单选题 Passage 4
International airlines have rediscovered the business traveler. This does not necessarily mean that airlines ever abandoned their business travelers, but many airlines were accused of concentrating too heavily in the recent past on attracting passengers by volume, often at the expense of the business traveler.
Operating a major airline is essentially a matter of finding the right mix of passengers. The airlines need to fill up the back end of their wide-bodied jets with low fare passengers without forgetting that the front end should be filled with people who pay substantially more for their tickets.
It is no coincidence that the recent two major airlines bankruptcies were among the companies specializing in cheap flights. But low fares require consistently full aircraft to make flights economically viable; and in the recent recession the volume of traffic has reduced. Equally the large number of airliners jostling for the available passengers has created a huge excess of capacity; the net result of excess capacity and cut-throat competition driving down fares has been to push some airlines into collapse and leave many others hovering on the brink.
Against this grim background, it is no surprise that airlines are turning increasingly towards the business travelers to improve their rates of return; they have invested much time and effort to establish exactly the executive's demands for sitting apart from the tourists.
High on the list of priorities is punctuality. In-flight service is another area where the airlines are jostling for the executive's attention. The free drinks and headsets and better food are other parts of the attention. First-class passengers are now offered sleeperette seats.
The airlines are also trying to improve things on the ground. Executive lounges are intended to make the inevitable waiting between flights a little more bearable. Luggage handling is being improved. Regrettably, there is little that the airlines can do to speed up the boring immigration and Customs process, which upsets and frustrates passengers of all classes.
Although it is the airlines' intention to attract executive passengers from their rivals, the airlines themselves would do nothing to change one bad habit of this kind of traveler--the habit of booking a flight and then failing to turn up. The practice is particularly widespread in Europe, where businessmen frequently book return journeys home on one of several flights. As a result, the airlines throw away empty seats, which cannot be resold. Some airlines have attempted to prevent the practice by offering discounts to passengers who travel on their booked flight. But this inevitably means that the structure of air fares, already highly complex, becomes even more baffling.

单选题 One criticism against many international airlines is that they have, in the recent past,
A. abandoned their business travelers.
B. contended with each other for the available passengers.
C. given preferential treatment to executive passengers.
D. marketed their services with masses in mind.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】细节题。文章第一段第三句话指出，不久前，许多航空公司被指控太注重以量吸引旅客，这种做法通常使商务旅行者蒙受损失。这说明，对国际航空公司的指责是以量吸引旅客。这与D的意思相符。文章第一段第二句话指出，这并不一定意味着航空公司曾经放弃了商务旅行者，这说明A不是受到的指责。文章第三段第三句话是说“大量班机在争夺现有旅客，这已导致航运能力严重过剩”，但并没有说这是航空公司受指责的原因，所以B也不是受到的指责。为高级管理人员提供优惠是为了吸引他们搭乘班机，也不是受指责的原因，所以C也不对。
单选题 The main reason why two major airlines went bankrupt recently was that
A. the recession had reduced the overall number of air passengers.
B. the companies failed to attract an adequate number of passengers.
C. competitions from other airliners took away all their trade.
D. they introduced cheap flights for all categories of passengers.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】细节题。文章第三段指出，近期破产的两家大型航空公司是专门从事廉价航运的公司；低票价通常需要大量的飞机来使航运在经济上切实可行；而在最近的经济萧条中，航运量已经减少；同样，大量班机在争夺现有旅客，这已导致航运能力严重过剩；航运能力过剩的最终结果以及降低费用的残酷竞争已经使一些航空公司破产，使许多其他航空公司在破产的边缘挣扎。这说明，航空公司破产的主要原因是航运能力严重过剩，也就是航空公司吸收的旅客不够。这与B的意思相符。文中只是说经济萧条减少了航运量，并没有说减少了乘飞机的总人数，所以A不对；文中没有提到C；D明显与文章的意思不符。
单选题 What does the phrase "leave many others hovering on the brink" (Para. 3) mean?
A. Make many other airlines prosperous.
B. Force many other airlines to revive.
C. Make many other airlines close to bankruptcy.
D. Lead many other airlines to bankruptcy.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】词义题。文章第三段最后一句话指出，大量班机在争夺现有旅客，这已导致航运能力严重过剩；航运能力过剩的最终结果以及降低费用的残酷竞争已经使一些航空公司破产，使许多其他航空公司在破产的边缘挣扎。这说明，该短语的意思应该是“导致许多其他的航空公司将要破产”。这与C项的意思相符。A、B和D都与文章的意思不符。
单选题 To attract executive passengers, the airlines have now begun to concentrate on
A. ensuring that the services offered to executive passengers are indeed superior.
B. satisfying the demands of all executive passengers.
C. proving first-class service on all the flights.
D. offering discounts to those who book their return flights.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】细节题。文章第四、五、六段指出，航空公司已经花费了大量的时间和精力来完全满足高级管理人员乘客希望同其他乘客分开坐的要求；优先考虑的事项中首要的是严守时刻；飞行中的服务是航空公司吸引高级管理人员乘客注意的另一个方面；免费饮料、头戴式话机以及更好的食物是他们注意的其他方面；现在，航空公司为头等乘客提供卧铺座位，它们也在尽力改进地面服务水平；管理行李的水平也在提高。这说明，航空公司开始关注为高级管理人员乘客提供优质服务。这与A项的意思相符。B显然与文章的意思不符；文中只是说在提高服务水平，并没有说所有的服务都是一流的，所以C不对；给旅客打折只是为了防止预订回程票的人不搭乘班机，并不是航空公司关注的重点，所以D也不对。
单选题 From the last paragraph, we can reasonably conclude that offering discounts will
A. inevitably attract more people to travel on their booked flights.
B. provoke a new "price battle" among airliners.
C. ultimately change the habit of booking a flight and then failing to turn up.
D. most probably pose a new problem on air fares.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】归纳题。文章最后一段指出，航空公司对改变这类乘客的一个坏习惯却束手无策——预订了班机却不搭乘的习惯；结果航空公司浪费了空余座位，而这些座位不可能被再出售；一些航空公司试图通过给那些乘坐预订航班的乘客打折来杜绝这种坏习惯；但这不可避免地意味着航空费用的结构将变得更令人莫名其妙。这说明，提供打折将有可能改变预订了班机却不搭乘的坏习惯。这与C项的意思相符。文中没有提到A；文中只是说这种做法将意味着本来已经很复杂的飞机票价结构会更令人难以理解，并没有说会引发票价大战，引发新的票价问题，所以B、D项不对。