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  3. Copying Birds May Save Aircraft Fuel Both Boeing and Airbus have trumpeted the efficiency of their newest aircraft, the 787

Copying Birds May Save Aircraft Fuel Both Boeing and Airbus have trumpeted the efficiency of their newest aircraft, the 787

admin2013-11-29  59
问题                 Copying Birds May Save Aircraft Fuel
    Both Boeing and Airbus have trumpeted the efficiency of their newest aircraft, the 787 and A350 respectively. Their clever designs and lightweight compositions certainly make a difference. But a group of researchers at Stanford University, led by Ilan Kroo, has suggested that airlines could take a more naturalistic approach to cutting jet-fuel use, and it would not require them to buy new aircraft.
    The answer, says Dr. Kroo, lies with birds. Since 1914, scientists have known that birds wings curls upwards behind the wingtips, a phenomenon known as upwash. Other birds flying in the upwash experience reduced drag, and spend less energy propelling themselves. Peter Lissaman, an aeronautics expert who was formerly at Caltech and the University of Southern California, has suggested that a formation of 25 birds might enjoy a range increase of 71%.
    When applied to aircraft, the principles are not substantially different. Dr. Kroo and his team modeled what would happen if three passenger jets departing from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas were to assemble over Utah, assume an inverted V-formation, occasionally change places so all could have a turn in the most favorable positions, and proceed to London. They found that the aircraft consumed as much as 15% less fuel(coupled with a reduction in carbon-dioxide output). Nitrogen-oxide emissions during the cruising portions of the flight fell by around a quarter.
    There are, of course, knots to be worked out. One consideration is safety, or at least the perception of it. Would passengers feel comfortable travelling in companion? Dr. Kroo points out that the aircraft could be separated by several nautical miles, and would not in the intimate groupings favored by display teams like the Red Arrows. A passenger peering out of the window might not even see the other planes. Whether the separation distances involved would satisfy air-traffic-control regulations is another matter, although a working group at the International Civil Aviation Organization has included the possibility of formation flying in blueprint for new operational guidelines.
    It remains to be seen how weather conditions affect the air flows that make formation flight more efficient. In zones of increased turbulence, the planes’ wakes will decay more quickly and the effect will diminish. Dr. Kroo says this is one of the areas his team will investigate further. It might also be hard for airlines to co-ordinate the departure times and destinations of passenger aircraft in a way that would allow them to gain from formation flight. Cargo aircraft, in contrast, might be easier to reschedule, as might routine military flights.
    As is happens, America’s armed forces are on the case already. Earlier this year the country’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announced plans to pay Boeing to investigate formation flight, though the program has yet to begin. There are reports that some military aircraft flew in formation when they were low on fuel during the Second World War, but Dr. Lissaman says they are unsubstantiated. "My father was an RAF pilot and my cousin the skipper of Lancaster lost over Berlin," he adds. So he should know.
选项 A、True
B、False
答案B
解析 本题涉及的信息点是formation flight“编队飞行”是否more comfortable“更加舒适”：如果是，原因是否是passengers can not see the other planes“乘客看不到别的飞机”。在文章第三段第一句话看到作者用when applied to aircraft the principles…“当原则被运用到飞机上”，这里principles“原则”特指上一段的formation。接着阅读我们发现本段主要说明了研究人员的研究结果：编队飞行节省燃料，未涉及“更加舒适的”话题。接着阅读，我们在第三段看到作者在讨论两个问题：One consideration is safety“安全因素”和Would passengers feel comfortable travelling in companion“同时飞行时乘客感到舒适吗”，接下来文章便说明了这两个问题的解决办法：aircraft could be separated by several nautical miles，and would not in the intimate groupings favored by display teams like the Red Arrows．A passenger peering out of the window might not even see the other planes。的确，飞机之间保持一定的距离的话，就会解决舒适度的问题，但该问题只是编队飞行前提下的比较，而本题的陈述“编队飞行更舒适”显然不符合文章内容，所以为F。
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