考研英语真题阅读理解试题及名师解析(17) 英语真题阅读理解试题及名师解析( 17) In recent years, railroads have bining with eac h other, merging into supersystems, causing heightened concerns about monopoly. As recently as 1995, the top four railroads accounted for under 70 percent of the total ton-miles moved by rails. Next year, after a series of mergers pleted, just four railroads wil l control well over 90 percent of all the freight moved by major rail carriers. Supporters of the new supersystems argue that these merger s will allow for substantial cost reductions and better coordinated service. Any threat of monopoly, they argue, is removed by petition from trucks. But many plain that for heavy modities traveling long distances, such as coal, chemicals, and grain, trucking is too costly and the railroads therefore have them by the throat. The vast consolidation within the rail industry means tha t most shippers are served by only one pany. Railroad s typically charge such “ captive ” shippers 20 to 30 percent more than they do when another railroad peting for the business. 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. Railroads justify rate discrimination against captive shippers on the grounds that in the long run it reduces