单选题
The biggest danger facing the global airline
industry is not the effects of terrorism, war, SARS and economic downturn. It is
that these blows, which have helped ground three national flag carriers and
force two American airlines into bankruptcy, will divert attention from the
inherent weaknesses of aviation, which they have exacerbated. As in the crisis
that attended the first Gulf War, many airlines hope that traffic will
soon bounce back, and a few catastrophic years will be followed by fuller
planes, happier passengers and a return to profitability. Yet the
industry's problems are deeper—and older—than the trauma of the past two years
implies. As the centenary of the first powered flight
approaches in December, the industry it launched is still remarkably
primitive. The car industry, created not long after the Wright Brothers
made history, is now a global industry dominated by a dozen firms, at least half
of which make good profits. Yet commercial aviation consists of 267
international carriers and another 500-plus domestic ones. The world's biggest
carrier, American Airlines, has barely 7% of the global market, whereas the
world's biggest carmaker, General Motors, has (with its associated firms) about
a quarter of the world's automobile market. Aviation has been
incompletely deregulated, and in only two markets: America and Europe.
Everywhere else, governments dictate who flies under what rules. These aim
to preserve state-owned national flag-carriers, run for prestige rather than
profit. And numerous restrictions on foreign ownership impede cross-border
airline mergers. In America, the big network carriers face
barriers to exit, which have kept their route networks too large. Trade unions
resisting job cuts and Congressmen opposing route closures in their territory
conspire to block change. In Europe, liberalization is limited by bilateral
deals that prevent, for instance, British Airways (BA) flying to America from
Frankfurt or Paris, or Lufthansa offering transatlantic flights from London's
Heathrow. To use the car industry analogy, it is as if only Renaults were
allowed to drive on French motorways. In airlines, the
optimists are those who think that things are now so bad that the industry has
no option but to evolve. Frederick Reid, president of Delta Air Lines, said
earlier this year that events since the September llth attacks are the
equivalent of a meteor strike, changing the climate, creating a sort of nuclear
winter and leading to a "compressed evolutionary cycle". So how, looking on the
bright side, might the industry look after five years of accelerated
development?
单选题
According to the author, the deeper problems of aviation
industry______.
A. are the effects of various disasters
B. are actually not fully recognized
C. are attracting a lot of attention
D. are not the real cause of airlines' bankruptcy
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】这是一道作者观点题。根据第一段可知答案应为B。
单选题
One of the facts that reflect the primitiveness of airline industry is
______.
A. its history is much longer than that of car industry
B. it is composed of international and domestic carriers
C. its market is divided by many a relatively small carrier
D. it is still an industry of comparatively low profits
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】这是一道细节题。根据第二段后半部分内容可认定答案为C。
单选题
What does the author mean by "Aviation has been incompletely
deregulated .... "(Para. 3)?
A. Governmental restrictions are still imposed on aviation industry in many
areas.
B. Governments help establish rules for aviation industry only in America
and Europe.
C. Some countries hope to help their national carriers keep up their
national prestige.
D. Many countries discourage merger plans between foreign and domestic
carriers.