In recent years, railroads have been combining with each other, merging into supersystems, causing heightened concerns about monopoly. As recently as 1995, the top four railroads accounted for under 70 percent of the total ton-miles moved by rails. Next year, after a series of mergers is completed, just four railroads will control well over 90 percent of all the freight moved by major rail carriers。
　　 Supporters of the new supersystems argue that these mergers will allow for substantial cost reductions and better coordinated service. Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed by fierce competition from trucks. But many shippers complain that for heavy bulk commodities traveling long distances, such as coal, chemicals, and grain, trucking is too costly and the railroads therefore have them by the throat。
　　 The vast consolidation within the rail industry means that most shippers are served by only one rail company. Railroads typically charge such“captive”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, but the process is expensive, time consuming, and will work only in truly extreme cases。
　　 Railroads justify rate discrimination against captive shippers on the grounds that in the long run it reduces everyone's cost. If railroads charged all customers the same average rate, they argue, shippers who have the option of switching to trucks or other forms of transportation would do so, leaving remaining customers to shoulder the cost of keeping up the line. It's a theory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will flourish and which will fail. “Do we really want railroads to be the arbiters of who wins and who loses in the marketplace?” asks Martin Bercovici, a Washington lawyer who frequently represents shippers。
　　 Many captive shippers also worry they will soon be hit with a round of huge rate increases. The railroad industry as a whole, despite its brightening fortunes, still does not earn enough to cover the cost of the capital it must invest to keep up with its surging traffic. Yet 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 on the market。
　　 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。
　　 32. What is many captive shippers' attitude towards the consolidation in the rail industry?
　　 [A] Indifferent。
　　 [B] Supportive。
　　 [C] Indignant。
　　 [D] Apprehensive。
　　 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。
　　 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。
　　 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。

　 名師解析
　　 31. According to those who support mergers, railway monopoly is unlikely because
　　 在那些支持鐵路公司合并的人看來，壟斷之所以不可能發生，是因為
　　 [A] cost reduction is based on competition. 成本的降低源于競爭。
　　 [B] services call for cross-trade coordination. 服務需要跨行業協調。
　　 [C] outside competitors will continue to exist. 外部競爭者將繼續存在。
　　 [D] shippers will have the railway by the throat. 托運商將掐住鐵路公司的咽喉。
　　【答案】 C
　　【考點】 事實細節題。
　　【分析】 題目問的是支持并購的人為什么認為鐵路行業內不會形成壟斷。根據題干關鍵詞 “支持者，合并，不可能”可以定位到第二段。支持者認為“Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed by fierce competition from trucks。”意思是“因為要和卡車競爭，所以不存在壟斷的可能”。所以[C]比較符合文章的意思。[A]不對，文章說支持者認為合并能降低成本，而不是競爭降低成本。[B]不對是因為文中只是說可以更好協調服務，而不是跨行業。[D]把主語和賓語弄反了，而且也不是支持者的觀點，所以也是錯誤的。
