中國國際航空129號班機墜毀在距跑道幾英裡外的山坡上，機上166人，有37人生還，包括機長吳新祿。調查人員發現，飛機殘骸不是集中在一小塊地方，而是散落在山坡上幾百米的區域。塔臺空管員回憶說，當時他們改了進近方向，但與機組的通訊出了些問題……
（高清視頻見底部連結）
Flight 129 crash survivor Seol Ik-Soo inches his way through a tangle of wires, crushed cabin debris and razor sharp aluminum fragments. Finally, he emerges into daylight – alive, but still not sure if he’s out of danger. 129號班機墜毀生還者薛益洙吃力得爬過叢叢纜線，避開損毀的機艙殘骸和鋒利的鋁片。終於，他爬出了機艙，他活著，但不知道是否安全。
★ crash n.墜毀
★ inch one's way 慢慢地移動
★★ a tangle of 一團
★ crush vt.壓碎
★ cabin n.機艙
★★ debris n.碎片
★★★ razor sharp 鋒利的
★ aluminum n.鋁
★ fragment n.碎片
★ emerge vi.出來
Air China flight 129 has crashed into the side of Mount Dotdae, miles from the intended runway. More than three thousand emergency responders swarm the site. 中國國際航空129號班機墜毀在距跑道幾英裡外桅杆山的山坡上，超過三千名搜救人員迅速趕往墜機現場。
★ crash v.墜毀
★ intended a.預期的
★ runway n.跑道
★ emergency n.緊急情況
★★ swarm v.蜂擁，湧往
The crash site was horrible. It was truly a miracle that they were able to find a number of survivors from such a massive crash. 墜機現場觸目驚心，這樣慘烈的空難居然還能救出一些生還者，真是奇蹟。
★ horrible a.可怕的
★ miracle n.奇蹟
★ massive a.巨大的，嚴重的
★ crash n.墜毀
The fact that the young tour guide forgot his passport, something he thought was a shameful mistake will be remembered forever as a lifesaving stroke of luck. 年輕導遊薛益洙忘記帶護照的這件事，他原以為丟人現眼，卻成為了永遠難忘的救命稻草。
★ tour guide 導遊
★ passport n.護照
★ lifesaving a.救命的
★★★ stroke n.一件（幸運的）事
Korean air accident investigators arrive on the scene, along with American investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board. 韓國的空難調查員以及來自美國的國家運輸安全委員會調查員到達現場。
★ investigator n.調查員
★ scene n.現場
★ transportation n.運輸
★ board n.委員會
From the crash site, investigators can see the airport nearly three miles away. There is no simple explanation for why Flight 129 hit the terrain so far from the runway. 從墜機現場，調查員可以看到近3英裡（4.8公裡）外的機場，一時間很難解釋為何129號班機會墜毀在離機場這麼遠的地方。
★ investigator n.調查員
★ explanation n.解釋
★★ terrain n.地勢，山地
★ runway n.跑道
With the captain on his way to hospital, investigators focus on what the crash site can tell them about the accident. Debris is scattered for hundreds of yards down the hillside. 機長被送往醫院的同時，調查員把注意力放在事故現場的線索上，殘骸散落在山坡上幾百米的區域。
★ investigator n.調查員
★★ debris n.殘骸
★ scatter v.使分散，使散開
★ hillside n.山坡
Normally when an accident occurs, the wreckage and debris tend to stay within the area of their initial impact point. The widely scattered wreckage begins to paint a picture. The back of the plane must have landed first, meaning the pilot was pulling up as the plane hit the ground. 通常飛機墜毀時，殘骸和碎片一般會散落在最初撞擊點的附近，廣闊的殘骸散落區說明了一個問題，機尾部分肯定是先觸地的，也就是說撞地一刻，飛行員試圖拉起飛機。
★★ wreckage n.殘骸
★★ debris n.碎片
★ initial a.最初的
★ impact n.撞擊
★ scatter vi.分散，散開
If he hadn’t have done that, it may have been worse. But the airplane kind of cushioned itself a little bit into the trees and impact forces were lessened as the airplane hit the ground, tore the engines off and slide through the trees, and so the people survived. 如果他沒有嘗試救回飛機，情況可能更慘。樹叢減緩了部分衝力，在飛機穿越樹叢引擎刮落，撞向地面的同時撞擊力也得以減小，因此有些人生還了。
