Unit 7: When lightning struck Background information: 1. What is aviation accident? Is air travel safe? An aviation accident is defined as: An occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and the time all such persons have disembarked, and in which: a) a person is fatally or seriously injured; b) the aircraft sustains damage or structural failure; or c) the aircraft is missing or is completely inaccessible Air travel is the safest form of transportation available. Trains have 0.04 deaths for every 100 million miles and automobiles have 0.94 deaths per 100 million miles, while air travel has 0. 01 deaths for every 100 million miles traveled f aviation acci approximately 80 percent of all aviation accidents occur shortly before, after,or during takeoff of landing, and are often described as resulting from"human error mid-flight disasters are rare but not entirely unheard of. Among other things, the latter have been caused by bombs, mid-air collisions and structural failure. An accident survey of 1, 843 aircraft accidents from 1950 through 2006 determined the causes to be as follows: 53%: Pilot error: 21%: Mechanical failure: 11%: Weather: 6% Sabotage(bombs, hijackings, shoot-downs); 8%: Other human error(air traffic controller error, improper lad ing of aircraft, improper maintenance, fuel contamination, language miscommunication etc. ) 1% Other cause 大约80%的航空事故发生在飞机的起飞或降落的前后或过程中,并通常被描 述为由人为过失造成。飞行中的灾难很罕见,尽管也有报道。通常造成飞行中灾 难的原因有炸弹、空中撞机和机械故障。一份对发生在1950-2006年期间的1843 起航空事故的调查显示,造成航空事故的原因为:53%是因为飞行员过失;21% 是因为机械故障;11%是因为恶略天气;6%属人为破坏(炸弹、劫机、击落); 8%是因为其他人为过失(空中交通管制员过失、装载不当、维护不当、燃料污 染、语言传达错误,等等);还有1%的其他原因。 三、 try to answer the following questions: 1. What had most probably happened to the plane when the author was using its bathroom? 2. Why did the author never pay attention to the emergency procedure instruction before takeoff? 3. What could be heard as the plane jolted and screeched its way downward? 4. What does the wonderful gift of the author's friends dying father suggest? 5. Why did the authors aisle mate take out her cell phone and pass it around? 6. Why did the author feel almost tearful to be parting from her fellow passengers on 7. What significant message does the author get from the incident? 三、 Structural analysis: 1. Part 1(Paras. 1-4 ): It tells us about the setting the unexpected happening, and some main characters including the writerUnit 7: When Lightning Struck 一、Background information: 1. What is aviation accident? Is air travel safe? An aviation accident is defined as: An occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and the time all such persons have disembarked, and in which: a) a person is fatally or seriously injured; b) the aircraft sustains damage or structural failure; or c) the aircraft is missing or is completely inaccessible. Air travel is the safest form of transportation available. Trains have 0.04 deaths for every 100 million miles and automobiles have 0.94 deaths per 100 million miles, while air travel has 0.01 deaths for every 100 million miles traveled. 2. Causes of aviation accidents Approximately 80 percent of all aviation accidents occur shortly before, after, or during takeoff of landing, and are often described as resulting from “human error”; mid-flight disasters are rare but not entirely unheard of. Among other things, the latter have been caused by bombs, mid-air collisions and structural failure. An accident survey of 1,843 aircraft accidents from 1950 through 2006 determined the causes to be as follows: 53%: Pilot error; 21%: Mechanical failure; 11%: Weather; 6%: Sabotage (bombs, hijackings, shoot-downs); 8%: Other human error (air traffic controller error, improper lading of aircraft, improper maintenance, fuel contamination, language miscommunication etc.): 1%: Other cause. 大约 80%的航空事故发生在飞机的起飞或降落的前后或过程中，并通常被描 述为由人为过失造成。飞行中的灾难很罕见，尽管也有报道。通常造成飞行中灾 难的原因有炸弹、空中撞机和机械故障。一份对发生在 1950-2006 年期间的 1843 起航空事故的调查显示，造成航空事故的原因为：53%是因为飞行员过失；21% 是因为机械故障；11%是因为恶略天气；6%属人为破坏（炸弹、劫机、击落）； 8%是因为其他人为过失（空中交通管制员过失、装载不当、维护不当、燃料污 染、语言传达错误，等等）；还有 1%的其他原因。 二、try to answer the following questions: 1. What had most probably happened to the plane when the author was using its bathroom? 2. Why did the author never pay attention to the emergency procedure instruction before takeoff? 3. What could be heard as the plane jolted and screeched its way downward? 4. What does the wonderful gift of the author’s friend’s dying father suggest? 5. Why did the author’s aisle mate take out her cell phone and pass it around? 6. Why did the author feel almost tearful to be parting from her fellow passengers on board? 7. What significant message does the author get from the incident? 三、Structural Analysis: 1. Part 1 (Paras. 1-4): It tells us about the setting, the unexpected happening, and some main characters including the writer