　　 32. What is many captive shippers’ attitude towards the consolidation in the rail industry?
　　 許多受控制的托運商對鐵路行業合并的態度是
　　 [A] Indifferent. 冷淡的。 [B] Supportive. 支持的。
　　 [C] Indignant. 義憤的。 [D] Apprehensive. 擔心的。
　　【答案】 D
　　【考點】 態度題。
　　【分析】 本題問的不是作者的態度，而是貨主的態度，要求考生根據文中所提供的線索做判斷。通過題干關鍵詞“shipper，attitude”來定位，如：“But many shippers complain that.。.”(第二段)，“Many captive shipper also worry.。.”(第五段)，“Many captive shippers fear that.。.”(第五段)，我們可以判斷出貨主的態度是“憂慮的”，對未來的狀況“憂心忡忡”。所以[D]是正確的。
　　 33. It can be inferred from paragraph 3 that 從第三段中我們可以推斷出
　　 [A] shippers will be charged less without a rival railroad。
　　 如果沒有其他鐵路公司的競爭，托運商被收取的費用將會少一些。
　　 [B] there will soon be only one railroad company nationwide。
　　 很快全國就會只剩下一家鐵路公司。
　　 [C] overcharged shippers are unlikely to appeal for rate relief。
　　 被多收費的托運商不大可能會申訴減免費用。
　　 [D] a government board ensures fair play in railway business。
　　 政府部門保證鐵路行業的公平競爭。
　　【答案】 C
　　【考點】 推斷題。
　　【分析】 [A]正好與原文意思相反。從第三段第二句中，我們得知“鐵路公司合并后，鐵路公司向貨主們收取的費用比以前有競爭的時候高20%至30%”，所以費用不是少一些，而是多一些。[B]缺乏依據，因為文中說絕大多數托運商將由一家公司服務，但是這不意味著只剩下一家公司，所以也是不對的。[C]是正確的，因為文章里說到，“貨主們如果認為鐵路公司收費過高，可以向聯邦政府的機構申請降低費率。但是因為申訴的過程耗時費錢，而且只有在極端的情況下才會這么做”。由此，我們可以推斷出他們不大可能提出申訴。[D]說“政府能保證鐵路行業內的公平競爭”，這種說法缺乏依據。文中提及“水陸運輸委員會”可以調節運輸費率，但是這和公平競爭還是不同的。
　　 34. The word “arbiters” (Line 7, Paragraph 4) most probably refers to those
　　 單詞“arbiters”(第四段第七行)很有可能指的是那些
　　 [A] who work as coordinators. 擔任協調員的人。
　　 [B] who function as judges. 行使法官職能的人。
　　 [C] who supervise transactions. 作監督交易工作的人。
　　 [D] who determine the price. 決定價格的人。
　　【答案】 B
　　【考點】 詞義題。
　　【分析】 詞義題一般在文中都可以找到答案，要么上文，要么下文。“arbiter”的意思是“仲裁者”，屬于超綱詞匯。出題人考的就是看考生能否通過上下文猜測到這個單詞的含義。首先定位在第四段的比較后一句“Do we really want railroads to be the arbiters of who wins and who loses in the marketplace?”，其實它要表述的內容已在前一句出現了。“It’s a theory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will flourish and which will fail”。由此，我們可以猜測出“arbiter”指的是“those who are in the position of determining something”，或者“someone who can determine who wins and who loses in the marketplace”， 就可得出答案[B]。[D]項雖有“determine”一詞，但是意思不對。文中說的鐵路決定了托運商的命運，就好比是商場中的裁判，能決定誰贏誰輸。[D]項僅僅提到決定價格，無法完整的表達出這個單詞的意思。
　　 35. According to the text, the cost increase in the rail industry is mainly caused by
　　 根據本文，鐵路行業的成本增加的主要原因是
　　 [A] the continuing acquisition. 不斷的收購。
　　 [B] the growing traffic. 逐漸增長的運輸量。
　　 [C] the cheering Wall Street. 歡呼的華爾街。
