Text 3Who's to blame? The trail of responsibility goes beyond poor maintenance of British railways, say industry critics. Stingy governments-both Labor and Tory-have cut down on investments in trains and rails.ln the mid-1990s a Conservative government pu

题目

Text 3

Who's to blame? The trail of responsibility goes beyond poor maintenance of British railways, say industry critics. Stingy governments-both Labor and Tory-have cut down on investments in trains and rails.ln the mid-1990s a Conservative government pushed through the sale of the entire subsidy-guzzling rail network. Operating franchises were parceled out among private comparues and a separate firm,Railtrack, was awarded ownership of the tracks and stations. In the future, the theory ran back then, the private sector could pay for any improvements-with a little help from the state-and take the blame for any failings.

Today surveys show that travelers believe privatization is one of the reasons for the railways 's failures. They ask whether the pursuit of profits is compatible with guaranteeing safety. Worse, splitting the network between companies has made coordination nearly impossible. "The railway was tom apart at privatization and the structure that was put in place was. . . designed, if we are honest, to maximize the proceeds to the Treasury," said Railtrack boss Gerald Corbett before resigning last month in the wake of the Hatfield crash.

Generally, the contrasts with mainland Europe are stark. Over the past few decades the Germans, French and Italians have invested 50 percent more than the British in transportation infrastructure. As a result, a web of high-speed trains now crisscross the Continent, funded by governments willing to commit state funds to major capital projects. Spain is currently planning l,000 miles of new high- speed track.ln France superfast trains already shuttle between all major cities, often on dedicated lines. And in Britain? When the Eurostar trains that link Paris, London and Brussels emerge from the Channel Tunnel onto British soil and join the crowded local network, they must slow down from 186 mph to a maximum of 100 mph-and they usually have to go even slower.

For once, the government is listening. After all, commuters are voters, too. In a pre-vote spending spree, the govemment has committed itself to huge investment in transportation, as well as education and the public health service. Over the next 10 years, the railways should get an extra £60 billion, partly through higher subsidies to the private companies. As Blair ackoowledged last month, " Britain has been underinvested in and investment is central to Britain's future. " You don't have to tell the 3 million passengers who use the railways every day. Last week trains to Darlington were an hour late-and crawling at Locomotion No.l speeds.

51. In the first paragraph, the author tries to

[ A] trace the tragedy to its defective origin.

[ B] remind people of Britain's glonous past.

[ C] explain the failure of Britain's rail network.

[ D] call for impartiality in assessing the situation.


相似考题

4.For years people have been saying that the railways are dead. We all keep hearing that trains are slow, that they lose money, that they’re dying. But this is far from the true. In these days of expensive oil, the railways have become highly competitive with motorcars and planes. If you want to carry people or goods from place to place, they’re cheaper than planes. And they have much in common with planes. A plane goes in a straight line and so does a railway. What is more, a railway takes you from the heart of a city center. It doesn’t hold you up as a car does, in endless traffic jams. And a single train can carry goods which no plane or motorcar could ever do.Far from being dead, the railways are very much alive. Modern railway lines give you a smooth, untroubled journey. Where else can you eat well, sleep in comfort, feel safe and enjoy the scene while you are traveling at speed at the same time? And we are only at the beginning. For we have just entered the age of super-fast trains, trains traveling at 150 miles an hour and more. Soon we will be wondering why we spent so much on motorways we can’t use because we have not enough money to buy the oil and planes we can’t fly in for the same reason.1. Some people think the railways are dead for many reasons EXCEPT that ____.A. planes and motorcars have taken the place of trainsB. oil is expensive todayC. trains are slowD. railways lose money2. The writers idea seems to be that ______.A. we can do without railwaysB. trains have much in common with motorcars and planesC. motorcars and planes are not as good as trainsD. trains are as good as motorcars and planes3. According to the writer, which of the following is NOT the advantage of railways?A. It is cheaper to travel by train than by plane.B. Super-fast trains travel even faster than planes.C. The railway station is usually at the center of a city.D. A train carries more goods than a motorcar or plane does.4. The writer thinks that the railways, far from being dead, are very much alive because ___________.A. we can have a smooth and untroubled journeyB. we’ll not have enough money to fly everywhereC. we can now travel in super-fast trainsD. all of the above5. The best title for this passage may be ________.A. The Best Choice: Train, Motorcar or PlaneB. The Dying RailwaysC. Super-fast Trains in the FutureD. Not the End, But the Beginning

更多“Text 3Who's to blame? The trail of responsibility goes beyond poor maintenance of British railways, say industry critics. Stingy governments-both Labor and Tory-have cut down on investments in trains and rails.ln the mid-1990s a Conservative government pu”相关问题
  • 第1题:

    The government decided to ____ its military expenditure.

