Online Chatting Safety

3 . On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted that 42% of Americans could be overweight by 2030. Our expanding bodies not only lead to a medical problem, but also endanger personal safety in some situations — in an airplane crash, for example, according to a recent article in The New York Times.

The New York Times’ Christine Negroni reports that engineers and scientists are questioning whether airplane seats are designed to protect overweight travelers. Government standards (标准) for airplane seat strength — first set more than 60 years ago — require that the seats be made for a passenger weighing 170 pounds. Today, the average American man weighs nearly 194 pounds and the average woman 165 pounds.

Negroni reports:

“If a heavier person completely fills a seat, the seat is not likely to behave as designed during a crash,” Robert Salzar, the leading scientist at the Center for Applied Biomechanics at the University of Virginia. “The energy that is built into the aircraft seat is likely to be overpowered and the passengers will not be   protected properly” .

“Nor would the injury be limited to that passenger only,” Dr. Salzar said. “If a seat or a seat belt fails,” he said, “those people who are seated nearby could not be safe from ‘the uncontrolled movements of the passenger’.”

Most complaints about airplane seats focus on their lack of comfort and high ticket price, and whether overweight passengers should be made to buy two seats. But The New York Times’ article brings up another reason to feel anxious about flying. Investigators got in touch with the airplane seat and seat belt makers, but they refused to talk about the problem. Experts agreed that crash testing should be done with over-weighted dummies (人体模型). Both airplane seats and seat belts should be tested, they said.

Fortunately, however, according to Nora Marshall, a senior adviser at the National Transportation Safety Board, the board’s investigators have never seen an accident involving a commercial plane in which the weight of a passenger was a problem.

9 . The incident happened one day in November. A stranger asked Sammy where his mother and father were, and he knew something was off. While the woman was _______ to him, she insisted that she knew his family. The woman indicated he should come with her, but young Sammy didn’t follow.

He was understandably _______ the situation but out of it he came up with a plan. The youngster entered a store he regularly went to and _______ the cashier, Hannah Daniels. Thirty-year-old Hannah was behind the register and Sammy’s _______ were something she would never forget.

He whispered to her, “Act like you’re my mom. This lady is _______ me.” Hannah remained calm, but she didn’t take Sammy’s words lightly.

Hannah immediately placed herself between the boy and the woman. The woman was standing just outside the store, so Hannah could shut the door and lock it _______ something terrible happened.

Sammy recalled the _______ moment and noted that he was trembling in the store. His dad had taught him about the _______ of strangers and the risk of kidnappings (拐骗). As a result, the youngster knew how to _______ to the woman.

When the boy’s father, Sam Green later watched a video of the incident recorded from the store’s security camera, he said he was moved to tears. He hopes their experience would __________ other moms and dads to educate their kids because it can make a significant difference.

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