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  3. 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

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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。
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