雅思阅读精选：英旅客圣诞有家归不得

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　　英国想要会见过圣诞节的人可能要注意了，由于入冬以来的持续不断的大学，英国的飞机航班不停的被迫延期。眼看着越来越临近圣诞节了，又传来了不好的消息，英国的飞机航班可能要延期到圣诞节之后了。这究竟是怎么回事，让我们来看看。

　　Amid mounting criticism of Heathrow's responseto the weekend's snowfall, airline passengers weretold to expect delays and flight cancellations"beyond Christmas Day".

　　Snow and ice grounded two thirds of flights atHeathrow yesterday, with Terminals One and Threebecoming so congested that passengers were told to stay away.

　　Only one of the airport's runways was open and staff had cleared just half of the planes'docking bays. All short-haul flights were cancelled.

　　Some travellers faced a fourth night sleeping in terminal buildings in the hope of getting ona plane.

　　As the recriminations began, BAA, the airport's operator, was accused of "chronic under-investment" in the equipment and manpower that could have kept the airport open.

　　Lord Adonis, the former Labour transport secretary, accused the company of makingBritain look like a "Third World country".

　　"BAA needs to get a grip on the situation and the Government should be on its case, notsimply blaming the weather," he said.

　　Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said: "It can't be beyond the wit of man surely to . . .get the planes moving and to have more than one runway going."

　　Philip Hammond, the Transport Secretary, made a statement to the Commons last night,telling MPs he had instructed his officials to work with BAA to ensure that Heathrow would notcome to a halt in future in the event of more heavy snow. As the row intensified, DavidCameron was forced to deny that he had failed to get to grips with the impact of the extremeweather that has paralysed much of the country's transport network.

　　The Prime Minister blamed the "exceptionally severe" conditions.

　　In other developments:

　　* The AA's breakdown service reported its busiest day in its 105-year history, withtemperatures so low that gritting salt was useless. The AA attended 30,000 calls, three timesthe number for a usual Monday

　　* Forecasters predicted record low temperatures on Thursday of -26C. Heathrow wasexpecting a further 5cm of snow last night and Gatwick 10cm

　　* Thousands of Eurostar passengers formed a queue 1.2 miles long as they waited up toseven hours to board trains at St Pancras station

　　* Trains on the East Coast Main Line between London and Leeds and London and York werecancelled. No trains ran between Birmingham New Street and Coventry.

　　BAA, which is controlled by the Spanish company Ferrovial, said yesterday that two thirdsof flights from Heathrow would be cancelled until 6am tomorrow at the earliest.

　　A spokesman said: “Passengers should anticipate further delays and cancellations in thefollowing days and potentially beyond Christmas Day.”

　　The company, which is expected to announce pre-tax profits of nearly ￡1 billion this year,spent just ￡500,000 on equipment to deal with snow and ice.

　　Colin Matthews, its chief executive, will be paid more than ￡1 million in salary, bonuses andpension contributions.

　　Gatwick, which yesterday operated 90 per cent of its flights, spent ￡1 million on new snowploughs this year and will spend a further ￡7 million next year. It has 150 staff working to clearthe snow and ice, compared to 50 snow and ice-clearing specialists at Heathrow.

　　Despite the backlog, flights have been leaving Heathrow less than half full because airportsecurity staff have been clocking off at 10.30pm.

　　In the early hours of Monday morning an Airbus A380, which would normally have 500passengers, left Heathrow with just 200 people on board. Last night agreement was reachedwith airlines that would allow staff to work until midnight.

　　Cardiff airport was closed yesterday while Exeter, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham, LutonBristol and Southampton airports were subject to severe delays.

　　A spokesman for BAA admitted it had failed to invest enough ahead of winter. He said: “Theinvestments that we made were applicable to a typical British winter. Looking forward we aregoing to have to consider what we have.”

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