doubt everything should be done so that an objective picture of what happened is created, so that we know what happened," Putin said.

　　Russia has sent about 100 experts to help Egyptian authorities search for the remains of victims and the aircraft debris¹⁷.

　　Several airlines, including Air France, Lufthansa, Dubai-based Emirates and Qatar Airways¹⁸, have said they will stop flying over the Sinai peninsula for safety reasons.

　　Egyptian Civil Aviation chief Hossam Kamal said safety checks before the flight did not turn up any problems, and he said the pilot did not issue a distress call before the plane disappeared.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

6 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

7 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

8 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

10 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

11 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

13 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

14 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

15 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

16 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

17 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

18 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。