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  3. How much does a plane ticket really cost? Just a decade ago, when most airfares included a checked bag and the ability to reserv

How much does a plane ticket really cost? Just a decade ago, when most airfares included a checked bag and the ability to reserv

admin2014-04-20  29
问题     How much does a plane ticket really cost? Just a decade ago, when most airfares included a checked bag and the ability to reserve a seat or book a ticket by phone, the answer was pretty straightforward: the price you saw was the price you paid, minus taxes. Today, most airlines, except for a few full-service Asian carriers and a holdout or two in the United States, charge economy-class passengers extra for almost everything—a process known as " unbundling. " Want to check your luggage? That’ll be $ 25 for the first bag. Sit next to a window? $ 29. Book by phone? An extra $ 25, please.
    Now U. S. regulators are considering a crackdown on what critics charge are misleading pricing practices that have unjustly enriched airlines by concealing the true cost of flying. A recent report by IdeaWorks, an aviation consultancy, found that the airline industry is making a fortune on fees, netting $ 22.6 billion worldwide in 2011, a 66 percent jump from two years before.
    A new rule, formulated at the beginning of 2012, already requires domestic airlines to quote fares that include all mandatory taxes and fees. And last week, an advisory committee to the federal Transportation Department considered recommending that the government go a step further by requiring airlines to disclose all of their fees before a ticket purchase.
    But airlines insist they’re as transparent as they need to be when it comes to fares, and that regulators would be overstepping their mandate if such a rule were adopted. Besides, airlines say, fees are already revealed on airline websites, and disclosure is constantly improving. For example, United Airlines, currently the world’s largest carrier, recently introduced a baggage-fee calculator that allows customers to determine how much they’ll pay for their checked luggage.
    The committee’s recommendations are nonbinding, and they may have some trouble getting a nod from the next secretary of Transportation if President Obama loses the upcoming election to his Republican opponent. They also face a tedious rule-making process and a likely court challenge by airlines. But consumer groups appear to have some momentum. Airlines balked when they were required to add taxes and mandatory fees to their fares, charging the government with "hiding" taxes and with it, the true cost of air travel. Two carriers sued the government in an effort to overturn the rule. But last month, a Court of Appeals sided with the government. If the move toward price transparency catches on, it could have a ripple effect worldwide, creating a global standard for disclosure and answering the question of how much an airline ticket costs once and for all.     How much does a plane ticket really cost? Just a decade ago, when most airfares included a checked bag and the ability to reserve a seat or book a ticket by phone, the answer was pretty straightforward: the price you saw was the price you paid, minus taxes. Today, most airlines, except for a few full-service Asian carriers and a holdout or two in the United States, charge economy-class passengers extra for almost everything—a process known as " unbundling. " Want to check your luggage? That’ll be $ 25 for the first bag. Sit next to a window? $ 29. Book by phone? An extra $ 25, please.
    Now U. S. regulators are considering a crackdown on what critics charge are misleading pricing practices that have unjustly enriched airlines by concealing the true cost of flying. A recent report by IdeaWorks, an aviation consultancy, found that the airline industry is making a fortune on fees, netting $ 22.6 billion worldwide in 2011, a 66 percent jump from two years before.
    A new rule, formulated at the beginning of 2012, already requires domestic airlines to quote fares that include all mandatory taxes and fees. And last week, an advisory committee to the federal Transportation Department considered recommending that the government go a step further by requiring airlines to disclose all of their fees before a ticket purchase.
    But airlines insist they’re as transparent as they need to be when it comes to fares, and that regulators would be overstepping their mandate if such a rule were adopted. Besides, airlines say, fees are already revealed on airline websites, and disclosure is constantly improving. For example, United Airlines, currently the world’s largest carrier, recently introduced a baggage-fee calculator that allows customers to determine how much they’ll pay for their checked luggage.
    The committee’s recommendations are nonbinding, and they may have some trouble getting a nod from the next secretary of Transportation if President Obama loses the upcoming election to his Republican opponent. They also face a tedious rule-making process and a likely court challenge by airlines. But consumer groups appear to have some momentum. Airlines balked when they were required to add taxes and mandatory fees to their fares, charging the government with "hiding" taxes and with it, the true cost of air travel. Two carriers sued the government in an effort to overturn the rule. But last month, a Court of Appeals sided with the government. If the move toward price transparency catches on, it could have a ripple effect worldwide, creating a global standard for disclosure and answering the question of how much an airline ticket costs once and for all.  
What can be learned from Paragraph 1?
选项 A、Business-class passengers are not charged with extra fees.
B、Customers may not know how much to pay until they get aboard.
C、Plane tickets are more expensive than they were a decade ago.
D、Asian airlines charge fewer fees than their American counterparts.
答案B
解析 推断题。根据第一段第三句所说，“most airlines，…，charge economy一class passengers extra foralmost everything”，而此后举了几个例子，指出托运行李、挑选好的座位以及电话订座都需要额外交费，而所谓额外，就是不包括在公开的机票价格之中。这几个例子包括了旅客从产生航空旅行的需求到登机之前的过程，可以说旅客不到登机都不知道究竟需要交多少钱，因此[B]正确。[A]为过度推断，原文只是说经济舱需要交纳很多的额外费用，但不能就此推断公务舱就不用交纳额外费用，故排除。原文对十年前的情况和现在的情况进行对比，重点在于说明十年前票价内容十分明晰，而目前由于有各种额外费用，票价已经不再是旅客的最终付款额了，但并不能说明现在的票价比以前的贵，故[C]不符合原文。第一段第三句提到亚洲航空公司有几家提供全程服务，不加额外费用，但不能据此推断亚洲的航空公司比美国的收费少，因此[D]也不正确。
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