英语听力精选进阶版 6217

Britain Is an Island 不列颠是一个岛

After six days of being grounded aeroplanes have been given the all-clear to fly in British airspace again.

The UK has effectively been a no-fly zone since last Thursday when a huge cloud of volcanic¹ ash was thrown up into the atmosphere by a volcano in Iceland.

The eruption² beneath an Icelandic glacier³ created an ash cloud that forced airspace closures across northern Europe, stranding⁴ many thousands of air travellers.

The ash cloud posed a risk to jet planes because it rose to around 30,000ft (9100 metres) which is the normal cruising altitude for passenger planes.

Volcanic ash can clog⁵ up and damage jet engines while the tiny particles of glass in the ash can also melt and block the ventilation holes which can cause the engines to overheat and stop working.

The obvious risk of this happening to crowded passenger planes in British airspace was enough for the UK's Civil Aviation Authority to enforce a total ban on flights – a move which was mirrored by other northern European countries.

The dangers of flying through volcanic ash were demonstrated in 1982 when a British Airways⁶ flight from Malaysia to Australia lost power in all four engines after flying into a cloud of dust spewed out by an eruption of Mount Galunggung in Indonesia.

After 15 minutes of gliding⁷ in a controlled descent from 37,000 feet (11,000 metres) to 12,000 feet (3700 metres), the pilot, Captain John Moody⁸, managed to restart the engines once enough of the molten ash in the enginessolidified and broke off. The plane went on to land safely in Perth.

Speaking to the BBC last week, Captain Moody demonstrated the typically phlegmatic⁹ attitude of his profession.

"It was, yeah, a little bit frightening," he said.

Glossary 词汇表

being grounded 被停飞 

given the all-clear 予以获准 

no-fly zone 禁飞区 

volcanic ash 火山灰 

eruption 爆发 

glacier 冰河，冰川 

airspace closures 领空关闭 

stranding 使滞留 

posed a risk 构成危险 

cruising altitude 巡航高度 

clog up 堵塞 

tiny particles 微粒 

ventilation holes 通风孔 

Civil Aviation Authority 民用航空管理局 

mirrored 借鉴 

spewed out 喷出 

gliding 滑翔 

controlled descent 控制下降 

molten ash 融化的灰 

phlegmatic 冷静的

1 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

2 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

3 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

4 stranding   

n.（船只）搁浅v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The airport had to be closed, stranding tourists. 机场被迫关闭，造成游客滞留。 来自辞典例句
• The stream of history had changed course away from him, stranding him in failure. 历史潮流已经改变方向，与他背道而驰，使他陷于失败之中。 来自辞典例句

5 clog   

vt.塞满，阻塞；n.[常pl.]木屐

参考例句：

• In cotton and wool processing,short length fibers may clog sewers.在棉毛生产中，短纤维可能堵塞下水管道。
• These streets often clog during the rush hour.这几条大街在交通高峰时间常常发生交通堵塞。

6 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

7 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

8 moody   

adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的

参考例句：

• He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
• I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。

9 phlegmatic   

adj.冷静的，冷淡的，冷漠的，无活力的

参考例句：

• Commuting in the rush-hour requires a phlegmatic temperament.在上下班交通高峰期间乘坐通勤车要有安之若素的心境。
• The british character is often said to be phlegmatic.英国人的性格常说成是冷漠的。