四级复习资料大全阅读(26)_大学英语阅读

四级复习资料大全阅读(26)

　　Airport

　　An airport is a place where airplanes arrive and depart. Passengers leave and arrive on the airplanes and cargo is loaded and unloaded. Large, jet powered airplanes require long runways for takeoffs and landings. Big terminal buildings are necessary to handle thousands of passengers and their baggage. Very large airports usually serve several large cities and cover thousands of acres. Hundreds of planes arrive and depart daily. All this traffic must be carefully controlled to avoid delays and accidents. This is done from a control tower. The tower stands high above the ground. Air traffic controllers, inside the tower, must be able to guide airplanes through their takeoffs and landings.

　　Large airports are often like small cities. Many have post offices, banks, hotels, restaurants, and many kinds of shops. Airports have their own fire and police departments, fuel storage tanks, and repair work shops. Some companies even have their shipping warehouses located at airports.

　　One of the largest airports in the world is in Grapevine, Texas, midway between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. This airport covers 7 200 hectares (18 000 acres).Its five terminals can handle the arrivals and departures of 90 jumbo jets at the same time. OHare International Airport, in Chicago, is the busiest airport in the world. It handles more than 37 million passengers a year.

　　Small airports that are used only by private airplanes usually cover 20 to 40 hectares (50 to 100 acres).They do not need all the buildings and services of a large airport. The control tower may be just a small room in a building at ground level.