Question

International airlines have rediscovered the business travelers,the man or woman who regu?larly jets from country to country as part of the job. This does not necessarily mean that airlines ever abandoned their business travelers. Indeed,companies like Lufthansa and Swissair would rightly argue that they have always catered (迎合) best for the executive class passengers. But many lines could be accused of concentrating too heavily in the recent past on attracting passen?gers by volume,often at the expense of regular travelers. Too often,they have seemed geared for quantity rather than quality. Operating a major airline in the 1980s is essentially a matter of finding the right mix of passengers. The airlines need to fill up the back end of their widebod?ied jets with low fare passengers,without forgetting that the front end should be filled with peo?ple who pay substantially more for their tickets.

It is no coincidence that the two major airline bankruptcies in 1982 were among the compa?nies specializing in cheap flights. But low fares require consistently full aircraft to make flights economically viable,and in the recent recession (经济衰退) the volume of traffic has not grown. Equally the large number of airlines jostling (争夺) for the available passengers has created a huge excess of capacity. The net result of excess capacity and cutthroat competition driving down fares has been to push some airlines into collapse and leave many others hovering (摇摆不定) on the brink (边沿) .

Against this grim (严酷的) background,it is no surprise that airlines are turning increasingly towards the business travelers to improve their rates of return. They have invested much time and effort to establish exactly what the executive demands for sitting apart from the tourists.

High on the list of priorities (有先考虑的事) is punctuality;an executive's time is money. Inflight service is another area where the airlines are jostling for the executive's attention. The free drinks and headsets and better food are all part of the lure (吸引力) .

(   ) 5. One criticism against many international airlines is that they have,in the recent past,

   A. catered for the more wealthy people

   B. given preferential treatment to executive clients

   C. only met the needs of the regular traveler

   D. marketed their service with the masses in mind

(   ) 6. With the intention of attracting a somewhat different type of passenger,the airlines have now begun to concentrate on         .

   A. ensuring that the facilities offered to the executive are indeed superior

   B. providing facilities enabling business travelers to work on board

   C. organizing activities in which firstclass passengers can participate

   D. installing sleeping compartments where more privacy is ensured

(   ) 7. From the passage we can infer that         .

   A. a successful airline in the 1980s meets the needs not only of the masses but also of the wealthy passengers

   B. it is more comfortable to sit in the back of jet planes

   C. business travelers dislike tourists

   D. only by specializing in cheap flights can airlines avoid bankruptcy

(   ) 8. The case that "the two major airline bankruptcies in 1982 were among the companies specializing in cheap flights" implicates         .

   A. the airlines should not pay more attention to the regular passengers

    B. airlines for low fares must keep a constant stream of passengers in order to stay viable

   C. the airlines should pay more attention to the business passengers

   D. low fares would make companies bankrupted

Answer 1

  DAAB

各个航空公司使出浑身解数来招徕旅客，特别是吸引那些乘坐头等舱的公务旅客。

5. D细节理解题。第一段第五行有答案出处。

6. A细节理解题。

7. A细节理解题。

8. B判断题。