题目内容
WASHINGTON---At least four more U.S. air-traffic controllers are caught nodding off on the job at three separate airports across the nation, the government said Wednesday.
The controller working alone in the tower fell asleep and was out of communication for 16 minutes while a medical flight carrying a patient was trying to land at about 2 A.M. Wednesday at Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Nevada, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.
The FAA announced that it is also investigating a controller who fell asleep Monday at Boeing King County International Airport in Seattle and two controllers who were unresponsive at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee on Feb.19.
“I am sick of this,” Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, said in a statement. “We can’t have a system where some of the people responsible for safety are asleep at the switch.”
As the incidents pile up, sleep experts say it demonstrates that the agency faces a systemic issue with the thousands of people expected to work through the night in safety-critical jobs. Scientific research shows that workers on midnight shifts make more errors because it is so difficult for the body to adapt to sleeping during the day, they say.
The agency will add an extra controller at the 27 towers staffed with one worker on the midnight shift, the FAA statement said.
Representative John Mica, the Florida Republican who chairs the House transportation committee, criticized the decision to add controllers. “Only in the federal government would you double up on workers, averaging $161,000 per year in salary and benefits, that aren’t doing their job,” Mica said in a statement. Mica has pushed legislation that would allow as many as 90 smaller airports to switch from federal to private controllers.
“People have known these problems with fatigue(疲劳)have existed for years,” said John Goglia, a Boston-based aviation safety consultant. “They’re now showing up. The FAA is admitting they exist. Now the FAA needs to work on it.”
The four controllers in Nevada, Seattle and Texas have been suspended(暂时停职) during the investigations, the FAA said.
【小题1】The underlined part “double up on workers” means “______”.
A.add two more workers | B.staff two workers at a post |
C.settle two workers in a double room | D.give the workers double pay |
A.is a known potential danger | B.has never appeared before |
C.is common for day-time shift workers | D.seldom shows up at night |
A.A controller fell asleep without communication for 16 minutes in Knoxville, Tennessee. |
B.A medical flight carrying a patient failed to land with the controller asleep. |
C.Jay Rockefeller pays little attention to sleeping at the switch. |
D.Mica refused to support the decision to staff more controllers on the midnight shift. |
A.All the controllers in the US were working alone while they were on duty |
B.The incidents are rooted in fatigue problems and those on midnight shifts need an extra nap |
C.In the U.S. , thousands of people expect to work through the night in safety-critical jobs |
D.The agency has added an extra controller at the 27 towers |
【小题1】B
【小题2】A
【小题3】D
【小题4】B
解析试题分析:
【小题1】猜词题:从第六段的句子:The agency will add an extra controller at the 27 towers staffed with one worker on the midnight shift, the FAA statement said.可知这里指的是一个岗位上有两个工人。选B
【小题2】细节题:从倒数第二段的句子:“People have known these problems with fatigue(疲劳)have existed for years,” 说明疲劳是大家都知道的潜在的危险。选A
【小题3】细节题:从倒数第三段的句子:Representative John Mica, the Florida Republican who chairs the House transportation committee, criticized the decision to add controllers. 可知Mica反对增加控制人员。选D
【小题4】推理题;从第五段的句子:Scientific research shows that workers on midnight shifts make more errors because it is so difficult for the body to adapt to sleeping during the day, they say.说明上夜班的工作人员会犯错是因为人的身体不能适应白天睡觉,需要额外的小憩一下。选B
考点:考查新闻类短文阅读
点评:这是一则新闻报道,关于控制飞机的人员上班是打盹的情况,分析了原因和解决措施和不同的观点,做题时要细心推理,小心求证,对不同的人说的话要分辨清楚。
Shirley Allen loved to sing and play the piano. She studied music in college and her 36 was to become a concert pianist or blues singer.
Everything 37 when she was 20 years old. She became sick with what doctors 38 was typhoid fever(伤寒)and she almost died. Doctors gave her medicine to help her get well, but the medicine 39 her to become 40 deaf. She could no longer hear the music which she had always 41.
Shirley would never give up playing the piano, 42 she did decide to change 43 . She transferred to Gallaudet University and studied English. In 1964 Shirley graduated from Gallaudet and looked for 44 . She wanted to be 45 and work full-time.
For three years, Shirley worked as a clerk in Washington, D.C. 46 , in 1967 she was asked to work at Gallaudet University as a dorm supervisor (宿舍监管员). Shirley supervised young women who 47 in the university during the school year. She also taught English. Somehow she found time to 48 graduate school at Howard University in Washington, D.C. In 1972, Shirley received her M.A. degree.
Always 49 a new challenge, in 1973 Shirley became a professor at National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID),which 50 deaf and hard-of-hearing students technical and professional training.
This 51 woman became the first black deaf female in the world to receive her Ph.D. She made 52 in 1992, 53 she received the highest degree in education from the University of Rochester in New York.
Dr. Shirley Jeanne Allen has traveled many roads and 54 many rainbows searching for her dream. With courage and 55, she never gave up.
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Events Calendar
TUESDAY
Landscape Pests (害虫)
Learn to identify, control and prevent seasonal landscape-disease and landscape-pest problems at the workshop, 3:30 pm. – 5 pm. Tuesday at the US National Arboretum, 3501 New York Ave NE, Washington. $15; registration required.
202-245-4521 or www.usna.usda.gov.
THROUGH AUGUST 3
Horticultural(园艺的) Art
Watercolors, pen-and-ink drawings and colored-pencil pieces by the Brookside Gardens School of Botanical (植物学的) Art and Illustration will be on display at the exhibit Botanic 2007: The Art and Science of Plants at Brookside Gardens Visitors Center, 1800 Glenallan Ave, Wheaton, through Aug. 3. Free. 301-962-1400 or www.brooksidegardens.org.
THROUGH SEPTEMBER 9
Botanical Art
Visit Patterns in Nature, an exhibit by Amy Lamb featuring photographs of flowers, leaves and other botanical life, at the US Botanic Garden Conservatory (温室),West Orangerie, 100 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, through Sept. 9. The conservatory is open 10 am. – 5 pm. Daily. Free. 202-225-8333.
THROUGH OCTOBER 8
Botanic Garden Exhibit
Celebrating America’s Public Gardens is on view through Oct. 8 at the US Botanic Garden, 100 Maryland Ave SW, Washington. The exhibit, on the Conservatory Terrace and in the National Garden, features displays of 20 public botanic gardens across the country. Hours are 10 am. – 5 pm. Daily. Free. 202-200-8956.
1.If you want to record your name for an event in advance, you may call _____.
A.202-225-8333 |
B.202-245-4521 |
C.301-962-1400 |
D.202-200-8956 |
2. If you go to Botanic Garden Exhibit, you _____.
A.can enjoy drawings and coloured-pencil pieces |
B.can learn how to kill pests living on the plants |
C.can find displays of 20 botanic gardens across the country |
D.will enjoy the photographs of flowers and leaves |
3. From the advertisement, we learn _____.
A.the first event is about growing healthy plants |
B.all of the events are free of charge |
C.there is no time limit to all the events |
D.you can find the information of all the events either by phone or by e-mail |