Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
A. identify B. modified C. overcoming D. performance E. revolutionary F. suspicious G. freely H. autonomously I. injured J. rescuing K. locate |
When Trevor Rogers told climber Mark Inglis he was building a helicopter that could rescue people from Mt. Qomolangma, the New Zealand climber was 12 . “The first thing I said was, ‘Yeah, right!’ I’ve got a real interest in helicopters, and I know a lot about their 13 .”
As the first double amputee(双侧截肢者)to climb the mountain, Inglis also knows a lot about 14 improbable difficulties. Even so, what Rogers proposed seemed like a science fiction. Most helicopters are not designed to operate above a ceiling of 4,300 metres and those that do have to be 15 .
The highest rescue achieved on Mt. Qomolangma was at Camp 1 in 1996, when a Nepalese pilot took his French-built Ecureuil to 6,100 metres, 16 two climbers with severe frostbite(冻伤).
But after six years of research, Rogers told Inglis, his team had developed an unpiloted full-size helicopter called the Alpine Wasp, capable of flying 17 at altitudes up to and even beyond 9,000 m, and a full 3,000 m higher than anything achieved before to carry two sick or 18 climbers to safety.
Built from lightweight composite materials, the Alpine Wasp has a(n) 19 engine designed to function in the thin air of high altitude. “We are going to challenge the science of aviation at extreme altitude and conquer new frontiers on Mt. Qomolangma and in Nepal,” Rogers says.
TGR have created the Mt. Qomolangma Rescue Trust to take over running of the helicopter, and there are plans for a frostbite treatment centre. What is less certain is how the helicopter’s on-board computer systems will 20 stricken climbers.
The Wasp, Rogers says, will use virtual reality systems at its base in Namche Bazaar and can even fly in fog close to the mountain to perform rescues. Climbers will be fitted with a tracking device in order to 21 them, and once they are found the helicopter will lower a cable for hoisting.