Air France tail section recovered

　　Air France tail section recovered 法航飞机尾部复原

A Brazilian search team has recovered a large tail section of the Air France jet that crashed a week ago over the Atlantic with 228 people on board.
　　The Brazilian military released photos of divers¹ securing the tail fin², which was painted with Air France colours.
　　Meanwhile the US is sending two sophisticated （诡辩的，久经世故的）listening devices to help search for black boxes from the plane.
　　Brazilian officials said 24 bodies had now been recovered, an increase from the previous total of 16.
　　Bodies and debris³ from the plane have been found some 1,000km (600 miles) north-east of Brazil's Fernando de Noronha islands, where the Airbus disappeared.
　　The BBC's Gary Duffy, in Sao Paulo, says the search teams are likely to draw encouragement from the discovery of the plane's tail.
　　There had been uncertainty⁴ last week about whether some of the debris came from the plane, but our correspondent says the latest find is likely to help to move the inquiry⁵ forward.
　　Investigators⁶ have so far focused on whether the plane's speed sensors⁷（速度传感器） stopped working properly just before it crashed in turbulent（狂暴的，吵闹的） weather.
　　French subThe US listening devices are being flown to Brazil and will then be taken to two French tugs（拖船） that will listen for signals from the plane's "black box" data recorders, the Pentagon said.
　　They can detect signals from the black boxes up to a depth of 20,000ft (6,100m).
　　The boxes are programmed to emit（发出，发射，吐露） signals for 30 days.
　　A French submarine is also expected to arrive this week at the crash site to help with the search.
　　Teams from France and Brazil are continuing to scour⁸ （擦洗）the site of the crash.
　　The bodies that have been found will be taken by ship to Fernando de Noronha, before being moved to the Brazilian city of Recife, where a temporary mortuary(停尸间，太平间)has been established.
　　Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said his country would do all it could to retrieve⁹ more bodies.
　　Discussing the possible cause of the crash, French officials have said the plane's sensors could have iced over, meaning pilots may have flown into a storm without knowing their speed.
　　France's Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau told French radio that such a situation could have resulted in "two bad consequences for the survival of the plane".
　　"Too low a speed, which can cause it to stall, or too high a speed, which can lead to the plane ripping up as it approached the speed of sound, as the outer skin is not designed to resist such speed," he said.
　　Air France has said it is stepping up the process of replacing speed monitors on board its Airbus planes.
　　The company said it first noticed problems with speed monitors a year ago and began replacing them a few weeks before the accident.
　　But investigators have said it is too early to say what role faulty sensors might have played in the crash.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

2 fin   

n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼

参考例句：

• They swim using a small fin on their back.它们用背上的小鳍游动。
• The aircraft has a long tail fin.那架飞机有一个长长的尾翼。

3 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

4 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

5 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

8 scour   

v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷

参考例句：

• Mother made me scour the family silver.母亲让我擦洗家里的银器。
• We scoured the telephone directory for clues.我们仔细查阅电话簿以寻找线索。

9 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。