Even before economist Howard Davies thinking where to put extra airport capacity in Britain, rejecting the idea of building a big new hub in the Thames Estuary, the backlash had begun. Boris Johnson, the mayor of London and an enthusiastic supporter of the Thames plan, spluttered in advance, then branded the decision "shortsighted". NIMBYs opposing the expansion of Heathrow and Gatwick groaned, knowing that the remaining options all involve building or extending runways at one of those airports. Sir Howard's final recommendation is sure to run into heavy fire. To make matters worse, he and his team must hazard a guess about the future of air travel. Heathrow and Gatwick are both full, or close to it, and want to expand. But the two airports presently serve quite different parts of the market. Some 37% of passengers at Heathrow transfer between flights. Nearly a third of its customers are on business. By contrast, only 13% of Gatwick's customers are business travellers. Most are going on holiday. Just 7% transfer there—a proportion that has fallen by half over the past decade. Heathrow's shiny new Terminal 2, which opened in June, is full of expensive shops and restaurants run by Michelin-starred cooks to entice rich passengers. At Gatwick, recent improvements reflect its popularity with holiday goers: a wider lane at security gate has been set aside for families, while an area in the southern terminal is now reserved for elderly passengers, with comfortable seats and a small duty-free shop. The airports' managers also hold entirely different views about the way the airline industry will develop, and its place in the broader economy. Much of the argument for expanding Heathrow rests on the idea that hub airports are, and will remain, vital. Without further expansion, boosters argue, fewer flights to distant places such as Wuhan and Xiamen will be available to businessmen. If the capacity plight persists, domestic flights are more likely to be delayed or cancelled. European airports will pick up those passengers instead. "That's our GDP leaking out," says Jon Proudlove, the general manager of air-traffic control at Heathrow. Not surprisingly, Gatwick takes a different view. Over the past ten years the growth of low-cost airlines has been explosive, points out Sir Roy McNulty, chairman of the Gatwick group. People are travelling in different ways, with more "self-connecting" to keep costs down. Although connections with emerging markets are important, Europe and North America will remain Britain's largest trading partners, he argues. London will be a destination in its own right.

单选题 Howard Davies's plan to expand the airport has______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：细节题。根据Howard Davies定位到首段首句；而expand the airport则出现在第四行expansion of Heathrow and Gatwick一句。对于Howard Davies扩建希思罗机场和盖特威克机场的决定，第一段多次讨论。首先首句提到：the backlash had begun“反对的声音开始出现”；第二句继续说：Boris Johnson…spluttered in advance，then branded the decision“short-sighted”，其中spluttered“气急败坏地说”、shortsighted“目光短浅的”等词体现其态度；紧接着下一句指出：NIMBYs opposing the expansion of Heathrow and Gatwick groaned…该句明确提到opposing“反对”、groaned“抱怨”等词；倒数第二句还说：Sir Howard’s final recommendation is sure to run into heavy fire．其中run into heavy fire表示“遭受猛烈抨击”。所有这些信息都在强调Howard Davies的计划引起人们的强烈反对。选项[A]caused great concern“引起极大关注”；[B]gained public recognition“获得公众认可”；[C]aroused strong opposition“引起强烈反对”；[D]received enthusiastic support“获得热烈支持”。故正确答案为[C]。

单选题 Heathrow and Gatwick are different in terms of______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：细节题。根据Heathrow and Gatwick、different等词定位到第二段。该段第三、四句指出：希思罗机场的乘客中有37％是中转乘客，三分之一是商务出行旅客；文章接着指出：盖特威克机场的乘客中只有13％是商务出行旅客，大多数人是去度假的，7％是中转乘客。由此可以判断，这两个机场的乘客出行目的不同，即乘客性质不同；此外，希思罗机场中转旅客多，也就是前往其他目的地的旅客多，而盖特威克机场的旅客以此为目的地，即二者乘客目的地不同。故得出结论：两个机场的乘客性质和目的地不同；即选项[D]passengers’nature and destination“乘客的性质和目的地”为答案。选项[A]scale and capacity of passengers“规模和旅客容量”；本段提到两个机场都趋于饱和，并没有对比二者的规模和容量，故该项错误；选项[B]the proportion of foreign tourists“外国游客的比重”；本段没有提到外国游客，该项属于无中生有；选项[C]passengers’power of consumption“旅客的消费能力”；该项在本段并无讨论，属于无中生有。综上，本题答案为[D]。

单选题 It can be inferred from Paragraph 3 that______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：推理题。定位到第三段。选项[A]Michelin restaurants are popular around the world “米其林餐厅在全世界大受欢迎”；文章提到米其林星级厨师，并没有提到米其林餐厅受欢迎，该项无法从原文推断出来，故不选。选项[B]Heathrow’s Terminal 2 aims at high-end anstomers“希思罗机场2号航站楼瞄准高端客户”；本段首句提到：Heathrow’s shiny new Terminal 2，which opened in June，is full of expensive shops and restaurants run by Michelin—starred cooks to entice rich passengers．其中entice rich passengers“吸引富有乘客”=aims at high-end customers“瞄准高端客户”；故该项正确。选项[C]Gatwick airport is designed to attract all passengers“盖特威克机场旨在吸引所有乘客”；首先，all一词过于绝对；其次，原文提到盖特威克机场受度假者的欢迎，并没有提到“all passengers”，故该项错误。选项[D]both Heathrow and Gatwick cater to public demand“希思罗机场和盖特威克机场都能够迎合大众需求”：该段首句提到希思罗机场2号航站楼旨在吸引有钱的乘客，并没有迎合大众需求，故该项表述错误。综上，本题答案为[B]。

单选题 Domestic flights at Heathrow may be cancelled if______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：细节题。根据题干定位到第四段第五行：If the capacity plight persists，domestic flights are more likely to be delayed or cancelled．该句大意为“如果机场容量不足的窘境持续下去，国内航班很可能会被延误或取消”。本题答案句为the capacity plight persists。选项[A]the airport enlarges its scale“机场扩大规模”；该项与答案句“容量不足的窘境”表述相反，故错误。选项[B]there are too few passengers“乘客数量太少”；该项属于无中生有，故排除。[C]the airport remains its current size“机场停留在当前规模”；该项与the capacity plight persists“机场容量不足的窘境持续下去”表述相符，属于同义替换，故该项正确。选项[D]a new airport won’t be constructed“不建立新机场”；第四段第三行提到Without further expansion“如果没有进一步扩建”，文章强调扩建机场而非建立新机场，故该项也与文章表述不符。综上，[C]为正确答案。

单选题 In regard of the future of the airport, Roy McNulty seems to feel______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：态度题。根据Roy McNulty定位到最后一段。本段整段都以Roy McNulty的观点展开讨论，其中growth“发展”、explosive“暴涨的”、important“重要的”都属于正向词汇；故本题应该选择正向词汇作为答案。选项[A]confident“自信的”为正向词汇；选项[B]perplexed“困惑的”为负面词汇；选项[C]concerned“担忧的”为负面词汇；选项[D]indifferent“冷漠的”为负面词汇。四个选项中只有[A]为正向词汇，故本题选择[A]项。而本段最后一句London will be a destination in its own right“伦敦将凭借自身能力成为航班目的地”更是体现出Roy McNulty对于Gatwick机场前景的自信。