    A. cut off

    B. cut up

    C. cut away

    D. cut down on


    参考答案:D

  • 第2题:

    The Law to Keep the Oil Industry under Control
    The Norwegian Government is doing its best to keep the oil industry under control.A new law limits exploration to an area south of the southern end of the long coastline;production limits have been laid down(though these have already been
    raised);and oil companies have not been allowed to employ more than a limited number of foreign workers.But the oil industry has a way of getting over such problems,and few people believe that the Government will be able to hold things back for long.As on Norwegian politician said last week:“We will soon be changed beyond all recognition.”
    Ever since the war,the Government has been carrying out a programme of development in the area north of the Arctic
    Circle.During the past few years this programme has had a great deal of success:Tromso has been built up into a local
    capital with a university,a large hospital and a healthy industry.But the oil industry has already started to draw people south,
    and within a few years the whole northern policy could be in ruins.
    The effects of the oil industry would not be limited to the north,however.With nearly 100 percent employment,everyone
    can see a situation developing in which the service industries and the tourist industry will lose more of their workers to the oil
    industry.Some smaller industries might even disappear altogether when it becomes cheaper to buy goods from abroad.The
    real argument over oil is its threat to the Norwegian way of life.Farmers and fishermen do not make up most of the population,but they are an important part of it,because Norwegians see in them many of the qualities that they regard with pride as
    essentially Norwegian.And it is the farmers and the fishermen who are most critical of the oil industry because of the damage
    that it might cause to the countryside and to the sea.

    The Norwegian Government would prefer the oil industry to______.

    A.provide more jobs for foreign workers.
    B.slow down the rate of its development.
    C.sell the oil it is producing abroad.
    D.develop more quickly than at present.

    答案:B
    解析:
    本题考查细节。

    B选项,减慢发展速率。文章开始就阐明挪威政府正竭尽全力把石油工业控制起来,制定新法律来限制勘探开采,限制产量,限制雇佣外国工人人数。综上 ,B选项正确。

    A选项,为外国工人提供更多的工作。不合题意,故排除。

    C选项,卖掉正在国外生产的石油。不合题意,故排除。

    D选项,比现在发展更快。不合题意,故排除。故正确选项为B。

  • 第3题:

    Text 1 France,which prides itself as the global innovator of fashion,has decided its fashion industry has lost an absolute right to define physical beauty for women.Its lawmakers gave preliminary approval last week to a law that would make it a crime to employ ultra-thin models on runaways.The parliament also agreed to ban websites that“incite excessive thinness”by promoting extreme dieting.Such measures have a couple of uplifting motives.They suggest beauty should not be defined by looks that end up impinging on health.That’s a start.And the ban on ultra-thin models seems to go beyond protecting models from starving themselves to death-as some have done.It tells the fashion industry that it must take responsibility for the signal it sends women,especially teenage girls,about the social tape-measure they must use to determine their individual worth.The bans,if fully enforced,would suggest to women(and many men)that they should not let others be arbiters of their beauty.And perhaps faintly,they hint that people should look to intangible qualities like character and intellect rather than dieting their way to size zero or wasp-waist physiques.The French measures,however,rely too much on severe punishment to change a culture that still regards beauty as skin-deep-and bone-showing.Under the law,using a fashion model that does not meet a government-defined index of body mass could result in a$85,000 fine and six months in prison.The fashion industry knows it has an inherent problem in focusing on material adornment and idealized body types.In Denmark,the United States,and a few other countries,it is trying to set voluntary standards for models and fashion images that rely more on peer pressure for enforcement.In contrast to France’s actions,Denmark’s fashion industry agreed last month on rules and sanctions regarding the age,health,and other characteristics of models.The newly revised Danish Fashion Ethical Charter clearly states:“We are aware of and take responsibility for the impact the fashion industry has on body ideals,especially on young people.”The charter’s main tool of enforcement is to deny access for designers and modeling agencies to Copenhagen Fashion Week(CFW),which is run by the Danish Fashion Institute.But in general it relies on a name-and-shame method of compliance.Relying on ethical persuasion rather than law to address the misuse of body ideals may be the best step.Even better would be to help elevate notions of beauty beyond the material standards of a particular industry.
    Which of the following may be the best title of the text?

