【视频讲解】

DECADES ago travelling by air in America was a glamorous affair. Today it signals delays, discomfort, extra charges and the threat of violence. A video of a passenger being forcibly dragged from a United Airlines flight on April 9th, after too few people volunteered to give up their seats, has sparked an outpouring of complaints about flying in America. Passengers are right to moan. America’s airlines really do compare badly with foreign ones. European carriers are the best point of reference.
几十年前，在美国乘飞机旅行是件神气的事，如今它却意味着延误、不舒适、额外收费以及暴力威胁。4月9日，美国联合航空（United Airlines）的一个航班因自愿放弃乘机的人数不足，一位旅客被强行拖走。这段视频令人们对在美国飞行的各种不满倾泻而出。乘客们确有理由抱怨。与外国同行相比，美国的航空公司确实糟糕。欧洲的公司就是最好的参照物。

glamorous adj.格外荣耀引人注目的
affair n.事情
discomfort n.不舒适
charge n.收费
drag v.拖拽
spark v.触发 (activate)
- The question sparked a lively discussion.
outpouring n.倾泻（情绪）
complaint n.抱怨
moan v.抱怨
carrier n.航空公司
reference n.参考

Air fares are higher per seat mile in America than in Europe. When costs fall, consumers in America fail to enjoy the benefits. The global price of jet fuel—one of the biggest costs for airlines—has fallen by half since 2014. That triggered a fare war between European carriers, but in America ticket prices have hardly budged. Airlines in North America posted a profit of $22.40 per passenger last year; in Europe the figure was $7.84.
美国每座英里（per seat mile）机票价格要高于欧洲。成本下降时，美国消费者没并有享受到好处。自2014年以来，全球航空燃油的价格（航空公司最大的成本之一）下降了一半。这引发了欧洲航空公司之间的价格战，但美国的票价却几乎没有变动。去年，北美航空公司的客均利润为22.40美元，而欧洲公司的数字仅为7.84美元。

fare n.费用
jet n.飞机
fuel n.燃油
trigger v.引发 (cause)
- Smoke triggered the fire alarm.
budge v.移动，改变 (move slightly, chage opinion or decision)
- The horse refused to budge.

Standards of service are also worse. Only one operator based in America can be found in the world’s 30 best carriers, as rated by Skytrax, an aviation website, compared with nine from Europe. When Ryanair, currently Europe’s largest and cheapest airline, cut service to the bone, it began to lose customers and money. That prompted it to perform a U-turn and be “nicer” to customers, in order to protect its market share from rivals like easyJet, Wizz Air and Norwegian.
美国的服务水平也比较差。在航空评级网站Skytrax评定的全球最佳30家航空公司中，美国只有1家，欧洲则占了9家。瑞安航空（Ryanair）是目前欧洲最大的廉价航空公司。它曾大幅削减服务，结果客源便开始流失并出现亏损。这促使瑞安航空彻底转变，更善待乘客，以保护自己的市场份额免遭易捷航空（easyJet）、Wizz Air和挪威航空（Norwegian）等竞争对手的抢夺。

aviation n.航空
prompt v.促使，导致 （cause）
- Curiosity prompted her to ask a few questions.
U-turn n.掉头

This happy combination of low fares and reasonable service has a simple explanation: competition. American policymakers have presided over a wave of mergers in the past few years. The biggest four carriers in America between them now control 80% of the market, compared with just 48% a decade ago. Warren Buffett, a man who knows an oligopoly when he sees one, bought nearly $10bn-worth of airline stock in 2016. In Europe, where the top four carriers have around 45% of the market, policymakers have got three things right.
这种低票价和合理服务的愉快结合有一个简单的理由：竞争。过去几年里，美国的政策制定者主导了一轮并购浪潮。目前，美国最大的四家航空公司控制了80%的市场，10年前这个数字仅为48%。巴菲特很善于发现寡头垄断，2016年，他买入了价值近100亿美元的航空公司股票。在四大航空公司占据大约45%市场份额的欧洲，政策制定者有三件事做得很妥当。

preside v.主导 (to be in charge of something)
merger n.公司合并 (combine 2 or more businesses into one)
oligopoly n.寡头垄断 (a few producers affect but does not control the market)
- monopoly n.独家垄断