2018 年 10 月 29 日，印尼狮航波音 737 Max 8 客机在起飞 13 分钟后失联，随后被确认坠毁。133 天之后，埃塞俄比亚航空一架波音 737 Max 8 航班从亚的斯亚贝巴起飞，6 分钟后坠毁。以精密审慎闻名的波音 公司怎么了？为什么连出事故？
It remains the mystery at the heart of Boeing Co.’s 737 Max crisis: how a company renowned for meticulous design made seemingly basic software mistakes leading to a pair of deadly crashes. Longtime Boeing engineers say the effort was complicated by a push to outsource work to lower-paid contractors.
波音 737 危机的成因中依旧存在一个谜：这样一个以精密设计闻名世界的公司怎么会犯看似如此基础的软件错误，导致了两起致命坠机事故。波音的资深（软件）工程师表示，波音力图将工作外包给报酬更低的分包商 ，此举使设计过程复杂化。
The Max software — plagued by issues that could keep the planes grounded months longer after U.S. regulators this week revealed a new flaw — was developed at a time Boeing was laying off experienced engineers and pressing suppliers to cut costs.
本周，美国监管者披露了一个新发现的 Max 软件瑕疵。这使 Max 软件面临一系列相关安全问题，并可能会使波音飞机继续停飞数月。波音 Max 软件开发期间，波音辞退了一些资深工程师，并不断向供应商施压，以降低成本。
Increasingly, the iconic American planemaker and its subcontractors have relied on temporary workers making as little as $9 an hour to develop and test software, often from countries lacking a deep background in aerospace — notably India.
美国标志性飞机制造商波音和其承包商越来越依赖他们仅九美元一小时的临时工来开发和测试软件。这些临时工通常来自没有深厚航天背景的国家——尤其是印度。
In offices across from Seattle’s Boeing Field, recent college graduates employed by the Indian software developer HCL Technologies Ltd. occupied several rows of desks, said Mark Rabin, a former Boeing software engineer who worked in a flight-test group that supported the Max.
马克·拉宾是前波音软件工程师，他曾在波音 737 Max 机型软件的试飞支持小组工作。他表示，在西雅图波音机
场对面的办公室里，有很多受雇于印度软件开发商 HCL 科技有限公司的员工都刚大学毕业不久，足足占了好几排工位。
The coders from HCL were typically designing to specifications set by Boeing. Still, “it was
because it was far less efficient than Boeing engineers just writing the code,” Rabin said. Frequently, he recalled, “it took many rounds going back and forth because the code was not done correctly.”
HCL 公司的编码员基本上是依照波音的详细设计说明来编写代码。但是，拉宾表示：“这么做依旧极具争议性，因为这要比波音工程师自己编码效率低得多。”很多情况下，拉宾回忆道：“要来来回回修改好几次，因为编码经常出错。”
outsource/ˈaʊtsɔːrs/ v. 将（工作）外包
词根词缀：out-（向外）
相关词汇：source（v. 找出…的来源，从某处获得）
source 例句：Each type of coffee bean is sourced from different countries.
meticulous/məˈtɪkjələs/ adj. 一丝不苟的；细心的
英文释义：very careful and with great attention to every detail
例句：He is meticulous about his work.
搭配短语：meticulous instruction
搭配短语：meticulous planning
词义辨析
meticulous, careful
两者都可以表示“小心的，细心的”，但 meticulous 是指一种极度、甚至是过分的对细节的关心，所以比 careful 的程度要深。
contractor/ˈkɒntræktə(r)/
n. 立约人；承包商
词根词缀：-or（做某事的人）
相关词汇：contract（n. 合同）
英文释义：a person or company that agrees to do work or provide goods for another company
plague/pleɪɡ/ v. 困扰
词性拓展：plague（n. 瘟疫）
搭配短语：be plagued by
例句：He has been plagued by ill health.
例句：Many sectors are plagued by over-production and inefficiency.
be plagued by 近义词：be faced with
ground/ɡraʊnd/ v. 使停飞
词性拓展：ground（n. 地面）
例句：The helicopter was grounded by heavy fog.
iconic/aɪˈkɑːnɪk/ adj. 标志性的；非常出名的，受欢迎的
相关词汇：icon（n. 代表，典型）
icon 搭配短语：a fashion icon
subcontractor/sʌbˈkɑːntræktər/
n. 分包商；分包人
词根词缀：sub-（在下面，次一等）
相关词汇：contractor（n. 承包商）
aerospace/ˈeroʊspeɪs/ n. 航空航天业
notably/ˈnoʊtəbli/ adv. 尤其地
近义词：especially，particularly
flight-test/ˈflaɪt test/ n. 飞行测试，试飞
coder/koʊdər/ n. 编码员；程序员
相关词汇：code（n. 编码，代码）
词义辨析
coder, programmer, software engineer
能敲代码，让一段代码正常运行的就可以叫 coder，所以它就相当于最初级的程序员，一般工作就是照着很详细的设计说明书编写代码和实现功能；programmer 程序员更加高阶，能理解算法、独立编码、解决现实问题。software engineer 软件工程师，属于资历最深、最专业的程序员。
specification/ˌspesɪfɪˈkeɪʃn/
n. 规格；具体要求
相关词汇：specific（adj. 具体的，详细的）
搭配短语：build /design/ produce/ make sth to … specifications
例句：The house has been built exactly to our specifications.
补充词汇知识
the heart of sth.
某件事情的核心、关键
be renowned for
因为...而闻名
近义词组：be famous for
seemingly
adv. 看似...地
longtime
adj. 长久的，长期存在的
搭配短语：a longtime fan
press/push sb. to do sth.
催促某人做某事
temporary workers
临时工
permanent workers
长期工；固定工
lay off
解雇
back and forth
来回
