VOA慢速英语2015 马来西亚官员计划扩大搜寻失踪飞机

Officials Plan Expanded Search for Missing Malaysian Plane 马来西亚官员计划扩大搜寻失踪飞机

From VOA Learning English, this is In The News.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been missing for more than 13 months. The airplane, a Boeing 777, was carrying 239 people on a flight between Malaysia and China. The plane disappeared over the Indian Ocean on March 8, 2014.

Months of air, sea and underwater searchers have yet to find any evidence of the aircraft. Officials involved in the investigation¹ have been considering what to do next if nothing is found in the current area of exploration.

This week, three countries announced plans to double the search area if no evidence of Flight 370 is found soon. The announcement followed a joint² meeting of Malaysian, Chinese and Australian officials in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia’s Transport Minister, Liow Tiong Lai, spoke³ to reporters after the talks on Thursday. He said an expanded search will start to the north of the current search area in the Indian Ocean, off the western coast of Australia.

“If the aircraft is not found within the current 60,000 square kilometer search area, we have collectively decided⁴ to extend the search by an additional 60,000 square kilometers within the highest probability area.”

Looking for wreckage⁵ in that extended area could take a year. Since last March, crews have explored more than 60 percent of the current search area. The Malaysian, Chinese and Australian officials continue to express hope that the aircraft will be found in those waters. That is where experts have said Flight 370 most likely went down.

Warren Truss is Australia’s deputy prime minister. He says crews are using some of the best equipment in the world to look for the plane. Mr. Truss describes the underwater search area as very challenging or difficult. He notes the search area is a five- to six-day trip from the closest port.

“The weather conditions are challenging. The remoteness of the site is challenging. The depth of the sea in the search area is challenging. The roughness of the sea bed is challenging.”

Two-thirds of Flight 370’s passengers are Chinese nationals. Yang Chuangtang is China’s Transportation Minister. He noted⁶ his government’s desire to discover exactly what happened to the passengers and crew.

In his words, “No matter the challenges that will be confronted, China will stand alongside friends Australia and Malaysia to continue the search until the aircraft is found, and the mystery of this unprecedented⁷ tragedy in the aviation industry is solved.”

The ministers refused to answer reporters’ questions about how much the additional search would cost.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 began in Kuala Lumpur, and was to have ended in Beijing. But the plane failed to follow its expected flight path, and then disappeared from radar⁸.

Some observers think the aircraft may have been placed on a different flight path by its pilot. Investigators⁹ believe the plane traveled thousands of kilometers before using up all its fuel and falling into deep, distant waters.

Words in this Story

disappear(ed) – v. to become unseen; to no longer exist

double – v. to increase two times as much in size, strength or number

wreckage – n. what remains¹⁰ of something severely¹¹ damaged or destroyed

challenging – adj. very difficult or competitive

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 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。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 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。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

8 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。

9 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》

10 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。

11 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。