考研英语阅读真题剖析2003-Text 3（三）

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阅读在考研英语试卷中占据着举足轻重的地位，2019考研学子们一定要对考研英语阅读真题文章进行全方位解读，文都考研英语老师为大家进行2003年第三篇阅读文章和真题的剖析，希望大家能够对这篇文章有充分的认知和了解。
2003年Text 3文章是一篇关于铁路公司合并可能引起垄断的文章。本文结构为明显的总—分—总结构：第一段开篇点题，最后一段对全文进行总结，都属于综述部分，中间部分则进行详细论述。
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 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 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.
54. The word "arbiters" (line 6, 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
[解析]
本题为猜词题。定位至第四段。文章第四段末句为Do we really want railroads to be the arbiters of who wins and who loses in the marketplace？。通过在上下文中寻找线索。不难发现，上文谈到“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.”由此可以得出铁路公司处于“determining which companies will flourish and which will fail.”的地位，其中“which companies will flourish”是下句中“who wins”的近义表达，“which will fail”相当于下句中的“who loses”。因此可以得出，arbiters主要功能为“determining”（决定），即裁决者，故本题选择B选项。
55. 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
[解析]
本题为因果细节题。本题定位至第五段，即最后一段，第五段谈的是铁路公司互相兼并过程中耗费了运营成本。从该段第三句和后文中的举例中可知，铁路公司的相互收购耗资数亿美元，这些投资造成铁路公司的成本大幅增加，从而使客户的利益受损。因此A选项是铁路行业成本增加的主要原因。B选项也是成本增加的原因之一（最后一段第2句），但是与收购相比，它是次要原因。
以上为文都教育的英语老师为大家进行的2003年第三篇阅读文章的部分解析，希望大家能够对这篇文章有进一步深刻的理解和认识。