passage3

注解：標(biāo)題為紅色，翻譯為藍(lán)色，分析為綠色。?

????????In recent years, railroads鐵路 have been combining with each other, merging into supersystems, causing heightened concerns about monopoly壟斷. As recently as 1995, the top four railroads accounted for under 70 percent of the total ton-miles噸英里（貨運(yùn)單位）?moved by rails. Next year, after a series of mergers合并 is completed, just four railroads will control well over 90 percent of all the freight貨運(yùn) moved by major rail carriers.

????????Supporters of the new supersystems argue that these mergers will allow for substantial大量的 cost reductions and better coordinated協(xié)調(diào)的 service. Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed by fierce猛烈的 competition from trucks卡車運(yùn)輸. But many shippers托運(yùn)商 complain that for heavy bulk commodities traveling long distances, such as coal, chemicals, and grain糧食, trucking is too costly and the railroads therefore have them by the throat【have them by the throat卡脖子，掐住咽喉】.

????????The vast consolidation合并，聯(lián)合 within the rail industry means that most shippers are served by only one rail company. Railroads typically charge收費(fèi) such "captive受控制的，受限制的"shippers 20 to 30 percent more than they do when another railroad is competing for the business.Shippers who feel they are being overcharged have the right to appeal to the federal government's Surface Transportation Board for rate relief減輕, but the process is expensive, time consuming, and will work起作用?only in truly extreme cases【extreme cases極端情況】.

????????Railroads justify證明..有理，認(rèn)為..正確?rate discrimination against captive shippers on the grounds that【on the grounds?that由于】 in the long run【in the long run在長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)利益】 it reduces everyone's cost. If railroads charged all customers the same average rate, they argue, shippers who have the option of switching to trucksor other forms of transportation would do so, leaving remaining customers to shoulder肩膀，承擔(dān)（本文意思） the cost of keeping up the line【keeping up the line保持在一水平線上】. It's theory to which many economists subscribe訂閱，認(rèn)同（本文意思）, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will?flourish繁榮 and which will fail."Do we really want railroads to be the arbiters判決者 of who wins and who loses in the marketplace?"asks Martin Bercovici,a Washington lawyer who frequently represents shipper.

????????Many captive shippers also worry they will soon be hit with a round of【?a round of一輪】 huge rate increases. The railroad industry as a whole【?as a whole總體來(lái)說(shuō)】, despite its brightening fortuning fortunes, still does not earn enough to cover the cost【cover the cost承擔(dān)費(fèi)用】 of the capital資金 it must invest to keep up with【keep up with跟上，滿足】 its surging激增的 traffic. Yet然而 railroads continue to borrow billions to acquire one another, with Wall Street cheering them on. Consider the $10.2 billion bid by Norfolk Southern and CSX to acquire Conrail this year. Conrail's net railway operating income in 1996 was just $427 million, less than half of the carrying costs of the transaction. Who's going to pay for the rest of the bill? Many captive shippers fear that they will, as Norfolk Southern and CSX increase their grip控制力，影響力?on the market.

一、文章結(jié)構(gòu)分析

這是一篇關(guān)于鐵路公司合并可能引起壟斷的文章。

第一段：鐵路公司合并引起人們對(duì)壟斷的關(guān)注。接著使用具體數(shù)據(jù)說(shuō)明該合并趨勢(shì)。

第二段：是一個(gè)典型表示對(duì)比的段落。前半段提出合并支持者的觀點(diǎn)，中間用“but”轉(zhuǎn)折之后，開(kāi)始論述托運(yùn)商（即，合并反對(duì)者）截然不同的態(tài)度。

第三段：詳細(xì)論述托運(yùn)商的擔(dān)心，主要使用說(shuō)理論證。

第四段：詳細(xì)論述鐵路公司的理由，除說(shuō)理之外，還使用了引證法。

第五段：對(duì)文章進(jìn)行總結(jié)，重申了兩方的對(duì)立，使用了說(shuō)理和例證法。

31. According to those who support mergers, railway monopoly is unlikely because

[A] cost reduction is based on competition.

[B] services call for cross-trade coordination.

[C] outside competitors will continue to exist.

[D] shippers will have the railway by the throat.

31.支持兼并的人認(rèn)為不可能形成鐵路行業(yè)的壟斷，原因是。

【A】以競(jìng)爭(zhēng)為基礎(chǔ)的成本的降低

【B】服務(wù)項(xiàng)目需要跨行業(yè)的合作

【C】外部競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者將繼續(xù)存在

【D】客戶將掐鐵路公司的脖子

32. What is many captive shippers' attitude towards the consolidation in the rail industry?

[A] Indifferent.

[B] Supportive.

[C] Indignant.

[D] Apprehensive.

32.很多“被控制的”客戶對(duì)鐵路行業(yè)的合并持什么樣的態(tài)度？

【A】漠不關(guān)心

【B】支持的

【C】憤怒的

【D】憂慮的

33. It can be inferred from paragraph 3 that.

[A] shippers will be charged less without a rival railroad.

[B] there will soon be only one railroad company nationwide.

[C] overcharged shippers are unlikely to appeal for rate relief.

[D]a government board ensures fair play in railway business.

33.從第三段可以推出

【A】沒(méi)有其他鐵路公司競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，客戶將被少收費(fèi)

【B】很快全國(guó)將只有一家鐵路公司

【C】被多收費(fèi)的客戶不大可能為減價(jià)而

【D】有一個(gè)政府部門(mén)可以保證鐵路行業(yè)公平競(jìng)爭(zhēng)

34. The word "arbiters"(line 7, paragraph 4) most probably refers to those

[A] who work as coordinators.

