经济学人119:航空业 飞向未来

 　　Business Aviation Flight to the future

　　商业 航空业 飞向未来

　　Modernising creaking air-traffic systems will be a huge task

　　实现老化的航空系统现代化是一个艰巨的任务

　　THESE days a $15,000 car comes with GPS satellite navigation fitted as standard.

　　目前，一辆价值一万五千美元的轿车配有GPS导航系统，才被认为达到标准。

　　But a $150m airliner¹ still has to be guided through the skies by spoken instructions from a bloke with a radio in a control tower.

　　但是一辆价值一亿五千万美元的客机在航行时依然是通过指挥塔台上的人员通过广播进行操控。

　　That is because air-traffic management (ATM) systems are stuck in the 1950s.

　　这是因为空中交通管理（ATM）系统还是上个世纪50年代的。

　　Instead of flying straight, planes must zigzag² from one ground beacon³ to the next, and ascend⁴ and descend⁵ in steps, at each stage obtaining permission from the ground.

　　客机必须曲折地从一个信号站飞到下一个，而不是直线飞行；每一步上升或下降都需要得到地面的许可。

　　The controllers' radar⁶ only shows planes' approximate positions, so they must space them well apart.

　　空管员的雷达只能显示出飞机的大概位置，好让两架飞机之间有足够的距离。

　　All this wastes fuel and causes congestion⁷ and delays.

　　这些举动都要浪费燃料，并造成拥堵和延误。

　　The average flight in European airspace is 50km (31 miles) longer than it need be.

　　在欧洲领空，平均飞行距离比实际所需长50公里（合约31英里）。

　　So the world's aviation authorities are seeking to modernise⁸ the whole system, streamlining the routing of flights and providing much more real-time information to pilots and controllers.

　　因此，世界航空管理部门都在尝试使整个系统实现现代化，让航空路线效率更高，并向飞行员和空管员提供更多的实时信息。

　　This could lead to huge orders for electronics firms, which is why, in his recent jobs speech, President Barack Obama called for $1 billion of extra cash to speed up America's ATM-modernisation project, NextGen.

　　这可能会给电子公司带来大量的订单，也就是为什么巴拉克?奥巴马总统在最近的讲话中，呼吁给美国的ATM现代化工程"新世代"增加10亿美元的额外投入。

　　A study by consultants⁹ from McKinsey of Europe's equivalent project, SESAR, finds that its costs should be dwarfed¹⁰ by the fuel savings¹¹ and the economic boost from squeezing more flights into Europe's busy skies.

　　麦卡锡在欧洲的分公司也开展了同样的名为SESAR的项目，其顾问进行了一次调研，发现让原本拥挤的航线塞进更多的航班会带来经济利益激增，这样航空设备更新换代的花费与燃料节约出的费用就显得微不足道了。

　　America stands to make similar gains.

　　美国也准备通过相同的方法获益。

　　It is in everyone's interest to invest in modernisation, but the airlines are wary¹²: several times in recent history they have bought expensive kit¹³ only to find they cannot use it because controllers have failed to upgrade their equipment to match.

　　投资现代化是每个人的利益所在，但是各大航空公司却十分谨慎，客机上装配了昂贵的元件却无法使用，因为空管员无法更新设备去匹配，这种情况近年来时有发生。

　　These sorts of ambitious projects to introduce new technology, with countless¹⁴ participants, are prone¹⁵ to cock-ups.

　　这种充满抱负的项目旨在引进新技术，拥有大量的参与人员，但往往都会陷入混乱。

　　Those involved in ATM modernisation want to avoid what happened when mobile-phone standards were set, with different countries ending up with incompatible¹⁶ systems.

　　参与ATM现代化的人们希望避免移动电话标准确定时出现的情况，也就是不同的国家最终都开发了互不兼容的系统。

　　To guard against that risk, the UN's International Civil Aviation Organisation¹⁷ (ICAO) has just held a summit in Montreal, at which it divided the long list of ATM modernisation projects into manageable chunks¹⁸, on which the world's aviation authorities will try to agree standards, one at a time.

　　为了规避这个风险，联合国国际民用航空组织（ICAO）前不久在蒙特利尔召开了峰会，将长长的ATM现代化项目名单分成了几个可操作的版块，这样，世界航空主管部门就能尽量循序渐进地统一标准。

　　The process has started well, though developing countries are said to worry about rich countries imposing¹⁹ costly²⁰ programmes on them.

　　尽管据说发展中国家担心发达国家会将高价的项目强加到自己身上，但这个进程还算开端良好。

　　Agreeing on technical standards will be difficult enough. Harder still, says Nancy Graham, an ICAO official, will be paying for it all.

　　统一技术标准已经够困难的了，但据ICAO官员南希?格雷汉姆称，更困难的是这一切要付出的代价。

1 airliner   

n.客机，班机

参考例句：

• The pilot landed the airliner safely.驾驶员使客机安全着陆。
• The passengers were shepherded across the tarmac to the airliner.旅客们被引导走过跑道去上飞机。

2 zigzag   

n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行

参考例句：

• The lightning made a zigzag in the sky.闪电在天空划出一道Z字形。
• The path runs zigzag up the hill.小径向山顶蜿蜒盘旋。

3 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

4 ascend   

vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上

参考例句：

• We watched the airplane ascend higher and higher.我们看着飞机逐渐升高。
• We ascend in the order of time and of development.我们按时间和发展顺序向上溯。

5 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

6 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。

7 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

8 modernise   

vt.使现代化

参考例句：

• If it works,it would help to modernise the entire economy.这项（改革）一旦实施起效，将有助于整体经济的现代化进程。
• They attempted in vain to modernise these antiquated industries.他们企图使这些陈旧的工业现代化，结果劳而无功。

9 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

10 dwarfed   

vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The old houses were dwarfed by the huge new tower blocks. 这些旧房子在新建的高楼大厦的映衬下显得十分矮小。
• The elephant dwarfed the tortoise. 那只乌龟跟那头象相比就显得很小。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

12 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

13 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

14 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

15 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

16 incompatible   

adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的

参考例句：

• His plan is incompatible with my intent.他的计划与我的意图不相符。
• Speed and safety are not necessarily incompatible.速度和安全未必不相容。

17 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

18 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

19 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

20 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。