美国有线新闻 CNN 马航MH370搜索中止 详细解读黑匣子

And leading things off this Wednesday, January 18th, a mystery, one of the biggest in the history of aviation may go unsolved. The underwater search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been called off. On March 8, 2014, the flight left Kuala Lumpur and headed for Beijing, China. It had 239 people onboard.

At some point during the journey, military radar¹ indicated that the plane changed course and headed west. Investigators² believe it eventually turned south, toward the southern Indian Ocean. After that, the trail went cold. A few pieces of the plane have washed up on islands near the east coast of Africa. But despite years of searching 46,000 square miles and spending millions of dollars, no one knows what happened to the plane. Its black box, its flight data recorder may hold some answers, but it's missing with the flight.

And Malaysia, China, and Australia, the three countries leading the search announced yesterday they were suspending it. They said the decision was not made lightly or without sadness.

But a group that represents family members of the flight's passengers says stopping it at this stage is nothing short of irresponsible.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Following a plane crash, the search for survivors³ always comes first. But just as important is a search for answers, the why and the how. Often, those answers are found in a black box.

SUBTITLE⁴: What is a black box?

CRANE: Since the '60s, all commercial airplanes have been required to have one on board. Now, the name is a little misleading because they're actually orange. And when we're talking about a black box, we're talking about two different boxes — one being the cockpit voice recorder, the other being the flight data recorder. Together, they weigh anywhere between 20 to 30 pounds, and they have to be crash-proof.

Black boxes can survive just about anything: temperatures up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit⁵ for an hour, forces that are 3400 Gs. Now, that's 3400 times the force of gravity. They're waterproof⁶ and they can save recorded data for two years. And it's a lot of data.

The cockpit voice recorder records that crew's conversation and background noise. By listening to the ambient sounds in the cockpit before a crash,experts can determine if the stall took place, the RPMs of the engine and the speed of which the plane was traveling. When these sounds are cross-referenced with ground control conversations, they can even help searches locate a crash site.

Then, there's the flight data recorder. It gathers 25 hours of technical data from airplane sensors⁷, recording⁸ several thousand discreet⁹ pieces of information. Data about the airspeed, altitude, pitch, acceleration¹⁰, roll, fuel, and the list goes on and on.

But to make sense of the data, first, you have to find it. Not an easy thing to do when a plane crashes into the ocean.

Both black box components¹¹ are outfitted¹² with underwater locator beacons¹³, which self-activated the moment they come into contact with water. They sent pings once per second to signal their location and can transmit data from as deep as 20,000 feet for up to 30 days, when their batteries then run out.

But on land, there's no such pinging to help guide the search. Investigators have to sift¹⁴ through the wreckage¹⁵ until they find it.

1 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。

2 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》

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 subtitle   

n.副题（书本中的），说明对白的字幕

参考例句：

• His new book has a subtitle.他的新书有一个副标题。
• Ah!I don't know why they don't subtitle these movies.唉！我不知道这些电影为什么不打字幕。

5 Fahrenheit   

n./adj.华氏温度；华氏温度计(的)

参考例句：

• He was asked for the boiling point of water in Fahrenheit.他被问到水的沸点是华氏多少度。
• The thermometer reads 80 degrees Fahrenheit.寒暑表指出华氏80度。

6 waterproof   

n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水

参考例句：

• My mother bought me a waterproof watch.我妈妈给我买了一块防水手表。
• All the electronics are housed in a waterproof box.所有电子设备都储放在一个防水盒中。

7 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

8 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

9 discreet   

adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的

参考例句：

• He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
• It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。

10 acceleration   

n.加速，加速度

参考例句：

• All spacemen must be able to bear acceleration.所有太空人都应能承受加速度。
• He has also called for an acceleration of political reforms.他同时呼吁加快政治改革的步伐。

11 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

12 outfitted   

v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They outfitted for the long journey. 他们为远途旅行准备装束。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They outfitted him with artificial legs. 他们为他安了假腿。 来自辞典例句

13 beacons   

灯塔( beacon的名词复数 )； 烽火； 指路明灯； 无线电台或发射台

参考例句：

• A chain of beacons was lit across the region. 整个地区点起了一系列灯塔。
• Lighthouse and beacons flash at night. 晚上灯塔与信号台闪着光。

14 sift   

v.筛撒，纷落，详察

参考例句：

• Sift out the wheat from the chaff.把小麦的壳筛出来。
• Sift sugar on top of the cake.在蛋糕上面撒上糖。

15 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。