[B] who function as judges.

[C] who supervise transactions.

[D] who determine the price.

34.“arbiters”（第4段第7行）一詞最可能是

【A】協(xié)調(diào)者

【B】裁決人

【C】交易監(jiān)督者

【D】?jī)r(jià)格制定

35. According to the text, the cost increase in the rail industry is mainly caused by

[A] the continuing acquisition.

[B] the growing traffic.

[C] the cheering Wall Street.

[D] the shrinking market.

35.鐵路行業(yè)成本增加的主要原因是

【A】持續(xù)不斷的收購(gòu)

【B】不斷增長(zhǎng)的運(yùn)輸量

【C】歡呼的華爾街

【D】收縮的市場(chǎng)

二、核心詞匯與超綱詞匯

（1）arbiter（n.）仲裁人；裁決人；權(quán)威人士

（2）consolidation（n.）鞏固，合并；consolidate（v.）鞏固，加強(qiáng)

（3）coordinate（v.）使（各部分）協(xié)調(diào)，協(xié)同動(dòng)作；（a.）同等的，并列的；坐標(biāo)的（n.）坐標(biāo)

（4）discrimination（n.）辨別，鑒別，辨別力，眼力；歧視，區(qū)別對(duì)待；

discriminate（v.）區(qū)別，辨別；~against有差別地對(duì)待，歧視

（5）freight（n.）貨物，客貨，運(yùn)費(fèi)（v.）裝貨，使充滿，運(yùn)送

（6）merger（n.）合并，歸并

（7）monopoly（n.）壟斷，壟斷者，專利權(quán)，專利事業(yè)；

mono前綴表“單一的”，如：monotone單調(diào)的

（8）subscribe（v.）訂購(gòu)，訂閱，贊成

三、閱讀答案：C D C B A

四、全文翻譯：?

????????近年來(lái)，鐵路公司相互聯(lián)合，組成了超大型集團(tuán)，引起人們對(duì)壟斷行為的極大關(guān)注。就在1995年，四家大型鐵路公司占有70%的鐵路運(yùn)輸業(yè)務(wù)。到明年，一系列合并活動(dòng)完成之后，四家鐵路公司將控制90%以上的鐵路運(yùn)輸市場(chǎng)。

????????支持組建超大型鐵路集團(tuán)的人士認(rèn)為，合并將導(dǎo)致運(yùn)輸成本的大幅降低，鐵路公司更協(xié)調(diào)地提供服務(wù)。他們認(rèn)為，在公路運(yùn)輸?shù)募ち腋?jìng)爭(zhēng)面前，壟斷的威脅已經(jīng)不復(fù)存在。但許多客戶卻抱怨說(shuō)，對(duì)于長(zhǎng)途運(yùn)輸?shù)拇笞谪浳飦?lái)說(shuō)，如煤炭，化學(xué)制品和糧食，公路運(yùn)輸成本太高，因此鐵路公司就會(huì)掐他們的脖子。

????????鐵路運(yùn)輸業(yè)的大規(guī)模聯(lián)合意味著多數(shù)客戶將會(huì)依賴一家公司的服務(wù)。通常，鐵路公司對(duì)這些“被控制”客戶的收費(fèi)要比存在其它鐵路公司的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)時(shí)高出20%-30%。如果客戶感到他們被多收費(fèi)，他們有權(quán)上訴到聯(lián)邦政府的“陸路運(yùn)輸局”以爭(zhēng)取價(jià)格下調(diào)，但這個(gè)過(guò)程既耗財(cái)又耗時(shí)，并且只有在真正極端特殊的情況下才有作用。

????????對(duì)“被控制”客戶進(jìn)行的價(jià)格歧視，鐵路公司提出的理由是，從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)來(lái)看，這樣做會(huì)降低所有人的成本。他們爭(zhēng)論說(shuō)，如果鐵路公司向所有客戶收取同樣的平均價(jià)格的話，那么，可以使用公路運(yùn)輸或其它交通工具的客戶將會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)移，使剩下的客戶來(lái)承擔(dān)鐵路正常運(yùn)作的開(kāi)銷。這種理論得到了多數(shù)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家的認(rèn)同，但在實(shí)際操作中，它使鐵路公司獲處于決定誰(shuí)敗誰(shuí)衰的位置?！拔覀兪欠裾娴南胱岃F路公司成為在市場(chǎng)上決定誰(shuí)敗誰(shuí)榮的裁決者？”馬丁·貝科維奇問(wèn)道。他是一位常常代表鐵路客戶的華盛頓律師。

????????許多“被控制”客戶還擔(dān)心他們很快將遭受一輪新的大幅漲價(jià)。從整體來(lái)說(shuō)，雖然鐵路工業(yè)有耀眼的資產(chǎn)，但它的收入仍然不足以支付為滿足不斷增長(zhǎng)的運(yùn)輸需要而進(jìn)行的固定資產(chǎn)投資。然而鐵路公司仍然繼續(xù)貸款數(shù)十億美元來(lái)進(jìn)行相互合并，而華爾街也鼓勵(lì)它們這樣做。請(qǐng)想一想今年南諾弗克公司和CSX公司兼并康雷爾公司所花的102億美元吧?？道谞柟?996年鐵路運(yùn)營(yíng)純收入為4.27億美元，這還不足這宗交易運(yùn)作成本的一半。誰(shuí)來(lái)支付其余的費(fèi)用呢？許多“被控制”客戶擔(dān)心，隨著南諾弗克和CSX公司增加對(duì)市場(chǎng)的控制，他們得負(fù)擔(dān)這部分費(fèi)用。