Question

Is pricing a plane ticket based on the passenger's weight fair? If you're taking an international flight on Samoa Air today, your fare will be based on your weight, along with that of your luggage. The cost is 93 cents to $1.06 for each kilogram.

The average American woman weighs 75.5 kilograms, far from the ideal weight for her average height. Her ticket on Samoa Air, at the $1 a kilogram rate, would cost $75.50. But let's be honest here. Since the average American woman is overweight, the ticket will cost her more.

Samoa Air Chief Executive Chris Langton said, “Planes are run by weight and not by seat. The plane can only carry a certain amount of weight and that weight needs to be paid.”He believes other airlines should adopt the policy.

It’ s not a new idea. I remember a newspaper columnist years ago who put forth the idea that the heavier among us should pay more for their seats on planes, trains and buses. Who hasn’ t been squeezed into a middle seat between two plus-sized folks on a flight? It’ s happened to me; one time my married seatmates had purposefully chosen their seats to have more space until a sold-out flight put me between them. Not one of my better flying experiences.

What if such a policy is adopted by some airlines in the United States? Could such pricing provide a much-needed motivation for Americans to reduce body weight? I hope so. But, as we know, more than one-third of us are obese and another third are overweight. The high probability is that the heavy customers will not suddenly lose weight or stop flying, but will instead choose a different airline, simply moving the supposed problem elsewhere.

There's no doubt that the heavier will suffer more discrimination (歧视). Discrimination against the overweight in the United States has increased by 66 percent over the last decade —“and is comparable to rates of racial discrimination, especially among women,”wrote Yale University researcher Rebecca M. Puhl. Your weight can affect your salary, your chances for employment, how others view you and even, now, your air fares.

“If the policy succeeds it may encourage the spread of body discrimination across different industries and the wider culture,” said one British editorial writer. He holds that it is companies' duty to provide equipment that meet the needs of their customers.

And we'll see how effective it is as a business model.

1. In Paragraph 3, Chris Langton _____.

A. explained the reasons for the ticket policy  

B. showed the difficulties of the ticket policy

C. expressed his doubt about the ticket policy 

D. discussed the advantages of the ticket policy

2.If some American airlines adopt the ticket policy_____.

A. they will possibly lose a lot of customers

B. there will be less overweight people

C. people will use other forms of transportation

D. the problem of overweight planes will be partly solved

3. The author mentions Puhl's study to show_____.

A. women are less likely to suffer discrimination

B. racial discrimination is getting worse nowadays

C. the ticket policy will have little influence on the obese

D. the ticket policy will make body discrimination more serious

4.Which best describes the British editorial writer's attitude to Samoa Air's policy?

A. Optimistic.            B. Defensive.

C. Disapproving.          D. Casual.

Answer

1.A

2.A

3.D

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：这是一则议论文。主要讨论了美国航空公司根据顾客体重来购机票的政策，作者对此是持反对态度的。

1.A推理判断题。根据“Planes are run by weight and not by seat. The plane can only carry a certain amount of weight and that weight needs to be paid.” He believes other airlines should adopt the policy.可知Chris Langton认为飞机是根据重量而不是根据座位运行的。飞机只能承载一定的重量，因此要按体重收费。他认为其它的航空公司也应该采用这样的政策。根据意思可知Chris Langton是在解释这种按体重收费的政策。故选A项。

2.

3.

4. the policy succeeds it may encourage the spread of body discrimination across different industries and the wider culture,”可知作者认为如果这种政策成功的话，可能会在不同的行业以及更广的文化中促使体重方面的歧视。因此作者对这种政策是持反对态度的。A项Optimistic意为“乐观的”；B项Defensive意为“防御的，自卫的”；C项Disapproving意为“反对的”；D项Casual意为“随便的”。故选C项。

【名师点拨】

推理题常见的提问形式

常以infer，imply，suggest，conclude，learn，intend，mean，describe，purpose等词提问。或提问中含有表示推测的情态动词，如can，could，might，would等和其他表示可能性的动词，如probably，most likely等。

5. the policy succeeds it may encourage the spread of body discrimination across different industries and the wider culture,”可知作者认为如果这种政策成功的话，可能会在不同的行业以及更广的文化中促使体重方面的歧视。因此作者对这种政策是持反对态度的。A项Optimistic意为“乐观的”；B项Defensive意为“防御的，自卫的”；C项Disapproving意为“反对的”；D项Casual意为“随便的”。故选C项。

考点：考查议论文阅读