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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月份在舊金山國際機場開放的67米高的控制塔是一個花費了1.2億美元的具有現代風格的建筑。它就像古代指引船舶安全進入港口的燈塔。那些知情人士可能會想，新的燈塔不如白象更像燈塔。在其他地方，機場管理員開始禁止已經俯視機場數十年的環形監控室，并支持保證更便宜、更安全的遠程控制版本。相反，他們在普通的低層建筑里封裝，在有些情況下，離他們監控的設備有數百公里遠。

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.
這些遠程控制塔從放置在機場周圍的攝像機接收直播視頻。人們利用計算機將圖片拼接在一起，顯示在屏幕上（就像在上面的動畫）從而創造一個對飛機跑道和滑行道的虛擬控制視角。在有些時候，屏幕環繞在空中交通管制員的周圍，創建一個360的圖像。

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.
第一個部署虛擬控制塔的是在瑞典北部在恩舍爾茲維克服務的機場，這個機場一年的乘客達八萬人。在2015年4月這個機場的傳統的塔臺就關閉了。機場管制員搬到瑞典松茲瓦爾距離最南端130km，由瑞典空中航行機構和一家瑞典科技公司Saab建造的遠程塔臺。去年，這座塔臺也開始在它的本土機場-松茲瓦爾（瑞典港市）控制航班。明年它也將開始在瑞士南部的林雪平市機場看管那些航班。

重點單詞
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.
一些商業化生產的鹿肉味道像牛肉

2、conventional
（1）ADJ Someone who is conventional has behaviour or opinions that are ordinary and normal. (行為觀念等)傳統的
eg. ...a respectable married woman with conventional opinions
...一位可敬的觀念傳統的已婚婦女。
（2）ADJ A conventional method or product is one that is usually used that has been in used for a long time. 傳統的（方法或產品等）
eg. ...the risks and drawbacks of conbentional family planning methods.
...傳統計劃生育方法的風險與缺陷。
（3）ADJ Conventional weapons and wars do not involve nuclear explosives.常規的（武器）；不用核武器的（戰爭）

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. 縫
eg. Fold the fabric and stitch the two layers together.
把布料對折，將兩層縫在一起。

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.
他們提供了價格，減少了產量，而沒有削減成本。
(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.
丈夫問我為什么就不能忘掉節食而正常吃飯。

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. 承諾
eg. The post office has promised to resume first class mail delivery to the area on Friday.
郵局已經承諾在星期五回復該地區第一類郵件的遞送。
(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）承諾（給予他們某物）；向（某人）保證（他們獲得某物）
eg. In 1920s the great powers promised them an independent state.
1920年，列強們曾答應讓他們成為一個獨立國家。
(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.預示
eg. While it will be fun, the seminar also promises to be most instructive.
這次專題討論會將會很有趣，也一定會非常有啟發性。