Text 4
Penny-pinching consumers and fierce price wars are bad news for the travel industry. Bad, that is, for everyone except the booming online travel giants. Consider the sharp rebound of such online players as Travelocity and Expedia. While they suffered in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, with bookings off as much as 70%0 in the weeks that followed, business has snapped back. "The speed with which those businesses bounced back surprised even the people most bullish about the sector," says Mitchell J. Rubin, a money manager at New York-based Baron Capital, an investor in online travel stocks.
The travel industry’s pain is often the online industry’s gain, as suppliers push more discounted airline seats and hotel rooms to win back customers. And many of those deals are available only online. At the same time, online agencies rely primarily on leisure travelers, where traffic has rebounded more quickly than on the busin
A. Consumers.
B. Online agencies.
C. Airliners.
D. Traditional agencies.
Text 4
Penny-pinching consumers and fierce price wars are bad news for the travel industry. Bad, that is, for everyone except the booming online travel giants. Consider the sharp rebound of such online players as Travelocity and Expedia. While they suffered in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, with bookings off as much as 70%0 in the weeks that followed, business has snapped back. "The speed with which those businesses bounced back surprised even the people most bullish about the sector," says Mitchell J. Rubin, a money manager at New York-based Baron Capital, an investor in online travel stocks.
The travel industry’s pain is often the online industry’s gain, as suppliers push more discounted airline seats and hotel rooms to win back customers. And many of those deals are available only online. At the same time, online agencies rely primarily on leisure travelers, where traffic has rebounded more quickly than on the busin
A. skeptical.
B. doubtful.
C. optimistic.
D. shocked.
Text 2
House-price falls are gathering momentum and are spreading across the UK, according to a monthly poll of surveyors which on Monday delivered its gloomiest reading for nearly 12 years.
Fifty-six per cent of surveyors contacted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported price falls in the three months to October. Only 3 per cent saw prices rise in their area, compared with 58 per cent as recently as May.
There was further evidence of slowing activity in the property market as the number of sales per surveyor dived to a nine-year low. Unsold stock on agents’ books has increased 10 per cent since the summer. Ian Perry, Rics’ national housing spokesman, said it was now very clear that buyers were unsettled by higher interest rates.
The Bank of England raised rates five times to 4.75 per cent over the last year to cool the property boom.
But he also blamed comments by Mervyn King, the Bank’s governor,
A. the number of houses sold by each agent is the lowest in history.
B. the house market is bound to suffer because of the high interest rates.
C. both Mr. King and the media worried too much over the price falls.
D. the Bank and the media are helping push the house prices further down.
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