    A.A Challenge to the Fashion Industry’s Body Ideals
    B.A Dilemma for the Starving Models in France
    C.Just Another Round of Struggle for Beauty
    D.The Great Threats to the Fashion Industry

    答案:A
    解析:
    主旨题。首段指出法律要求时尚界不能用过瘦的模特,接下来的段落重点说明时尚界的模特同时还需考虑年纪,健康以及其他方面的因素等。因此这篇文章的中心是围绕对时尚界理想体型观点的挑战,故[A]A challenge to the Fashion Industry's Body Ideals正确。

  • 第4题:

    资料: The poverty line is the minimum income that people need for an acceptable standard of living. People with incomes below the poverty line are considered poor. Economists study the causes of poverty in order to find solutions to the problem.
    As the general standard of living in the country rises, the poverty line does, too. Therefore, even with today’s relatively high standard of living, about 10 percent of the people in the United States are below the poverty line. However, if these people had stable jobs, they could have an acceptable standard of living. Economists suggest several reasons why poor people do not have jobs.
    For one thing, more than half of the poor people in the United States are not qualified to work. Over 40 percent of the poor. People are children. By law, children less than 16 years old cannot work in many industries. A large number of poor people are Old. Many companies do not hire people over 65 years old, the normal retirement age.
    Some poor adults do not look for jobs for a variety of personal reasons: they are sick, they do not have any motivation, they have family problems, or they do not believe that they can find a job.
    Other poor people look for a job but cannot find one. Many poor adults never went to high school. Therefore, when they look for jobs, they have few skills that they can offer.
    At the present time, the government thinks it can reduce poverty in the country in the following ways. First, if the national economy grows, businesses and industries hire more workers. Some of the poor who are qualified to look for jobs may find employment. Then they will no longer be below the poverty line. Second, if society invests in the poor, the poor will become more productive. If the government spends money on social programs, education, and training for poor people, the poor will have the skills to offer. Then it is more likely that they can find jobs.
    Finally, if the government distributes society's income differently, it raises some poor people above the poverty line. The government collects taxes from the non-poor and gives money to the poor. These payments to the poor are called welfare. In 1975 over 18 million people in the United States received welfare.
    Some economists are looking for better solutions to the poverty problem. However, at the present time, many people depend on welfare for a minimally acceptable standard of living.

    For the time being, what is the last solution to guarantee the basic standard of living?

    A.The growing national economy
    B.The tax collections from the non-poor classes
    C.More choices of selectable job vacancies
    D.Goverrnment’s investments on the poor to improve their working skills

    答案:B
    解析:
    本题考查的是细节理解。
    【关键词】last solution;guarantee;standard of living
    【主题句】倒数第二段Finally, if the government distributes society's income differently, it raises some poor people above the poverty line. The government collects taxes from the non-poor and gives money to the poor. These payments to the poor are called welfare. (最后,如果政府分配社会收入不同,会将一些穷人提升到贫困线之上。政府从非贫困人口中征税,把钱分给穷人。我们把这些分给穷人的费用称为福利。)
    【解析】第4题问“目前保证基本生活水平的最终办法是什么?”。根据问题里的“last solution”找到倒数第二段。该段说通过征税的方法,政府把收集上来的钱发给贫困人口,从而使他们摆脱贫困线以下的境遇,这种方法被称为福利。A选项“国民经济增长”,文章第六段出现“First, if the national economy grows”,属于第一个解决方法,和问题里的last不符,排除;B选项“来自非贫困阶级的税收”,和主题句当中的“The government collects taxes from the non-poor(政府从非贫困人口中征税)”信息一致,即为答案;C选项“更多可选择的职位”,文章第六段指出“First, if the national economy grows, businesses and industries hire more workers.(如果国民经济增长,工商业会雇佣更多的人)”,和C选项有更多的职位一致,但和题干里的last solution不一致;D选项“政府更多地投资穷人,提高其工作技能”,第六段“Second… If the government spends money on social programs, education, and training for poor people, the poor will have the skills to offer. (第二,如果政府投资更多的钱在社会项目,教育,贫困人口培训上,穷人就会有工作能力。)”该句话和D选项一致,但属于第二个解决方法,和last solution不一致。

