Text 3 Even before economist Howard Davies thinking where to put extra airport capacity in Britain,rejecting the idea of building a big new hub in the Thames Estuary,the backlash had begun.Boris Johnson,the mayor of London and an enthusiastic supporter of the Thames plan,spluttered in advance,then branded the decision"shortsighted".NIMBYs opposing the expansion of Heathrow and Catwick groaned,knowing that the remaining options all involve building or extending ninways at one of those airports.Sir Howard's final recommendation is sure to run into heavy rire.To make mat-ters worse,he and his team must hazard a guess about the future of air travel,Heathrow and Gatwick are both full,or close to it,and want to expand.But the two airports presently serve quite different parts of the market.Some 37%of passengers at Heathrow transfer between flights.Nearly a third of its customers are on business.By contrast,only 13%of Gatwick's cusiomers are business travellers.Most are going on holiday.Just 7%transfer there-a proportion that has fallen by half over the past decade.Heathrow's shiny new Terminal 2,which opened in June,is full of expensive shops and restaurants run by Michelin-starred cooks lo entice rich passengers.At CaLwick,recenL improvements reflect its popularity with holiday goers:a wider lane at security gate has been set aside for families,while an area in ihe southern terminal is now reserved for elderly passengers,with comfortable seats and a small duty-free shop.The airports'managers also hold entirely different views about the way the airline industry will develop,and its place in the broader economy.Much of the argument for expanding Heathrow rests on the idea that hub airporls are,and will remain,vital.Without further expansion,boosters argue,fewer flights to distant places such as Wuhan and Xiamen will be available to businessmen.If the capaciiy plight persists,domestic flights are more likely to be delayed or canceUed.European airports will pick up those passengers inslead."That's our CDP leaking out,"says Jon Proudlove,Lhe general manager of air-traffic control at Heathrow.Not surpnsingly,Calwick takes a different view.Over the past ten years the growth of low-cost airlines has been explosive.poinls out Sir Roy McNulty,chairman of the Gatwick group.People are travelling in different ways,with more"self-connecting"to keep costs down.AIthough connections with emerging markets are important.Europe and North America will remain Bricain's largesl trading partners,he argues.London will be a deslinalion in its own right.
Domestic tlights at Heathrow may be cancelled if______
- A.the airport enlarges iis scale
- B.there are too few passengers
- C.the airport remains its current size
- D.a new airport won't be constructed
正确答案及解析
正确答案
解析
细节题。根据题干定位到第四段第五行：If the capacity plighl persists，domestic flights are more likely to be delayed or canceUed.该句大意为“如果机场容量不足的窘境持续下去，国内航班很可能会被延误或取消”。本题答案句为the capacity plight persists。选项[A]the airport enlarges its scale“机场扩大规模”；该项与答案句“容量不足的窘境”表述相反，故错误。选项[B]there are too few passengers“乘客数量太少”；该项属于无中生有，故排除。[C]the airport rem8ins iLs current size“机场停留在当前规模”；该项与Lhe capacity plight persists“机场容量不足的窘境持续下去”表述相符，属于同义替换，故该项正确。选项[D]a new airport won't be constructed“不建立新机场”；第四段第三行提到Without further expansion“如果没有进一步扩建”，文章强调扩建机场而非建立新机场，故该项也与文章表述不符。综上，[c]为正确答案。
