金融時報:富豪為何鐘愛私人飛機

富豪為何鐘愛私人飛機

私人飛機是財富的終極象征，遠遠超過了豪宅、豪車或者簡陋的直升飛機。它招致了不滿，然而它也令人迷戀和興奮。

測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識：

convocation召集；正式集會[?k?nv??ke??n]

miscreant惡棍，歹徒[?m?skri?nt]

consignment裝運的貨物[k?n?sa?nm?nt]

legwork外出搜集情況的工作（如新聞采訪、案件調(diào)查等）[?legw?:k]

resentment憤恨，不滿[r??zentm?nt]

The corporate miscreants who keep rock ‘n’ roll excess aloft (660 words)

by Ludovic Hunter-Tilney,January 31, 2015 12:04 pm When the day comes when 1,700 aircraft really do descend on Davos, then the reign of the private jet as the last word in ultra-rich exclusivity will be over.

The skies over Davos were said to have darkened last week as 1,700 private jets delivered the world's elite to its annual convocation. You can picture the moment: a shepherd's child on an Alpine mountain pointing at one, then two, then a vast fleet of hawk-like aircraft materialising with their consignment of power brokers, roaring overhead as the sheep scatter in panic.

But wait. There is a problem with this awesome scene of inequality. The much reported figure of 1,700 jets is a fantasy. Financial journalist Felix Salmon has done the legwork and estimated the actual total to be about 200. So why was the inflated figure so eagerly believed?

The answer lies in the powerful hold of private jet travel on the popular imagination. It is the ultimate symbol of wealth, more so than mansions or limousines or the humble helicopter. It provokes resentment; yet it is also glamorous and exciting. Private jets titillate the non-private jet-flying classes even while offending them. The result is a combustible combination of moralism and desire.

In Sweden outrage runs high at the misuse of corporate jets by directors of the conglomerate, Industrivärden. Families were flown on trips abroad; a plane was sent to Stockholm when an absent-minded industrialist forgot his wallet. The result is one of the biggest corporate scandals in Swedish history. Yet these airborne miscreants were acting in the tradition of a form of transport known for rock 'n' roll extravagance.

It was a private jet that took Led Zeppelin on their wild debauches around the US in the 1970s. It is a private jet to which Kanye West refers when he humblebrags in one of his raps: “I'm sorry I'm in pyjamas but I just got off the PJ.” In these pressurised capsules, normal conventions do not apply. If former Korean Air executive Cho Hyun-ah had erupted in fury about her packet of nuts in such a craft there would have been no outcry. Instead she did so in a commercial airliner and found herself delivering an abject public apology.

Technically, private aircraft obey the rules of international airspace. Practically, they are above the law. The hidden, unsupervised space of the cabin is often sexualised; a British tabloid headline recently had the beleaguered Prince Andrew flying on his billionaire friend's “private ‘sex' jet”. In previous centuries, the carriage occupied a similar role, as the celebrated scene in Madame Bovary when Emma joins her adulterous lover for a daytime assignation in a curtained cab that travels enigmatically through the streets of their provincial town “tossing about like a vessel”.

Mystery surrounds private jets. They use their own airports and fly on separate routes. To add to the enigmatic air, they also perform the peculiar engineering miracle that is flying. Thus as the private jet whisks its plutocratic occupant over continents and through time zones it appears to defy the laws of physics, suspending time and space, disobeying gravity. It is the ultimate expression of superhuman freedom.

If the submarine is the vehicle of choice for Bond villains as they concoct their gargantuan schemes, the private jet is the favoured transport for those who have actually achieved world domination. It mirrors the restless, invisible migration of money around the globe. As the tycoon accelerates upwards in their sleek, steel tube we are reminded of Marx and Engels, who wrote in The Communist Manifesto of the magically transformative properties of capitalism: “All that is solid melts into air.”

The first Learjet came on to the market in the early 1960s. More than 50 years later, can the private jet maintain its mystique? Falling prices are a risk. For $295,000 you can buy a second-hand 1977 model: a sum well within the reach of the ordinary millionaire. When the day comes when 1,700 aircraft really do descend on Davos, then the reign of the private jet as the last word in ultra-rich exclusivity will be over.

The writer is the FT's pop critic.

請根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容，完成以下自測題目：

1.What does the word “limousine” mean in paragraph 3?

A.High-end yachts.

B.Deluxe cars.

C.Space jets.

D.Luxury cruise liner.

答案(1)

2.According to the article, which of the following statements is true?

A.The number of plane used to deliver the world's elite to Davos is much more than 1,700.

B.Private jets don't stand for power and wealth.

C.People tend to believe that the figure of 1,700 jets in Davos was true.

D.Everyone takes that the rich use private jets as granted.

答案(2)

3.Why does the author mention the Sweden directors of the conglomerate and Led Zeppelin ?

A.To criticize that the rich for using the private jets.

B.To emphasis the trend that private jets are symbol of wealth and power.

C.To reveal that the private jets are guilty.

D.To show that the private jets are somehow misused and abused.

答案(3)

4.In paragraph 7 , what characteristic do private jet and carriage share in common?

A.They are both in relevance to sex.

B.They are both like vessels.

C.They are both carriers for the noblemen.

D.They are both symbols of social status.

答案(4)

5.According to the last paragraph, which of the following statement is not true?

A.When 1,700 private jets really do descend on Davos, they won't be the symbol of wealth and power.

B.The price of private jets will always be at high position.

C.One of the risks of buying private jets is that the price and value will shrink.

D.Whether the private could maintain its mystique is doubtful.

答案(5)

* * *

(1)答案：B.Deluxe cars.

解釋：limousine[?l?m?zi:n] 意指豪華的車輛，在第三段可以從文意中判斷出來。

(2)答案：C.People tend to believe that the figure of 1,700 jets in Davos was true.

解釋：文中提到，媒體報道1700架飛機出現(xiàn)在達沃斯年會上，但報道并不真實，卻有很多人信以為真，或者認為理所當然。但使用私人飛機的行為也招致了一些人的不滿，所以并非所有人都認為富豪坐私人飛機這件事是理所當然的。

(3)答案：D.To show that the private jets are somehow misused and abused.

解釋：文中提到瑞典企業(yè)高管、齊柏林飛船樂隊用以展現(xiàn)私人飛機在某些時候被濫用，特別是一些企業(yè)高管模仿?lián)u滾樂隊用飛機聲色犬馬引起眾怒。

(4)答案：A.They are both in relevance to sex.

解釋：第七段中與《包法利夫人》中的馬車并列地提到私人飛機，特別是安德魯王子的飛機，很容易看出兩者都與“性”沾邊的特點。

(5)答案：B.The price of private jets will always be at high position.

解釋：最后一段中作者明確表示出對私人飛機神秘性以及身份象征性的懷疑，畢竟任何這一類的產(chǎn)品都會有價值與價格縮水的問題。所以斷言私人飛機會永遠高端也是欠妥的。