  • 第5题:

    共用题干
    第三篇

    Oil Industry in Norway

    The Norwegian Government is doing its best to keep the oil industry under control.A new law limits exploration to an area south of the southern end of the long coastline;production limits have been laid down(though these have already been raised);and oil companies have not been allowed to employ more than a limited number of foreign workers.But the oil industry has a way of getting over such problems,and few people believe that the Government will be able to hold things back for long.
    As an Norwegian politician said last week:"We will soon be changed beyond all recognition."
    Ever since the war,the Government has been carrying out a program of development in the area north of the Arctic Circle.During the past few years this program has had a great deal of success: Tromso has been built up into a local capital with a university,a large hospital and a healthy industry.But the oil industry has already started to draw people south,and within a few years the whole northern policy could be in ruins.
    The effects of the oil industry would not be limited to the north,however. With nearly 100 percent employment,everyone can see a situation developing in which the service industries and the tourist industry will lose more of their workers to the oil industry.Some smaller industries might even disappear altogether when it becomes cheaper to buy goods from abroad.
    The real argument over oil is its threat to the Norwegian way of life.Farmers and fishermen do not make up most of the population,but they are an important part of it,because Norwegians see in them many of the qualities that they regard with pride as essentially Norwegian.And it is the farmers and the fishermen who are most critical of the oil industry because of the damage that it might cause to the countryside and to the sea.

    The Norwegian Government would prefer the oil industry to________.
    A:provide more jobs for foreign workers
    B:slow down the rate of its development
    C:sell the oil it is producing abroad
    D:develop more quickly than at present

    答案:B
    解析:
    第一段,挪威政府设定了一项新的法律以限制石油的勘探,其目的在于减缓发展的步伐,所以选B。
    政府设定“production limits(产量限制)”的初衷在于使石油工业保持现有的发展水平,而不想扩展。
    第二段开头提到政府在第二次世界大战后一直在实施北极圈北部地区的发展项目,尽管取得了成效,但是石油工业的高就业率吸引着人们,这将导致北部发展项目的失败。
    第三段指出,服务业和旅游业的从业人员转向石油行业,其影响之一便是一些现有行业的消失。
    挪威的农民和渔夫之所以重要,原因在于他们身上具有挪威人引以为自豪的品质,即他们的生活方式和价值观,因此选项D正确。

  • 第6题:

    Which of the following is not true of British iron and steel industry?()

    • A、Britain.s steel industry is declining.
    • B、No more new discoveries of iron ore have been found in Britain.
    • C、Supplies of iron ore are now mostly foreign.
    • D、Compared with newer plants in the world,Britain.s steelworks are not efficient.

    正确答案:B

  • 第7题:

    单选题
    The purpose of Google’s investments is to _____.
    A

    help poor people

    B

    develop new technology

    C

    expand its own business

    D

    increase the power of information


    正确答案: C
    解析:
    细节辨认题。由原文第一段第一句可知,谷歌公司将拿出2.5亿美元的资金来帮助穷人。选项A直接引用。B项不正确,第一段句末只是说帮助穷人的主要方式包括利用信息和科技的力量帮助人们改善生活,并没有表达“发展新科技”之意。C项“扩展业务”在文中没有提到。D项“增强信息的力量”不正确,使用信息的力量只是谷歌公司帮助穷人的手段而不是投资的目的。

  • 第8题:

    单选题
    Some members of the British government criticized Diana because
    A

    she had not consulted the government before the visit

    B

    she was ill-informed of the government’s policy

    C

    they were actually opposed to banning landmines

    D

    they believed that she had misinterpreted the situation in Angola


    正确答案: B
    解析:
    细节推论题。文章第三段第一句提到,回到伦敦后,戴安娜的观点得不到政府某些官员的赞同,因为他们拒绝支持禁止这些武器,愤怒的政治家甚至在报纸上攻击她。A项“因为出访前未与政府商量”与文章内容不符。B项“她不了解政府的方针政策”与原文也不符。C项“事实上政府官员们反对禁止地雷”与文章中“他们拒绝支持禁止这些武器”属同义转述。D项也与文章意思不符。故C为答案。

  • 第9题:

    单选题
    Which of the following statements is true of the tobacco industry?
    A

    Tobacco is bad for people’s health but good for the national economy.

