经济学人:航空安全 是否禁用电子设备?(上)

 　　Business 商业

　　Airline Security: Carry On Working 航空安全：继续努力

　　Airlines seem to have dodged¹ a wider ban on electronic devices. 航空公司涉嫌对电子设备禁令不作为。

　　The fear that business travellers on transatlantic flights might have to stop working on spreadsheets and read a good book instead had been palpable. 现在有一种担忧甚嚣尘上：商务旅客在跨大西洋的航班上恐怕有可能只能读书而不能使用笔记本电脑办公了。

　　In recent weeks, agents at America's Department of Homeland Security had been hinting to the media that a ban on large electronic devices in the cabins of flights between Europe and America was likely. 最近几个星期，美国国土安全部的工作人员一直暗示媒体说，很有可能会禁止在往返欧洲和美国的航班上使用大型电子设备。

　　After a meeting on May 17th in Brussels, between American and EU officials, however, reports suggest that threat has been averted². 不过，5月17日布鲁塞尔的美国和欧盟官员会议之后，会议报告中显示，为该信息担忧的人们可以松一口气了。

　　Airlines will be rejoicing if so. 特别是航空公司。

　　America had been expected to announce that all electronic gadgets³ larger than a smartphone, such as tablets and laptops, would henceforth have to be put in hold luggage. 早前就有人预计美国会宣布，今后所有比智能手机大的电子产品，如平板电脑和笔记本电脑，将必须办理托运。

　　The Trump⁴ administration (along with Britain) had already imposed similar restrictions⁵ on flights from some Middle Eastern countries in March. 3月份特朗普当局(连同英国)就已经对一些中东国家的航班实施了类似的限制。

　　It seemed security officials had got wind of a specific terrorist threat, possibly involving Islamic State (IS) , and perhaps similar to an attack perpetrated on a Somalian jet in 2016. 很有可能是安全官员得到了关于恐怖主义威胁的密报，也许跟伊斯兰国(IS)有关，类似于2016年在索马里喷气机上发动的一次恐怖袭击事件。

　　Then, a terrorist blew a hole in the side of an airliner⁶ using a small bomb concealed⁷ in a laptop placed against the cabin wall.  一名恐怖分子使用放置在机舱墙壁上的一颗隐藏在笔记本电脑中的小型炸弹在机身侧面炸开了一个洞。

　　(The terrorist got his timing⁸ wrong, detonated too early, and was sucked to his doom⁹; no one else was seriously hurt.) （恐怖分子弄错了时间，过早引爆，自己被吸出客机，没有其他人受到严重的伤害）。

　　The reason for the apparent change of mind was unclear as The Economist¹⁰ went to press. 正如 《经济学人》一篇文章说的那样，意见改变的原因尚不清楚。

　　Airlines had complained that alternative security options, such as enhanced screening of passengers and their carry-on luggage, had not been fully¹¹ explored. 航空公司曾抱怨说，其他安全方案，例如加强对乘客及其随身携带的行李的检查，这类措施尚未考虑周全。

　　They also warned of the dangers of storing more lithium batteries in the hold. 他们还警告了一次带有多块锂电池的危险性。

　　Such batteries, which are used in most electronic devices, have on occasion combusted and brought down commercial aircraft, including a UPS cargo¹² plane in 2010. 这种在大多数电子设备中都会使用的电池有时会自燃而导致飞机迫降，比如2010年时的UPS货机。

1 dodged   

v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He dodged cleverly when she threw her sabot at him. 她用木底鞋砸向他时，他机敏地闪开了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He dodged the book that I threw at him. 他躲开了我扔向他的书。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

3 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 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。

7 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

8 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

9 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

10 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

12 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。