Airlines have long carried freight alongside passengers, but it never made sense to use their planes exclusively for cargo. That changed in March. As companies eliminated thousands of flights, cargo space became scarce and the price of sending goods by plane shot up, creating an economic case for repurposing idled passenger planes.

思考题：

The pandemic has forced airlines to ___.

A. use passenger planes solely for the cargo

B. carry cargo side by side with passengers

C. explore new air routes for carrying cargo

D. lower the charge for transporting cargo

Willingham explained that whether or not readers understand a text depends far more on how much background knowledge and vocabulary they have relating to the topic than on how much they’ve practiced comprehension skills.

威林厄姆解释说，读者是否理解一篇文章，更多地取决于他们有多少与主题相关的背景知识和词汇，而不是他们训练了多少理解能力。

这就是每日一句的意义

词汇突破：

Airlines 航空公司

freight 货物

exclusively 只...

cargo 货物

eliminate 取消

flights 航班,

scarce 稀缺

shot up上涨

repurpose 改动，修改

idled 闲置的

passenger planes 客机

made sense 行得通

句子解析：

句：

Airlines have long carried freight alongside passengers, but it(形式主语) never made sense /to use their planes exclusively for cargo(主语).

参考译文：长期以来，航空公司都会在客运的同时运送货物，但专门把飞机用于货运从来都行不通。

第二句：

That changed in March.

参考译文：情况在三月份发生了变化。

第三句：

As companies eliminated thousands of flights,(状语，因为) cargo space became scarce and the price of sending goods by plane shot up, (主干)creating an economic case for repurposing idled passenger planes.(状语)

参考译文：随着航空公司取消数千次航班，货运空间变得稀缺，航空货运价格飙升，让重新利用闲置客机有了经济上的理据。

思考题解析：

A. use passenger planes solely for the cargo

(使用专为货物而设的客机)

A选项正确。

B. carry cargo side by side with passengers

(让货物与乘客并肩运输)

B选项错误。

C. explore new air routes for carrying cargo

(开辟新的货运航线)

C选项错误。

D. lower the charge for transporting cargo

(降低货运价格)

D选项错误。

文章来源背景和来源：

As Passengers Disappeared, Airlines Filled Planes With Cargo

乘客消失，航空公司在飞机上装满货物

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/business/coronavirus-airlines-cargo-passengers.html

背景：疫情期间出行需求的崩溃令航空业面临空前压力，各大航空公司不得不通过减薪、大规模裁员、举债甚至是申请破产来应对危机。危急情势之中也有一丝转机，油价的下降和医疗物资的跨境运输需求令客机转货运成为不少航空公司当前的主要业务。以前航空公司一直也会在载人的同时运输货物，但并不会用客舱放置货品。虽然德国汉莎航空十几年前就曾试验过让穿舱返航的客机运载货物，但却最终发现每天让工作人员撤掉座位再装上并没有什么经济价值，反而影响了员工士气。可今时不同往日，低油价和特定物资的紧急需求一方面大大降低了运输成本，另一方面推高了航空货运的价格，4月份的平均价格为每公斤3.63美元，比3月份上涨65%，不仅是史上最 高价，也打破了单月涨幅的记录。这些因素综合起来，让客机货运成了目前航空业最划算的自我改造。