    B

    Tobacco has had a favourable economic impact in many countries in recent years.

    C

    Developed countries such as UK and the U.S. should transfer their technology in the tobacco industry to the developing countries.

    D

    Tobacco industry is bad for the economy for rich and poor countries alike.


    正确答案: A
    解析:
    录音中指出世界银行的一项研究估计每年因吸烟导致的全球净亏损达到2万亿美元,其中一半的亏损出现在发展中国家,由此可知另一半的亏损在发达国家,因此不管对于发展中国家或发达国家来说烟草业都对国家经济不利。

  • 第10题:

    单选题
    When an engine is starting and has got a sufficiently high speed, say about 20 rpm,()
    A

    the starting air supply is cut off and fuel is injected into the cylinders

    B

    the fuel feeding is cut off and the turning gear is put in

    C

    the starting air supply is cut off and turning gear is taken out

    D

    the electric blower is shut down and fuel is injected into the cylinders


    正确答案: A
    解析: 暂无解析

  • 第11题:

    单选题
    _____ is the primary opposition to the Conservatives.
    A

    The Liberal Party

    B

    The Conservative Party

    C

    The Labor Party

    D

    The Liberal Democratic Party


    正确答案: A
    解析:
    在英国,保守党是个大党派,C项工党是保守党最大的对手。A项自由党发展成为D项自由民主党,它是在英国最受欢迎的第三大政党。

  • 第12题:

    单选题
    Some medical care is paid by the U. S. government for ______.
    A

    people living in the country

    B

    non government officials

    C

    people with insurance

    D

    the poor and the old


    正确答案: D
    解析:
    事实细节题。题目中问:“美国政府为…支付部分医疗费呢?”由第一段第二句话The government does help pay for some medical care for people who are… 可知,美国政府会为低收入者和老年人支付部分医疗费,答案为D。

  • 第13题:

    The author is most critical of_____.

    [A] the media [B] doctors [C] U. S. Legislators [D] the British government


    正确答案:C

  • 第14题:

    Text 2 Obesity used to be regarded as a disease of afiluent societies.In a sense,of course,this is true:you cannot be obese if you cannot afford enough calories.But we now understand that the story is more complex,and that children from low-income groups are more likely to be obese than those from the highest-income groups.Our understanding of sleep deprivation has yet to see a similar evolution.Almost half the British population say they get six hours'sleep a night or less,compared with around a twelfth in 1942.Experts blame developments such as electriiication and the proliferation of entertainment,one neuroscientist went so far as to warn of a"catastrophic sleep-loss epidemic"recently.We need sleep for mental and physical recovery;for cognitive control,memory and leaming.Sleep loss is associated with everything from obesity and Alzheimer's disease to diabetes and poor mental health.Sleep evangelists(布i道者)such as Arianna Huffington portray a world of busy professionals sending emails into the early hours,teenagers watching televisions in their bedrooms and parents shopping online when they should be winding down.The solutions are obvious,even if we struggle to find the discipline to implement them:turn offyour phone and for goodness sake go to bed..The truth is that poorer people sleep worse.You cannot buy sleep itself,but you must pay for the circumstances likely to induce it.Overcrowded,noisy,cold or unsafe housing makes sleep harder.So does shift work-especially ifit is casualised and unpredictable.Poor nutrition and stress also take their toll.We worried about reaching for our smartphone at night,while those making the devices sleep on hard beds in shared dormitories with coworkers clattering to and fro,as Benjamin Reiss observes in his book Wild Nights."Social inequities are reproduced and even multiplied in sleep,"he writes;children in bad housing will struggle to concentrate in class after a poor night's sleep.The gap is racial too.Lauren Hale,an expert on social patrerns of sleep,notes that fewer black people get the recommended amount of sleep than any other ethnic group in the U.S.,and less of it is the most restorative kind.Racism may itself affect sleep,perhaps because of the stress it causes;African Americans who report discrimination are more likely to say they sleep poorly than those who do not.Sleep is a social justice issue,requiring social solutions.Telling people to cut down on coffee is easy;improving labour laws is harder.But when people's sleep problems reflect their lack of control over their lives,telling them they should change how they live is profoundly unhelpful.28.The plrrase"winding down"(Para.3)most probably means

    A.dreaming up.
    B.calming down.
    C.lying down.
    D.hanging out.

