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  3. The U. S. Justice Department announced Friday that it will allow United and Continental Airlines to merge. Now all that is neede

The U. S. Justice Department announced Friday that it will allow United and Continental Airlines to merge. Now all that is neede

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问题     The U. S. Justice Department announced Friday that it will allow United and Continental Airlines to merge. Now all that is needed to complete the $3.2 billion deal is a formal vote by the both airlines’ shareholders, which is set to happen Sept. 17. Once approved, the merger will make the combined company the largest airline in the U. S. , besting Delta after its merger with Northwest Airlines in 2008. What does this mean for consumers?
    The merger, travel experts say, may result in rate increases and route reductions for the new airline, but despite how this may sound; the purported effects are not entirely a bad thing. Route reductions, according to Seth Kaplan of Airline Weekly, are likely to be minimal since United and Continental don’t traditionally service the same areas. Both carriers operate flights throughout Canada, Latin America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions. However, United’s domestic service is concentrated in the Midwest and Pacific, while Continental services the Northeast regions.
    Additionally, Continental’s hub cities are based in Houston; Newark, N. J. ; and Cleveland. United’s hubs include Washington D. C. ; Chicago; Denver and San Francisco. Kaplan believes that Continental’s Cleveland hub may be in jeopardy as United’s larger and more powerful presence in Chicago’s O’Hare airport may render a second hub in that area redundant. However, Kaplan says, this is likely the only major hub that will be affected.
    If the company does decide to shut down hubs in smaller markets, the closures may actually help discount carriers, such as JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, cash in. "Discount carriers can make some headway in the smaller hubs," travel consultant Lisa Fantino of Wanderlust Women Travel explains. Take, for example, the Justice Department’s requirement that Continental transfer take-off and landing permission at Newark Liberty Airport to discount carrier Southwest Airlines before the Justice Department would approve the merger.
    Fantino does point out; however, that frequent fliers may be affected by the merger since any reduction in available flights is likely to make point redemption more difficult than it already is. "In the short-term, I think they will offer some redemption bonuses in the spring as they look to consolidate their frequent flier programs," Fantino explains, before adding, "in the long term you are going to find more passengers looking for fewer available seats. "
    As for prices themselves, the existence of the low-cost carriers and the fact that Delta, American and US Airways remain competitors, will prevent potential fare increases from climbing sky-high. "Fares could rise modestly in some markets where the two airlines currently compete," Kaplan says, citing Houston and Chicago as two examples. "They will also likely reduce their combined seat capacity, and that too can push fares up. As with anything, less supply with constant demand will mean higher prices. "
The example of Newark Liberty Airport was mentioned to show
选项 A、the difficulties involved in the merger.
B、the fairness of the Justice Department.
C、the hub closures’ effects on discount carriers.
D、the importance of take-off and landing permission.
答案C
解析 推理判断题。由题干关键词Newark Liberty Airport定位至第四段第二句。联系上下文可知，第四段第三句中关于Newark Liberty Airport的事例是为了说明上文第四段首句的“如果该公司真的决定关闭拥有较小市场的航站中心，此关闭实际上可能在帮助那些折扣航空公司”，故答案为[C]。此事例并未涉及合并的困难，故排除[A]；司法部的要求只是此事例本身内容，由此并不能推及此事例是为了说明司法部的公平，故排除[B]；起飞和降落权只是此事例本身内容，并非列举此事例的用意，故排除[D]。
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