【正确答案】be delayed because too many flights are scheduled to take off around that time.

【答案解析】[解析] 1-8 Transcript Presenter: Nigel Isaacs is editor of Business Travel Weekly. Nigel, what kind of problems do airline passengers face in the USA ? Nigel: Most of the problems are caused by the heavy volume of traffic. All airports have a limit to the number of takeoffs and landings they can handle. All flights from a hub arrive and leave at more or less the same time: if 60 aircraft are scheduled to take off between 5 pm and 5.15 and the airport call only handle 120 an hour that means some will always be late landing or taking off. And if the weather is bad . . . So, passengers have to be loaded into each plane and then the planes have to line up to take off. There's a marvellous story of the people who'd been waiting for over an hour for their plane to reach the head of the line to take off, when they heard the captain on the intercom telling them that he was so fed up he was quitting his job, and he walked through the cabin, opened the door, jumped to the ground and walked off across the tarmac! Queueing on the tarmac is frustrating (with no drinks or meals available until you're in the air), but queueing in the air with other planes circling just below you and above you is downright terrifying. Especially if you're in the clouds. Another problem that's very common is overbooking: you hear an announcement on the airport loudspeakers: 'We have oversold on this flight and would like volunteers to go on the next flight out.' If yon decide to volunteer, you may get a cash bribe, or a free trip voucher - but make sure you get a guaranteed seat on the next flight and a free phone call to whoever is meeting you the other end. Worse still you arrive with a confirmed reservation and you discover you've been bumped off the flight. There's another story of a man who was raising hell when this happened to him and he said to the check-in clerk, 'If I was a Senator, you'd get me a seat' and the man behind him in the line said, 'Son, I am a Senator and they won't give me a seat either.' Presenter: Presumably, if you choose to travel at off-peak times, there are no problems. Nigel: Well, there are no off-peak times - all flights seem to he full, except Saturday, oddly enough. If there's a public holiday, things are likely to be especially busy: Thanksgiving in November, Labor Day in September, Independence Day in July and so on. The special fare systems on the airlines' computers encourage more people to fly on less popular flights and this means that as a result all flights are equally full. Presenter: So what advice would you give to a traveller in the USA? Nigel: The worst hubs are O'Hare (Chicago) and Atlanta and Denver because they have so many flights - l'd say these are to be avoided at all costs. Don't ever check your baggage if you can help it. And be prepared for delays - take something to eat and drink in your hand luggage.

【正确答案】get anything to drink or eat.

【正确答案】frightened, especially if you're in the clouds.

【正确答案】you get a guaranteed seat and a free phone call to the person who is meeting you the other end.

【正确答案】airports will be especially busy.

【正确答案】O'Hare (Chicago), Atlanta or Denver.

【正确答案】check it in - take it as hand baggage.

【正确答案】something to eat and drink in your hand luggage.