单选题 I am traveling home. It is bitterly cold and snowy, but the warm train is right on time. I feel pleasantly satisfied as I look out at the rush hour traffic on the motorway. I feel more satisfied as the smell of fresh coffee announces the arrival of the drinks service. Swiss friends often tell me, proudly, that their rail service is the best in the world, but recently, the Swiss love affair with their railway has turned a little sour(酸).
It all began with the decision to end ticket sales on trains. One cold morning I arrived at my local station to find that the ticket machine was broken. No matter, I thought, I have got a smart phone, and I hurriedly set about buying my ticket that way. This was not as easy as I had hoped, busying myself between credit card and phone with freezing cold fingers, but, by the time I got on the train to Geneva I had an e-ticket and I proudly showed it to the conductor. Unfortunately she told me that my ticket was not valid(有效). Several weeks later a letter arrived from Swiss railways together with a fine for 190 francs ($ 210).
The good people there tell me the formal payment for my ticket from my credit card company arrived four minutes after my train left the station. That means, they say, that I bought my ticket on the train—and that is not allowed.
Swiss railways say their policy is designed to protect honest ticket-paying passengers, but a quick look at their balance sheet suggests something else. The company is making about $ 2 million a month from fines.
Although train travel is still popular, those seats do not feel as comfortable; the coffee does not smell quite so good—because Swiss railways have lost, for now anyway, something far more precious than $ 2 million a month: good relations with their customers.
单选题 Why was the author"s e-ticket invalid?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题干意为“为什么作者的电子车票无效?”由文章第三段“The good people tell me the formal payment for my ticket from my credit card company arrived four minutes after my train left the station. That means, they say, that I bought my ticket on the train—and that is not allowed.”可知,电子车票无效是因为车票是在车开动后付款的。故D正确。
单选题 The author tells the experience to show that ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。题干意为“作者分享这段经历是为了说明______。”通读全文,可以推测出作者是为了说明罚款不公平。B、C、D三项明显不是作者的意图。故A正确。
单选题 What does the author think of the policy of Swiss railways?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。题干意为“作者对瑞士铁路的政策有怎样的看法?”由文章最后一段后半部分“...have lost...good relations with their customers.”可以推测出,这种政策伤害了公司和旅客之间的关系。故B正确。