Many captive shippers also worry they will soon be his with a round of huge rate increases. The railroad industry as a whole, despite its brightening fortuning fortunes. still does not earn enough to cover the cost of the capital it must invest to keep up with its surging traffic. Yet railroads continue to borrow billions to acquire one another, with Wall Street cheering them on. Consider the .2 billion bid by Norfolk Southern and CSX to acquire Conrail this year. Conrail's net railway operating income in 1996 was just million, less than half of the carrying costs of the transaction. Who's going to pay for the rest of the bill? Many captive shippers fear that they will, as Norfolk Southern and CSX increase their grip on the market.

　　53.It can be inferred from paragraph 3 that

　　[A] shippers will be charged less without a rival railroad.

　　[B] there will soon be only one railroad company nationwide.

　　[C] overcharged shippers are unlikely to appeal for rate relief.

　　[D] a government board ensures fair play in railway business.

　　[答案] C

　　[解题思路]

　　本题的对应信息为文章第三段，可以一一与原文对应。首先，A选项对应于该段第二句话“The vast consolidation within the rail industry means that most shippers are served by only one rail company”(铁路运输业内的大规模联合意味着多数客户只能接受一家公司的服务)，选项A的意思正好与原文相反，因此是错误答案。B选项也与原文意思相左，因为文章只谈及铁路公司合并的趋势和可能性，而选项的表述则太过绝对，认为全国只会剩一家铁路公司，缺乏证据支持。D选项的表述则与原文无关。再看C选项，该段最后一句话指出“Shippers who feel they are being overcharged have the right to appeal to the federal government's Surface Transportation Board for rate relief, but the process is expensive, time consuming, and will work only in truly extreme cases”(如果客户感到他们被多收费，他们有权上诉到联邦政府的“陆路运输局”以争取价格下调。但这个过程耗财、耗时，并且只有在极端特殊的情况下才有作用)，因此托运人即使被多收费也不大可能提出申述，因此C选项是正确答案。

　　[题目译文]

　　从第三段中可以推断出

　　[A] 如果没有竞争对手，对托运人收费将会减少

　　[B] 全国很快就只剩下一家铁路公司

　　[C] 那些交了过高费用的托运人不可能上诉要求减少收费

　　[D] 政府部门保证在铁路竞争中实行公平竞争