    答案:B
    解析:
    词汇理解题。根据题干定位到第三段,第三段第一句说,忙碌的专业人士在凌晨(the early hours)还在发邮件,青少年在卧室里看电视,父母在网上购物,这时他们都本该了,凌晨应该是休息放松的时间,B项符合上下文语义,故B项为正确选项。【干扰排除】A项和D项均不符合文义,故均排除;C项“躺下”虽是凌晨该做的事,但是单单是躺下并不意味着人们放松下来了,C项不足以传达文义,故排除。

  • 第15题:

    Text 1 In the 2006 film version of The Devil Wears Prada,Miranda Priestly,played by Meryl Streep,scold her unattractive assistant for imagining that high fashion doesn’t affect her.Priestly explains how the deep blue color of the assistant’s sweater descended over the years from fashion shows to department stores and to the bargain bin in which the poor girl doubtless found her garment.This top-down conception of the fashion business couldn’t be more out of date or at odds with feverish world described in Overdressed,Elizabeth Cline’s three-year indictment of“fast fashion”.In the last decades or so,advances in technology have allowed mass-market labels such as Zara,H&M,and Uniqlo to react to trends more quickly and anticipate demand more precisely.Quckier turnrounds mean less wasted inventory,more frequent releases,and more profit.Those labels encourage style-conscious consumers to see clothes as disposal——meant to last only a wash or two,although they don’t advertise that——and to renew their wardrobe every few weeks.By offering on-trend items at dirt-cheap prices,Cline argues,these brands have hijacked fashion cycles,shaking all industry long accustomed to a seasonal pace.The victims of this revolution,of course,are not limited to designers.For H&M to offer a 5.95 knit miniskirt in all its 2300-plus stores around the world,it must rely on low-wage,overseas labor,order in volumes that strain natural resources,and use massive amount of harmful chemicals.Overdressed is the fashion world’s answer to consumer activist bestsellers like Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma.Mass-produced clothing,like fast food,fills a hunger and need,yet is non-durable,and wasteful,”Cline argues,Americans,she finds,buy roughly 20 billion garments a year——about 64 items per person——and no matter how much they give away,this excess leads to waste.Towards the end of Overdressed,Cline introduced her ideal,a Brooklyn woman named SKB,who,since 2008 has make all of her own clothes——and beautifully.But as Cline is the first to note,it took Beaumont decades to perfect her craft;her example,can’t be knocked off.Though several fast-fashion companies have made efforts to curb their impact on labor and the environment——including H&M,with its green Conscious Collection Line——Cline believes lasting-change can only be effected by the customer.She exhibits the idealism common to many advocates of sustainability,be it in food or in energy.Vanity is a constant;people will only start shopping more sustainably when they can’t afford to it.25.What is the subject of the text?

    A.Satire on an extravagant lifestyle.
    B.Challenge to a high-fashion myth.
    C.Criticism of the fast-fashion industry.
    D.Exposure of a mass-market secret.

    答案:C
    解析:
    主旨大意此题考查对全文主旨大意的准确归纳。从整个文章脉络来看,文章的第一段用事例引入,第二段讲到文章的主题“快时尚”,并指出它破坏了时尚周期,动摇了时尚产业。第三四段指出“快时尚”这种变革的弊端,比如:给自然资源造成压力、使用大量有害的化学物质、浪费现象。最后两段提到针对“快时尚”的不良影响,可以采取的解决办法。由此可知,C项统领全文,为正确答案。A,B,D项都不是文章所论述的中心主题。

  • 第16题:

