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  3. 共用题干 第二篇Railroad SupersystemIn recent years,railroads have been combining wi...

共用题干 第二篇Railroad SupersystemIn recent years,railroads have been combining wi...

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问题 共用题干
第二篇

Railroad Supersystem

In recent years,railroads have been combining with each other,merging into supersystems, causing heightened concerns about monopoly.As recently as 1995,the top four railroads accounted for under 70 percent of the total ton一miles moved by rails.Next year,after a series of mergers is completed,just four railroads will control well over 90 percent of all the freight moved by major rail carriers.
Supporters of the new supersystems argue that these mergers will allow for substantial cost reductions and better coordinated service.Any threat of monopoly,they argue,is removed by fierce competition from trucks.But many shippers complain that for heavy bulk commodities traveling long distances,such as coal,chemicals,and grain,trucking is too costly and the railroads therefore have them by the throat.
The vast consolidation within the rail industry means that most shippers are served by only one rail company.Railroads typically charge such"captive"shippers 20 to 30 percent more than they do
when another railroad is competing for the business.Shippers who feel they are being overcharged have the right to appeal to the federal government's Surface Transportation Board for rate relief,but the process is expensive,time consuming,and will work only in truly extreme cases.
Railroads justify rate discrimination against captive shippers on the grounds that in the long run it reduces everyone's cost.If railroads charged all customers the same average rate,they argue, shippers who have the option of switching to trucks or other forms of transportation would do so, leaving remaining customers to shoulder the cost of keeping up the line.It's a theory to which many economists subscribe,but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will flourish and which will fail."Do we really want railroads to be the arbiters of who wins and who loses in the marketplace?"asks Martin Bercovici,a Washington lawyer who frequently represents shippers.
Many captive shippers also worry they will soon be hit with a round of huge rate increases.The railroad industry as a whole,despite its brightening fortunes,still does not earn enough to cover the cost of the capital it must invest to keep up with its surging traffic.Yet railroads continue to borrow billions to acquire one another,with Wall Street cheering them on.Consider the $10.2 billion bid by Norfolk Southern and CSX to acquire Conrail this year. Conrail's net railway operating income in 1996 was just$427 million,less than half of the carrying costs of the transaction.Who's going to pay for the rest of the bill?Many captive shippers fear that they will,as Norfolk Southern and CSX increase their grip on the market.
选项 The word"arbiters"(Line 6,Paragraph 4)most probably refers to those________.
A:who work as coordinators
B:who function as judges
C:who supervise transactions
D:who determine the price
答案B
解析根据文章第二段，支持者认为“Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed by fierce competition from trucks”意思是“因为要和卡车竞争，所以不存在垄断的可能”。所以C最符合文章的意思。D把主语和宾语弄反了，不是支持者的观点，所以是错误的。
本题问的是托运商的态度，要求考生根据文中所提供的线索做判断。从题干关键词“shipper , attitude”（第二段）和“Many captive shipper also worry...”（第五段）可以判断出托运商的态度是“忧虑的”，对未来的状况“忧心忡忡”，所以D正确。
A正好与原文意思相反，B缺乏事实依据，因为文中说绝大多数托运商将由一家公司服务，但并不是只剩下一家公司，所以不对；文章里说道，“托运商如果认为铁路公司收费过高，可以申诉，但是因为申诉的过程费钱耗时，只有在极端的情况下才会这么做”，所以C正确。D的说法缺乏依据。
arbiter：仲裁者。第四段的最后一句“Do we really want railroads to be the arbiters of who wins and who loses in the marketplace?”表述的内容已在前一句已经出现，可得出答案为B0 D虽有“determine”一词，但意思表达不完整。
本题考查考生对因果关系的把握。通过关键词“cost increase , caused by” 来判断，最后一段第一句话提到：许多“‘受制”托运商担心他们很快将遭遇一轮新的费率大涨价，即使这样，铁路公司为了并购还在借很多的资金。所以，A正确。B并不是引起成本提高的主要原因，C、D没有依据，是错误的。
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