2003 Text 3
In recent years, railroads have been combining with each other, merging into super systems, 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 ries 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 super systems argue that the mergers will allow for substantial cost reductions and better coordinated rvice. 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.
成人校园春色The vast consolidation within the rail industry means that most shippers are rved 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 cas.
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 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 los in the marketplace?" asks Martin Bercovici, a Washington lawyer who frequently reprents shipper.
Many captive shippers also worry they will soon be his with a round of huge rate increas. The railroad industry as a whole, despite its brightening fortunes, still does no
t 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 increa their grip on the market.
51. According to tho who support mergers railway monopoly is unlikely becau ________.
[A] cost reduction is bad on competition
微波炉原理图 [B] rvices call for cross-trade coordination
[C] outside competitors will continue to exist
[D] shippers will have the railway by the throat
52. What is many captive shippers' attitude towards the consolidation in the rail industry?
[A] Indifferent.
[B] Supportive.
oppo铃声>山根有痣的男人 [C] Indignant.
牛肉的做法大全家常 [D] Apprehensive.
53. 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
54. The word "arbiters" (line 7, paragraph 4) most probably refers to tho ________.
[A] who work as coordinators
[B] who function as judges
[C] who supervi transactions
[D] who determine the price
55. According to the text, the cost increa in the rail industry is mainly caud by ________.
[A] the continuing acquisition
[B] the growing traffic
[C] the cheering Wall Street
[D] the shrinking market
重点词汇：
merge /mE:dV/ （v.合并）比emerge（v.出现；形成）少首字母e，merger /5mE:dVE/ （n.合并）←merge+r名词后缀。
monopoly /mE5nCpEli/ （n.垄断；专利权）即mono+poly，mono-前缀“单独的”，poly（词根=ll）可看作play，于是“一个人玩”→垄断。动词为monopolize←mono+pol(y)+ize动词后缀。含前缀mono-的单词另如：monotonous（单调的）←mono+ton调+ous形容词
后缀；monoxide（一氧化物）←mon(o)+ox氧+ide化合物；monocracy（独裁统治）←mono+cracy统治。Liberty and monopoly cannot live together.灭火三要素自由与垄断不能并存。monopoly — business at the end of its journey 垄断——穷途末路的商业。马司令
substantial /sEb5stAnFEl/ （实质的；坚固的；富裕的）←sub在下面+st(=stand)+antial形容词后缀。名词为substance六年级上册语文第二单元作文（物质；实质；财产）←sub+st+ance。Every person born in the USA is endowed with life, liberty and a substantial share of the national debt.生在美国的每个人都被赋予生命、自由和国债的大量份额。
reduction /ri5dQkFEn/ （减少）←re(=back)+duc引导+tion名词后缀；reduce /ri5dju:s/ （v.减少；还原）←re+duce。同根词：deduce（v.演绎）←de(=away)+duce；deduction（演绎；推论）←de+duc+tion。The tendency of modern science is to reduce proof to absurdity by continually reducing absurdity to proof.现代科学的趋势，是以不断地把谬论化为证明来使证明沦为谬论。reducing diet — the taming of the chew 节食——驯服咀嚼。
