航空业并购时代？

It's also been a big week for more attempted airline buyouts. Air France-KLM, the result of a 2004 merger¹ between two French and Dutch airlines into Europe's biggest airline, has begun talks to buy Alitalia, which is half owned by the Italian government. Labor² trouble and competition from low-cost airlines have prevented Alitalia from making a profit in eight years, and the share price of both Air France-KLM and Alitalia fell on the news of the talks. Australian investment bank Macquarie and the US private equity³ firm Texas Pacific put together an offer that may be above $7 billion for Australia's Quantas Airlines. The Australian government said that they would not allow foreign ownership of of their national airline. The increased number of offers for airline buyouts made some wonder whether British Airways⁴ would become the next takeover target.

1 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

4 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。