    资料:American Airlines CEO takes blame for maintenance errors, disrupted flights
    Friday, April 11,2008
    By TERRY MAXON and DAVE MICHAELS/The Dallas Morning News
    American Airlines chairman and chief executive officer Gerard Arpey said Thursday that he is taking “personal responsibility” for the bad maintenance that has forced the carrier to cancel some 3,000 flights this week for aircraft inspections.
    MD-80s sat on the sidelines at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Thursday, when American Airlines canceled more than 930 flights as inspections continued. The Fort Worth-based carrier has canceled 570 flights scheduled today.
    “I run the company.” Mr.Arpey told reporters at an afternoon news conference.” so if there’s any blame to be had, it is my fault, and I take full responsibility for this.”
    American canceled more than 930 flights Thursday as its mechanics, quality assurance inspectors and engineers worked to ensure that the carrier’s fleet of 300 MD-80 jets would meet Federal Aviation Administration(FAA) regulations.
    The Fort Worth-based carrier canceled 570 flights for today as well, and expects the disruptions to continue into the weekend, although an airline spokesman said Saturday’s cancellations should be fewer than today’s.
    On Tuesday, American grounded its fleet of aging MD-80s,which have an average age of more than 18 years and include some past their 25th birthday, to redo checks of the wiring harnesses in the right wheel well of the jets-only two weeks after it had performed the same inspections.
    The FAA has said in recent days that its enforcement hasn’t changed or become stricter. But Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said airlines have told her they’ve noticed difference.
    “The standard is now being very, very rigidly enforced and leeway is being taken away.”Ms,Hutchison said.“I can’t say if it’s food or bad. But I know that it’s changed.”
    Today, the U.S. has five to eight aviation fatalities per 100 million people who fly each year; during the mid-1990s,it was about 45 deaths per 100 million people flown.

    The ultimate problem that prompted the grounding of the American Airlines fleet is that ______.

    A.it has not done any inspections before
    B.its airplanes are far too old to fly any more
    C.it has not met the FAA maintenance standard
    D.the fatality rate has doubled in the last 15 years

    答案:B
    解析:
    本题考查的是细节理解。
    【关键词】The ultimate problem; prompted the grounding of the American Airlines fleet
    【主题句】
    倒数第四段On Tuesday, American grounded its fleet of aging MD-80s,which have an average age of more than 18 years and include some past their 25th birthday, to redo checks of the wiring harnesses in the right wheel well of the jets-only two weeks after it had performed the same inspections. 周二,美国停止其老龄化MD-80舰队(该舰队平均飞行年龄超过18岁,其中一些超过25年),来重新检查喷气式飞机右轮舱内的线束。而仅在两周前,它刚刚执行了相同的检查。
    【解析】题目意为“导致美国航空机队停飞的最终问题是_______。”选项A意为“它以前没有做过任何检查”;选项B意为“它的飞机太老,不能再飞行了”;选项C意为“它没有达到FAA维护标准”;选项D意为“死亡率在过去15年翻了一番”。根据主题句,飞机两周前刚刚进行了检查,选项A错误;选项C、D均非停飞最终原因,因此选项B正确。

  • 第17题:

    The government is spending()on railways.

    Amillions of dollars

    Bmillion of dollars

    Cmillions of dollar

    Dmillion dollars


    A

  • 第18题:

    单选题
    Some medical care is paid by the U. S. government for _____.
    A

    people living in the country

    B

    non-government officials

    C

    people with insurance

    D

    the poor and the old


    正确答案: B
    解析:
    事实细节题。题目询问:“美国政府为谁支付部分医疗费?”由第一段第二句“The government does help pay for some medical care for people who are ...”可知,美国政府会为低收入者和老年人支付部分医疗费,答案为D。

  • 第19题:

    单选题
    The government is spending()on railways.
    A

    millions of dollars

    B

    million of dollars

    C

    millions of dollar

    D

    million dollars


    正确答案: B
    解析: 暂无解析

  • 第20题:

    单选题
    A

    Increasing government’s handouts to the poor.

    B

    Government’s creation of more jobs.

    C

    Encouraging people to find jobs themselves.

    D

    Relying on government relief.


    正确答案: A
    解析:
    Mrs. Faulkes提到为减少政府开支we have encouraged people to find themselves jobs,即治贫的措施是鼓励人们自己找工作。

  • 第21题:

