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THE 67-metre-tall control tower that opened at San Francisco International Airport in October is a stylish structure that cost $120m. It is suppose to resemble a beacon of the sort used in ancient times to guide ships safely to harbour. Those in the know might be forgiven for wondering if the new control tower is less a beacon than a white elephant. Elsewhere, airport managers are starting to abandon the panopticons that have dominated airfields for decades in favour of remote-controlled versions that promise to be cheaper and safer. Instead, they are housed in ordinary low-rise buildings, in some cases hundreds of kilometres away from the facility they are monitoring.
10月份在旧金山国际机场开放的67米高的控制塔是一个花费了1.2亿美元的具有现代风格的建筑。它就像古代指引船舶安全进入港口的灯塔。那些知情人士可能会想，新的灯塔不如白象更像灯塔。在其他地方，机场管理员开始禁止已经俯视机场数十年的环形监控室，并支持保证更便宜、更安全的远程控制版本。相反，他们在普通的低层建筑里封装，在有些情况下，离他们监控的设备有数百公里远。
These remote control towers receive a live video feed from cameras positioned around an airfield. The images are stitched together by computer and displayed on screens (as pictured above) to create a virtual view of the runways and taxiways being monitored. In some cases the screens surround the air-traffic controllers, creating a 360° image. Separate screens can be used to display different airfields, because some remote towers will control flights in and out of a number of airports.
这些远程控制塔从放置在机场周围的摄像机接收直播视频。人们利用计算机将图片拼接在一起，显示在屏幕上（就像在上面的动画）从而创造一个对飞机跑道和滑行道的虚拟控制视角。在有些时候，屏幕环绕在空中交通管制员的周围，创建一个360的图像。
The first airport to deploy a virtual control tower was the one that serves Ornskoldsvik, in northern Sweden, which is used by about 80,000 passengers a year. In April 2015 the conventional tower at this airport was closed. The controllers moved to a remote tower at Sundsvall, some 130km to the south, that had been built by LFV, Sweden’s air-navigation agency, and Saab, a Swedish technology firm. Last year, this tower also began monitoring flights at its local airport, Sundsvall-Timra. Next year it will start looking after those at Linkoping City Airport, in southern Sweden, too.
第一个部署虚拟控制塔的是在瑞典北部在恩舍尔兹维克服务的机场，这个机场一年的乘客达八万人。在2015年4月这个机场的传统的塔台就关闭了。机场管制员搬到瑞典松兹瓦尔距离最南端130km，由瑞典空中航行机构和一家瑞典科技公司Saab建造的远程塔台。去年，这座塔台也开始在它的本土机场-松兹瓦尔（瑞典港市）控制航班。明年它也将开始在瑞士南部的林雪平市机场看管那些航班。
重点单词
1、resemble
V-T If some thing or person resembles another, they are similar to each other .像
eg.Some of the commercially produced vension resembles beef in flavour.
一些商业化生产的鹿肉味道像牛肉
2、conventional
（1）ADJ Someone who is conventional has behaviour or opinions that are ordinary and normal. (行为观念等)传统的
eg. ...a respectable married woman with conventional opinions
...一位可敬的观念传统的已婚妇女。
（2）ADJ A conventional method or product is one that is usually used that has been in used for a long time. 传统的（方法或产品等）
eg. ...the risks and drawbacks of conbentional family planning methods.
...传统计划生育方法的风险与缺陷。
（3）ADJ Conventional weapons and wars do not involve nuclear explosives.常规的（武器）；不用核武器的（战争）
3、stitch
V-T/V-I If you stitch cloth, you use a needle and thread to join two pieces together or to make a decoration. 缝
eg. Fold the fabric and stitch the two layers together.
把布料对折，将两层缝在一起。
4、instead
(1) If you do one thing instead of anothe, you do the first thing and not the second thing, as the result of a choice or a change of behaviour. 而不是......
eg. They raised prices and cut production, instead of cutting costs.
他们提供了价格，减少了产量，而没有削减成本。
(2)ADV If you do not do something, but do sometuing else instead, you do the second thing and not the first thing, ad the result of a choice or a change of behaviour. 而
eg. My husband asked why I couldn't just forget about dieting and eat normally instead.
丈夫问我为什么就不能忘掉节食而正常吃饭。
5、promise
(1) V-T/V-I If you promise that you will do someting, you say to someone that you will definitely do it. 承诺
eg. The post office has promised to resume first class mail delivery to the area on Friday.
邮局已经承诺在星期五回复该地区第一类邮件的递送。
(2)V-T If you promise someone someting, you tell them that you will definitely give it to them or make sure that they have it. 向（某人）承诺（给予他们某物）；向（某人）保证（他们获得某物）
eg. In 1920s the great powers promised them an independent state.
1920年，列强们曾答应让他们成为一个独立国家。
(3)V-T If a situationg or event promises to have a particular quality or to be a particular thing, it shows signs that it will have that quality or be that thing.预示
eg. While it will be fun, the seminar also promises to be most instructive.
这次专题讨论会将会很有趣，也一定会非常有启发性。
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