ity in peak seasons.
Turning to cost, I am not sure to which Merrill Larrych study you are referri ng, but it would be simplistic to compare seat-mile costs of narrow-body operati on over U. S. domestic sectors with wide-body operation over international secto rs; comparative studies of seat-mile costs are valid only if they compare simila r aircraft operating over identical sectors. On this basis, International Civil Aviation Organization figures show that Asian carriers are highly competitive. O f course, given its operating environment Japan Air Lines will have high seat-mi le costs, while a carrier based in Southeast Asia, such as Singapore Airlines, w ill have relatively low costs. But it is a fallacy to assume this means ‘higher ticket prices or higher taxes’ for the ‘hapless Asian air traveller’ if he travels on JAL.
The Japanese carriers have to compete in the Asian marketplace with others, and costs cannot simply be passed on to the consumer or taxpayer. The people wh o really pay the price or reap the reward of differing cost levels are the share holders.
(RICHARD. T. STIRLAND
Director General 1999年专业英语八级考试真题
来源：考试大 【有了考试大，考遍全天下】 1999年4月16日
TEXT I
First read the questions.
35. Today’s computers can process data ___ times faster than the 1952 model, ILLIAC.
A. 4 B. 100 C. 200 D. 4, 000
36. NCSA aims to develop ___.
A. a new Internet browser
B. a more powerful national system
C. human-computer intelligence interaction
D. a new global network
Now go through TEXT I quickly to answer questions 35 and 36.
URBANA, Illinois. Welcome to Cyber City, USA, where scientists are developi ng the next-generation Internet and leading ground-breaking research in artifici al intelligence. The University of Illinois at Urbana, which has a student body of 36,100, has