　　 [D] the shrinking market. 逐漸縮小的市場。
　　【答案】 A
　　【考點】 事實細節題。
　　【分析】 本題的出題思路主要是，通過確認鐵路成本提高的主要原因來考查考生對文中因果關系的把握。通過關鍵詞“cost increase，cause”來定位。發現比較后一段第一句話里面提到“許多‘受制’客戶還擔心他們很快將遭遇一輪新的費率大漲價。目前的鐵路公司所賺的錢不足以支付固定投資的費用，但是即使這樣，鐵路公司為了并購還在借很多的資金。所以，鐵路的經營成本提高”。[A]是正確的。至于[B]，文中提到“鐵路公司還沒有足夠的錢去增加投資，以滿足快速發展的交通的需要”，但是，這并不是引起成本提高的主要原因，文章的重點并不在此。[C]、[D]毫無依據，都是錯誤的。

　　難句解析：
　　1. But many shippers complain that for heavy bulk commodities traveling long distances, such as coal, chemicals, and grain, trucking is too costly and the railroads therefore have them by the throat。
　　【結構分析】 本句是一個復合句，“complain”后面接兩個賓語從句，第一個賓語從句的主干是“trucking is too costly”，而“for”引導的是一個表示對象的狀語。“the railroads therefore have them by the throat”是另外一個賓語分句，可以翻譯成：鐵路公司就會“掐住他們的脖子”。
　　2. Shippers who feel they are being overcharged have the right to appeal to the federal government’s Surface Transportation Board for rate relief, but the process is expensive, time consuming, and will work only in truly extreme cases。
　　【結構分析】 本句由“but”連接的并列句。第一個分句的主干是“shippers have the right…”。“shipper”的后邊跟了一個“who”引導的定語從句。第二個分句的主語是“the process”，雙謂語：一個是系表結構，另外一個是“will work”。
　　3. It’s theory to which many economists subscribe, but in practice it often leaves railroads in the position of determining which companies will flourish and which will fail。
　　【結構分析】 本句是由“but”連接的兩個分句。第一個分句的主干部分是“It’s theory”，后邊緊跟了一個“which”引導的定語從句。“but”后邊的分句的主語是“it”，謂語是“leaves”。“determining”的后邊接了兩個并列的賓語從句：“which companies will flourish and which will fail”。
　　全文翻譯：
　　近年來，鐵路公司一直在彼此聯合，合并成超大型集團，引起人們對壟斷的極大關注。近至1995年，比較大的四家鐵路公司占有整個鐵路運輸業務量的近70%。到明年，一系列兼并活動完成之后，四家鐵路公司將控制90%以上的鐵路運輸業務。
　　支持組建超大型鐵路集團的人聲稱，兼并將使得成本大幅降低，服務項目更好協調。他們認為，由于公路運輸的激烈競爭，壟斷的威脅已經沒有了。但是許多托運商抱怨說，對于諸如煤炭、化學制品和糧食這樣依賴長途運輸的大宗商品來說，公路運輸花費太大，這樣鐵路公司就會“掐住他們的脖子”(制約住他們)。
　　鐵路運輸業內的大規模聯合意味著多數客戶將不得不依賴一家公司的服務。通常，鐵路公司對這些“受制的”客戶的收費要比存在另一鐵路公司競爭業務時多20%—30%。如果托運人認為收費過高，他們有權上訴到聯邦政府的“水陸運輸委員會”以爭取價格下調，但是這個過程既耗財又耗時，并且只有在真正極端特殊的情況下才有作用。
　　鐵路公司對“受制”客戶的收費進行區別對待的依據是，從長遠來看，這樣做會降低所有人的成本。他們認為，如果鐵路公司向所有客戶收取同樣的平均價格的話，那么那些可以使用公路運輸或其他交通工具的客戶將會轉移，使剩下的客戶來承擔鐵路正常運作的開銷。這種理論得到了多數經濟學家的認同，但在實際操作中，它使鐵路公司獲得了一個決定誰成誰敗的權利。“我們是否真的想讓鐵路公司成為在市場上決定誰敗誰榮的裁決者呢?”馬丁·貝科維奇問道。他是一位常常代表鐵路客戶的華盛頓律師。
　　許多“受制”客戶還擔心他們很快將遭遇一輪新的費率大漲價。從整體來說，雖然鐵路行業有炫目的資產，但它的收入仍然不足以支付為滿足不斷增長的運輸需要而進行的固定資產投資。然而鐵路公司仍然繼續貸款數十億美元來進行收購，而華爾街也鼓勵它們這樣做。請想一想今年南諾弗克公司和CSX公司為兼并康雷爾公司所花的102億美元吧。康雷爾公司1996年鐵路運營純收入為4.27億美元，這還不足這宗交易運作成本的一半。誰來支付其余的費用?許多“被控”客戶擔心像南諾弗克和CSX公司一樣，聯合鐵路公司也將加強對市場的控制。