【原创时文阅读】中考英语外刊阅读提升训练（4）Man-made disaters transport (含解析）

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外刊阅读提升训练4
MAN-MADE DISASTERS TRANSPORT
Drunk Captains & Inept Politicians
One of the worst oil-spills（溢油事故） was the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989. Many people think of this as one of the biggest, but it isn't even among the top 50 in terms of quantity. However, it is number one as far as wildlife destruction goes. When it ran aground, it let out 42 million litres of crude oil（原油) that contaminated just over 1500 km of environmentally sensitive coast in Alaska. This accident was due largely to human error - namely a drunk captain.
Another oil-tanker（油轮） disaster was that of the Prestige in 2003. This one also affected wildlife, but what's really annoying is that the pollution could have been avoided. Instead of bringing the tanker to shore where the oil could have been pumped out and the spill taken care of, politicians decided it would be wiser to send the ship back to sea during a big storm. Perhaps they hoped it would drift into Portuguese waters, or sink to the freezing depths where the oil would solidify. As we know they couldn't have been more wrong, any other option would have been better; and to this day several tons of fuel are leaking out of the Prestige on a daily basis.
Arrogant Captains One shipping disaster that always comes to mind is the Titanic. It set sail from England on its maiden voyage on the 10th April 1912 and was supposed to reach New York five days later. According to the owners, it was unsinkable.
Instead it sank after a series of unbelievable blunders. On that fateful journey, the Titanic received six iceberg warnings from other ships; but for some unknown reason no-one really took them seriously. At 11pm one night the ship struck an iceberg and started to sink. Incredibly, all the passengers could have been saved by the Californian, a ship that was close by; however, the crew of the Californian thought that the distress rockets in the sky were just fireworks. Worst of all, it appears that the engineers who built the Titanic couldn't count as there were only enough lifeboats on board for half the crew and passengers. To make matters worse the crew didn't really know how to get the lifeboats off the Titanic as they had never received the proper training. As a result, many of the lifeboats were half-full. The combination of all these terrible errors left a cost in human lives that speaks for itself: out of 2,200 aboard only 705 survived.
No Smoking
The Hindenburg passenger airship was known as the "Titanic of the skies" even before it met its tragic end. It was over 300 metres long and was the largest aircraft ever built, even to this day. In 1937, as the Hindenburg was about to land in New York from England, it burst into flames kllig 35 people instantly. So what caused this fire At first many thought it was the hydrogen inside the airship. But years later, NASA experts concluded that it was due to a protective coating of paint that had been applied on the outer skin. This extra element of security was so highly inflammable that a single spark was enough to light it up. In effect, the German engineers had built a flying firebomb just waiting to go off. And on top of that, they forgot to put any “No Smoking" signs aboard.
Worst Airplane Disaster
You might have wondered what the safest way to travel is. Many people think it's probably the car, but in fact they're wrong: it's the aircraft. Of course, when an airplane crashes, it's so spectacular that everybody hears about it. Most of the time accidents are due to technical errors, but the biggest loss of life in the airline industry was due to human error. It happened when two Boeing 747 Jumbo jets collided on the island of Tenerife on 27h March 1977. One of the planes was taking off and the other was taxiing on the runway. Somehow they didn't see each other, probably due to poor weather or badly communicated messages from the control-tower. The collision left 583 dead and many serious safety questions to answer. The Most Dangerous of Them All So what is the most dangerous form of transport, you may be asking Well, it's the car, and the fact is that worldwide over half a million people are killed in car accidents a year. That's an average of just about 1 person every minute. So, by the time you've read this article, ten to fifteen more will have died. In fact, over the past 90 years more people have died from car accidents than from all the wars over the same period (we're talking about WW1, WW2, Rwanda, Vietnam, etc,). As well as that, more than fifteen million people a year are injured, and exhaust fumes are warming up the atmosphere at an alarming rate.
Well, that's it for now, and remember, getting there is half the fun, so have a nice, safe journey!
According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true
A. The Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster is the worst in terms of wildlife destruction.
B. The Prestige oil spill disaster could have been avoided if the tanker had been brought to shore.
C. The Titanic sank because its builders couldn't count and didn't provide enough lifeboats.
D. The Hindenburg airship disaster was caused by the hydrogen inside the airship.
What is the main idea of this passage
A. The development of transportation has led to various disasters.
B. Human error is the main cause of transportation disasters.
C. Advances in technology have made transport safer.
D. Various transportation disasters have different causes.
Why did the Titanic sink
A. Because it hit an iceberg.
B. Because there were not enough lifeboats.
C. Because the crew didn't know how to use the lifeboats.
D. Because the Californian thought the distress rockets were fireworks.
What caused the Hindenburg airship disaster
A. The hydrogen inside the airship.
B. The inflammable paint on the outer skin of the airship.
C. The lack of "No Smoking" signs on the airship.
D. The weather conditions at the time of the landing.
知识清单
1.单词积累
Run aground搁浅 ; 停顿 ;
Contaminated adj. 受污染的，弄脏的
drunk adj. 喝醉的
Captain n. 队长，上校；船长
Instead of 代替，而不是
pumped out 快速、频繁地生产（某物）：指快速、频繁地生产某物。
leak out ( javascript:;" \o "真人发音 ) 泄漏
comes to mind 跃入脑海 ( javascript:;" \o "真人发音 )
Unbelievable adj. 不可信的，不真实的；难以置信的
Blunders n. 错误
take sth. seriously认真对待;对某人或某事持认真态度，不轻视或忽略
Spectacular adj. 壮观的，令人惊叹的 n. 壮观场面
2.长难句：
However, it is number one as far as wildlife destruction goes.
然而，就对野生动物的破坏而言，它却高居榜首。
Instead of bringing the tanker to shore where the oil could have been pumped out and the spill taken care of, politicians decided it would be wiser to send the ship back to sea during a big storm.
政客们决定让这艘油轮在大风暴中返回海上，而不是将其拖回岸边，抽出原油并处理泄漏。
This extra element of security was so highly inflammable that a single spark was enough to light it up.
这种额外的安全措施如此易燃，以至于只需一个火花就能点燃它。
As well as that, more than fifteen million people a year are injured, and exhaust fumes are warming up the atmosphere at an alarming rate.
此外，每年还有1500多万人受伤，汽车尾气正在迅速加剧地球温室效应。
答案详解：
答案解析：
要求选出不符合文章内容的陈述。根据文章内容，A、B、C三个选项都有明确的论述支持。而D选项与文章内容不符，文章中指出，专家后来认为，兴登堡号空气船的火灾是由船体外层的易燃涂料引起的，而不是氢气。因此，答案是D。
要求概括文章的主旨。文章通过列举几个著名的运输灾难，说明这些灾难大多是由人为错误造成的。因此，答案是B。
询问泰坦尼克号沉没的原因。根据文章内容，泰坦尼克号沉没是因为船员没有认真对待接到的六次冰山警告，晚上11点撞上冰山。此外，还因为船上的救生艇不足，以及船员没有接受适当的培训，导致许多救生艇未能充分利用。因此，答案是A。
询问兴登堡号空气船灾难的原因。根据文章内容，专家后来认为，兴登堡号空气船的火灾是由船体外层的易燃涂料引起的，而不是氢气。因此，答案是B。
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