BEC剑桥英语高级 Test 3, Reading Part 5

Part 5 About a successful airline.

Executives at Fastline, now one of the country's largest airlines, were in optimistic mood at the press conference they held yesterday afternoon. They announced that they were **in a position to revise the company's full-year profits forecast sharply upwards as a result of an exceptionally strong performance over the last nine months. Profits during this period rose by nearly 50 per cent in comparison with the same period last year. The company feels confident that this performance will continue throughout the remainder of the year. It is expected that there will be a 40 per cent increase in profits for the full year compared with the 15 per cent that had been indicated ** by the half-year stage.

这个国家最大的航空公司之一的行政人员，在昨天下午举办的一个发布会上都有一个乐观的心情。他们宣布:得益于过去9个月异常强势的表现，他们需要把公司全年利润预测急剧提高。和全年同期相比，今年在这段时间利润上涨接近50%。公司全员对公司在今年剩下的时间里的表现充满自信。通过半年阶段的15%的增长比较，公司期待在全年的利润增长将达到40%。

During the year, rather than raise its fares as most other airlines did in response to higher fuel costs, Fastline stuck to its decision to keep fares at the same level as last year. This must account to some extend for the significant rise not only in the number of passengers booked on flights, but also in the amount of freight carried.

在这一年里，由于燃油费用的提高，公司不像其他航空公司一样提高了机票的价格，Fastline坚持他的机票价格维持在去年同期水平。这必须要考虑到不仅在航班上预定乘客的数量，而且考虑到一定数量的载货量。

The airline has also confirmed that it is in negotiations with another airline to sell the whole of its 20 per cent holding in Border Air. However, executives are refusing to reveal the name of the interested party until a definite agreement is reached.

这家公司也确认他们正在跟另一家航空公司谈判，准备出售其拥有的Border Air的20%股份。然而，公司负责人拒绝泄露感兴趣的一方的名字，直到确定的合同签署。