    问答题
    In this section, there is one passage followed by a summary. Read the passage carefully and complete the summary below by choosing a maximum of three words from the passage to fill in the spaces 76 - 80. Remember to write the answers on the Answer Sheet.  Questions 1-5 are based on the following passage.  The British political scene is dominated by two major parties that have quite different political agendas. However, the ideological distance between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party has become less marked, and their policies more difficult to tell apart in recent years. In fact, it would be true to say that both parties consist of conservative, moderate and radical elements, and therefore the general public is often perplexed about which party to vote for. Nonetheless, it is usual to find that a British voter will lean towards supporting one of these two parties and remain faithful to that party for life.  The Labour Party’s manifest objective is to safeguard the interests of the common working man and woman, and, in effect, give them political representation in Parliament. The Party has always had strong connections with the trade unions, and, before coming to power, was passionately committed to the concept of a welfare society in which people who are less fortunate than others are politically and financially assisted in their quest for a more equitable slice of the economic pie. The main problem is that such socialist agendas are extremely expensive to implement and maintain, even in a comparatively wealthy country with a large working and, hence, taxpaying population base. Welfare societies tend towards bankruptcy unless government spending is kept in check. Fortunately, the present government recognizes this, and has resisted reckless spending.  The Conservative Party, on the other hand, argues that the best way to ensure a fair division of wealth in the country is to allow more freedom to create it. This, in turn, means more job opportunities created, and therefore more wealth available to all. Just how the poor are to share in the distribution of this wealth (beyond being given, at least in theory, the opportunity to create it)is, however, less well understood. Practice, of course, may make nonsense of even the best theoretical intensions, and often the less practically powerful are badly catered for under governments implementing “free-for-all” policies.  It is surprising, given the current homogeneity of the two major parties, that less attention than elsewhere in Europe is paid to the smaller political parties such as the Greens and the Liberal Democrats. This may be because British voters distrust parties with platforms based around one or two major current issues alone; the Green Party, for example, is almost solely concerned with the environment. Moreover, when it comes to casting a vote, history shows that the British public tends to resist change and, thus, the status quo is maintained.  Summary:  Two parties control the British political scene: the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. Although recently there are many similarities to be seen in their  1 British voters tend to stay loyal for life to the party of their choice. The Labour Party, encouraged by the  2 ,supports a welfare-based society, whereas the Conservative Party believes that  3 to pursue the creation of wealth ensures that all will eventually benefit from the  4 created. Oddly, Britons do not follow Europeans by paying much attention to smaller political parties, perhaps because their policies are based on just a few  5 political issues.

    正确答案:
    1.policies. 文章第一段第二句指出the ideological distance between the Labor Party and the Conservative Party has become less marked, and their policies more difficult to tell apart in recent years。“然而,两党之间在意识形态上的距离缩小了,近年来他们的政策很难被区分开”,因而也就是在policies上有了相似点。
    2.trade unions. 文章第二段指出The Labour Party’s manifest objective is to safeguard the interests of the common working man and woman. The Party has always had strong connections with the trade unions。“工党的成立是为了代表了工人的利益,与工会有着紧密的联系”。因此摘要中应该填trade unions。
    3.freedom. 第三段在讲保守党的政策,第一句话提到The Conservative Party, on the other hand, argues that the best way to ensure a fair division of wealth in the country is to allow more freedom to create it.“另一方面保守党认为在一个社会中平均分配财富的最好办法是给人们更多的自由”。
    4.(more)job opportunities. 文章第三段第二句话提到This, in turn, means more job opportunities created,“反过来说,这就意味着会提供更多的工作机会”。
    5.current/major political issues. 最后一段提到It is surprising...based around one or two major current issues alone。“基于两党在政策上的相似性,在英国不像在欧洲其他国家一样,人们不会相信那些仅仅解决当前一两个重大问题的小党派”。
    解析: 暂无解析

  • 第22题:

    单选题
    If it goes on to ______ its responsibilities, then the British government must act immediately in its place.
    A

    discipline

    B

    abdicate

    C

    bash

    D

    challenge


    正确答案: C
    解析:
    动词辨析。句意:如果它继续放弃责任,那么英国政府就必须立即接手。abdicate退位;放弃(职责,权力等)。discipline训练;纪律;学科。bash重击,猛撞。challenge向…挑战;质疑。因此选项B符合题意。

  • 第23题:

    单选题
    What is the text mainly about?
    A

    Ways to cut down the cost of the coverage,

    B

    How to make the report more attractive.

    C

    To describe the work of the executive producer.

    D

    To introduce the style and features of the news programme.


    正确答案: C
    解析:
    第一段第一句提到“监制人的工作从半夜就要开始”,然后下文又具体介绍了监制人的职责,所以文章主要是描述了监制人的工作情况,选C。