In recent years, railroads have been combining with each other, merging int

游客2024-11-16  0

问题     In recent years, railroads have been combining with each
other, merging into supersystems, causing heightened concerns
about monopoly. As recently as 1995, the top four railroads counted【S1】______
for under 70 percent of the total ton-miles moved by rails. Next
year, after a series of mergers are completed, just four railroads will【S2】______
control well over 90 percent of all the freight moved by major rail
carriers.
    Supporters of the new supersystems argue that these mergers
will allow substantial cost reductions and better coordinated service.【S3】______
Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed by fierce
competition from trucks. But many shippers complain that as heavy【S4】______
bulk commodities traveling long distances, such as coal, chemicals
and grain, trucking is too cost and the railroads therefore have them【S5】______
by the throat.
    The vast consolidation within the rail industry means that the【S6】______
most shippers are served by only one rail company. Railroads
typically charge such "captive" shippers 20 to 30 percent more than
they do when another railroad is competing for the business.
Shippers whom feel they are being overcharged have the right to【S7】______
appeal for the federal government’s Surface Transportation Board for【S8】______
rate relief, and the process is expensive, time-consuming, and will【S9】______
work only in truly extreme cases.
    Railroads justify rate discrimination against captive shippers in【S10】______
the grounds that in the long run it reduces everyone’s cost. If
railroads charged all customers the same average rate, they argue,
shippers who have the option of switching to trucks or other forms of
transportation would do so, leaving remaining customers to shoulder
the cost of keeping up the line. [br] 【S5】

选项

答案 cost—costly

解析 词性混用。cost只能作名词或动词,而此处需要形容词costly,表示“卡车运输成本太高”。
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