首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
By 2010 the European Commission predicts transcontinental freight traffic will have risen 50 percent as a result of European exp
By 2010 the European Commission predicts transcontinental freight traffic will have risen 50 percent as a result of European exp
admin
2014-02-20
52
问题
By 2010 the European Commission predicts transcontinental freight traffic will have risen 50 percent as a result of European expansion, and much of that will have to cross the enormous obstacle of the Alps. Right now the only practical way for most heavy traffic to get through is by truck and tunnel. And while that could change if safer and cleaner rail lines were opened, the chances are that won’t happen anytime soon.
Several private trucking companies have adapted quickly and creatively to the demands of European unification. Some of the bigger truckers trace cargoes with the Global Positioning System and sophisticated computers. And if trucks also bring more road hazards and pollution, at present there is no alternative. Right now only 8 percent of European merchandise moves by rail, compared with more than 40 percent in the United States. Delays are so common that the average speed for freight is about 18km an hour.
The railways have had trouble outgrowing a heritage of national rivalries and open warfare between Europe’s countries. The result is what another European Commission report calls "a mosaic of badly interconnected national systems. " Language barriers remain a problem, requiring crew changes at some borders. Switching systems and signals differ.
And efficiency is more of a dream than a goal. Europe’s railroads still have to deal with "phantom trains" that run so late that they combine with others and disappear from the railroad’s records. In an era when many companies depend on a "just-in-time" inventories to make a profit, railroads are rarely on time at all.
Yet there is little official enthusiasm for changing the system. The reality is that governments have helped create the imbalance between road and rail in Europe—and government action will likely be needed to fix it. The French emphasis on using rail to move people instead of goods, for instance, has helped cripple freight service. "All the investments went to passenger traffic," says Denis Doute, director of freight services for the French rail company SNCF. Freight trains have had to find "windows" to run in between passenger trains, unlike those in the United States, which often travel on separate tracks. The further development of the freight network requires massive investments to modernize existing infrastructure and open new ones. However, the political will to fund that kind of investment is lacking, which means the citizens will have to hold their noses for a while longer.
The word "phantom"(Line 2, Para. 4)probably means______.
选项
A、trouble
B、ghost
C、hero
D、turtle
答案
B
解析
词汇题。phantom的意思可以通过下文对phantom trains的解释以及这个词组的引号猜出来。下文讲到这种火车太晚点了,以至于与别的火车重组并从火车的记录中消失。引号可表示讽刺、强调、拟人、引用的含义。结合这两方面,我们通过比较四个选择项,不难猜出选项B最合适,phantom trains也就是“幽灵火车"的意思。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/quXO777K
0
在职攻硕英语联考
相关试题推荐
Thetranslatormusthaveanexcellent,up-to-dateknowledgeofhissourcelanguages,fullfacilityinthehandlingofhistarget
By1830theformerSpanishandPortuguesecolonieshadbecomeindependentnations.Theroughly20million【C1】______ofthesenati
Allanimalsmustrest,butdotheyreallysleepasweknowit?Theanswertothisquestionseemsobvious.Ifananimalregularly
Allanimalsmustrest,butdotheyreallysleepasweknowit?Theanswertothisquestionseemsobvious.Ifananimalregularly
Duringrecentyearswehaveheardmuchabout"race":howthisracedoescertainthingsandthatracebelievescertainthingsand
However,growthinthefabricatedmetalsindustrywasableto______someofthedeclineintheironandsteelindustry.
Thehumancriterionforperfectvisionis20/20forreadingthestandardlinesonaSnelleneyechartwithoutahitch.Thescore
Standardusageincludesthosewordsandexpressionsunderstood,used,andacceptedbyamajorityofthespeakersofalanguagei
Iwouldhaveaccompaniedyoutothecinemayesterday,butI______notime.
SpeakerA:Excuseme,doyouneedahand?SpeakerB:______
随机试题
Here’sacommonscenariothatanynumberofentrepreneursfacetoday:you’retheCEOofasmallbusinessandthoughyou’remakin
外耳道发炎时所用的滴耳剂最好调节为
患者,男,18岁,发病前一日晚饭进食不新鲜食物,发病当日有频繁腹泻,水样便10余次,继之呕吐胃内容物,无腹痛、发热,有口渴,尿少。体检:T36℃,P120次/分,BP10/6kPa(80/50mmHg),脱水貌,精神萎靡,心、肺、腹检查未见异常,四肢微
杏仁露散发出一种特殊的香气,这是苯甲醛的味道。由于苦杏仁中所含苷类主要为苦杏仁苷,它是一种氰苷,易被酸和酶催化水解,水解所得到的α-羟基苯乙腈很不稳定,易分解生成苯甲醛和氢氰酸。苦杏仁苷水解的最终产物包括
外商投资企业作为公司发起人时,其在公司中所占股本的比例,按照()规定执行。
婴幼儿的“认生”现象通常出现在()。
最新研究发现,脑内一种名为SIRT1的基因,会在人的丘脑部位指导合成相应的蛋白质。SIRT1基因会随年龄增长而弱化,它指导合成的蛋白质也逐渐减少。因此研究人员推测该基因会导致中年发福。上述论述的成立,必须基于以下哪项前提?()
有老师和甲、乙、丙三个学生,现在老师的年龄刚好是这三个学生的年龄之和;9年后,老师的年龄将是甲、乙两个学生的年龄之和;又5年后,老师的年龄将是甲、丙两个学生的年龄之和;再3年后,老师的年龄将是乙、丙两个学生的年龄之和。那么现在老师的年龄是()岁。
PoliceinthepopularresortcityVirginiaBeachrecentlybeganoperatingvideosurveillancecameraswithcontroversialfacerec
Wheneveryouseetheoldfilm,evenone【M1】______madetenyearsbefore,youcannothelpbeing
最新回复
(
0
)