★★ cushion vt.緩和…的衝力
★ impact force 衝力
★ lessen vt.減少，變小
★ tear off 撕下，扯掉
★ slide vi.滑行
But the central question remains unanswered. Why did Flight 129, in the midst of a seemingly routine landing, crash into a mountainside? The answers investigators need may lie with the plane’s black boxes. Searchers have pulled the critical devices from the wreckage. But it will take expert lab analysis before anyone knows if the data can be recovered. 但關鍵問題依然沒有答案，為什麼129號班機在例行的降落過程中撞上了山坡。調查員希望的答案可能就在飛機的記錄儀中，搜索人員從殘骸中取出了這些關鍵的設備，但需要實驗室專家的分析，才能確認能否提取數據。
★ in the midst of 在…過程中
★ seemingly ad.看似
★ routine a.例行的
★ crash into 撞到…上
★ mountainside n.山坡
★ lie with 在於，取決於
★ critical a.關鍵的
★ device n.設備
★★ wreckage n.殘骸
★ recover vt.恢復
Switching from straight in to a circling approach is something that happens routinely at airports around the world. Flight 129 was originally scheduled to land on Runway 36L coming in from the south. But after the change they were headed for Funway 18R, coming in from the north instead. 從直接進近改為盤旋進近這是在世界各地機場常有的事。129號班機原定計劃從南面進近，降落在36號左跑道，變更以後，他們得從北面進近，在18號右跑道降落。
★ switch v.轉換
★ circling approach 盤旋進近
★ routinely ad.慣常地
★ originally ad.最初
★ schedule vt.安排
Air traffic control gave them clearance for a circling approach which was appropriate for the weather conditions at the time. 空管允許他們做一個盤旋進近，這是適合當時天氣情況的。
★★ clearance n.許可，準許
★ circling approach 盤旋進近
★ appropriate a.合適的
Shortly after he instructs flight 129 to do a circling approach, the tower controller tells the pilots to switch to a new radio frequency. 在指揮129號班機盤旋進近之後不久，空管員通知飛行員更換到新的無線電頻率。
★ instruct vt.指示
★ circling approach 盤旋進近
★ switch to 轉換到
★ radio frequency 無線電頻率
When the controller told the crew to switch to the tower frequency, they didn’t acknowledge. The tower had to remind them, call them a couple of times. The tower eventually called the cockpit on the emergency frequency. 當空管員告訴機組切換到塔臺頻率的時候，他們沒有確認收到。塔臺不得不提醒他們好幾次，最後塔臺要使用緊急頻率呼叫駕駛艙。
★ crew n.機組
★ switch to 轉換到
★ frequency n.頻率
★ acknowledge v.告知已收到
★ eventually ad.最終
★★★ cockpit n.駕駛艙
★ emergency n.緊急情況
All airports use a standard frequency to communicate in emergency situations. If air traffic control even suspects a plane is in distress, they will use this frequency to contact the crew. 所有機場使用一個標準的頻率用作緊急情況聯絡，如果空管員擔心飛機出了狀況，他們會用這個頻段聯繫機組。
★ frequency n.頻率
★ emergency situation 緊急情況
★ in distress 在困境中
★ crew n.機組
If air traffic controllers make a statement and the crew either doesn’t answer or misinterprets it, it can cause the accident basically. 如果空管員發出的指令機組沒有回應或者誤解了，往往就會導致事故的發生。
★ misinterpret vt.誤解
註：一星詞彙為四級難度，二星詞彙為六級、考研難度，三星詞彙為雅思、託福及以上難度，大家根據自己的考試要求選擇性學習，參考所列詞句自由做筆記，學單詞、漲知識。建議準備一個專門的本子，日積月累，這會是不小的收穫！
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