题目内容
Bird strikes are extremely rare in the airline industry, which has one of the best safety records of any mode of transport. However, birds are a known threat (威胁)at airports, particularly where runways are close to water, such as the airport in New York.
Airports take a range of measures against bird strikes, which usually occur around take – off or landing, when a plane flies into a flock (鸟群)and sucks birds into its engines. They sometimes keep the grass long near runways, because flocks avoid areas that could contain dangerous animals. Staff also use “noise guns” to disperse flocks that settle on the site. Airports sometimes hire eagles, too.
A professional pilots’ group said last night that the apparent disabling of two engines by the birds strike in New York was a “terrible coincidence” and praised the bravery and skill of the pilot who landed in the Hudson River.
“It is quite clear that the pilot got everything absolutely right. Witness reports suggest that the plane hit a flock of birds, and I must have damaged both engines because if it had been one, he would have been able to continue.”
“Engines are designed extremely well now and in general they are better able to cope with bird strikes,” said Martin Chalk, president of the European Pilot Association. “It is an extremely rare occurrence. It would appear that worse has been avoided due to the skills and training of the crew.”
A severe bird strike disabled a plane at Rome’s airport in November last year, when a Frankfurt to Rome jet carrying 166 passengers had to make an emergency landing. The airport is known to have problems with flocks of geese.
In the UK, a plane had to make an emergency landing at Manchester airport in April 2007 after two herons where sucked into the engine of a passenger plane shortly after taking off for Rome.
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1.What was the cause of the air accidents described in the passage?
A.Damage to the plane’s engine.
B.Loss of vision by the pilot due to birds.
C.The runway being too close to the river.
D.Failure of the airport to manage the bird problem.
2.The underlined word “They” (paragraph 2) refers to “ ”.
A.Planes B.Airports C.Birds D.Pilots
3.Why are plane accidents caused by birds increasingly rare?
A.There are fewer birds living around airports.
B.Pilots and crew are trained to ignore bird strikes.
C.Pilots know how to avoid brides when taking off.
D.Plane engines are better designed than in the past.
4.How many serious bird strike accidents are mentioned in passage?
A.2 B.3 C.4 D.5
5.Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A.It is safer to build airports away from wetlands.
B.Birds will continue to be a serious danger to plane travelers.
C.Most accidents occur when planes are landing.
D.The passengers were lucky to survive the crash.
ABDBA

Lee Humberg, district manager for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, is the man in charge of figuring out how to remove the flocks (群) of 15,000 to 20,000 Canada geese(大雁) that could strike planes flying in and out of the New York area. The Port Authority, the agency that manages airport in New York and New Jersey, estimates that there have been as many as 315 bird strikes annually in the past 30 years.
Bird strikes have been a hot topic since a US Airways jet suffered a “double strike” and made an emergency landing on the Hudson River in January 2009. All 155 passengers were rescued safely and the flight was called “Miracle on the Hudson”. The plane finally ended up at the Carolinas Aviation Museum. The next major bird strike may not have such a happy ending.
To thin the flocks, Humberg and his team have tracked down goose nests and killed eggs with corn oil. They’ve also terrified the birds with dogs, remote-controlled boats and kites that look like eagles. But the only method that effectively decreases the goose population is the one that angers animal lovers the most: gassing hundreds at a time.
“If all you are doing is goose harassment (骚扰) every day, it’s very frustrating, because you are just playing Ping-Pong with the birds,” Humberg told New York magazine. “It’s basically an arms race to come up with the tools to deal with them.”
Now New York City plans to send the geese captured to Pennsylvania to be cooked and distributed at food banks as meals for the poor. That might just be a fate better than flying into a 747 engine.
【小题1】What can we learn form Humberg?
A.He does research on geese’s living conditions. |
B.He makes efforts to protect wild birds. |
C.He deals with the danger of birds at airports. |
D.He tries to find newer and safer airlines. |
A.It suffered a “double strike”. | B.It arrived at a plane museum. |
C.It only caused a few deaths. | D.It succeeded in landing on a river. |
A.It’s interesting to fight with the birds |
B.It’s a skill-needed race against the birds |
C.you can’t defeat the bird in the end |
D.you should live with birds peacefully |
A.Canada geese can fly as high as planes |
B.New York airlines are in poor management |
C.bird strikes happen once a week on average |
D.the poor may also benefit from Humberg’s work |