專技普考
106年
[導遊人員] 外國語(英語)
第 72 題
📖 題組：
The Tour de France has cycling on many people’s minds, and for luxury travelers, there has never been a better time to tour the world on two wheels. When the 2016 edition of the popular Travel + Leisure Magazine World’s Best Awards came out recently, tour operators were stunned. A little known company that had never appeared in the rankings before took the coveted Number One spot as the World’s Best Tour Operator. Gray & Co. is a high end, 100% custom road and mountain bike (and hike) tour operator out of Canada, created in 2009 by a longtime industry veteran specifically to address the demands of deep-pocketed, experienced travelers who had “been there and done that.” Owner Cari Gray’s forte is finding awesome places to ride, with great scenery, hotels, food, and most of all, fantastic pavement with little traffic. She raves about places that are off of many traveling cyclists’ radar, such as northern Argentina, parts of Australia and the Canary Islands, or Chile’s Atacama desert for mountain biking enthusiasts, all handpicked because of the quality of the cycling. Before running a tour to a new area, she gathers her team of guides, support drivers and mechanics, and does the trip, in advance of paying clients, to make sure everything from road conditions to the hotels is perfect. While it is hard to beat this level of white glove service, Gray & Co. is not alone—the private and bespoke bike vacation business is booming at all sorts of price points. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the entire guided cycling industry, which was pioneered by Butterfield & Robinson, whose slogan is “Slow Down to See the World,” and started taking customers on luxury journeys in 1966. For decades, B&R, as its ultra-loyal fans know it, has been the widely acclaimed, award-winning world leader in luxury scheduled cycling trips, and over the years added hiking, kayaking, sailing and “multi-sport” departures. But they have also vastly grown their bespoke business—so much that it now accounts for at least half their volume. In other words, while B&R is an awesome company, the only thing better than their regular trips is their private trips. They are ranked Number Two in the new Travel + Leisure list (which despite the number of cycling specialists, included tour operators from many other fields).
The Tour de France has cycling on many people’s minds, and for luxury travelers, there has never been a better time to tour the world on two wheels. When the 2016 edition of the popular Travel + Leisure Magazine World’s Best Awards came out recently, tour operators were stunned. A little known company that had never appeared in the rankings before took the coveted Number One spot as the World’s Best Tour Operator. Gray & Co. is a high end, 100% custom road and mountain bike (and hike) tour operator out of Canada, created in 2009 by a longtime industry veteran specifically to address the demands of deep-pocketed, experienced travelers who had “been there and done that.” Owner Cari Gray’s forte is finding awesome places to ride, with great scenery, hotels, food, and most of all, fantastic pavement with little traffic. She raves about places that are off of many traveling cyclists’ radar, such as northern Argentina, parts of Australia and the Canary Islands, or Chile’s Atacama desert for mountain biking enthusiasts, all handpicked because of the quality of the cycling. Before running a tour to a new area, she gathers her team of guides, support drivers and mechanics, and does the trip, in advance of paying clients, to make sure everything from road conditions to the hotels is perfect. While it is hard to beat this level of white glove service, Gray & Co. is not alone—the private and bespoke bike vacation business is booming at all sorts of price points. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the entire guided cycling industry, which was pioneered by Butterfield & Robinson, whose slogan is “Slow Down to See the World,” and started taking customers on luxury journeys in 1966. For decades, B&R, as its ultra-loyal fans know it, has been the widely acclaimed, award-winning world leader in luxury scheduled cycling trips, and over the years added hiking, kayaking, sailing and “multi-sport” departures. But they have also vastly grown their bespoke business—so much that it now accounts for at least half their volume. In other words, while B&R is an awesome company, the only thing better than their regular trips is their private trips. They are ranked Number Two in the new Travel + Leisure list (which despite the number of cycling specialists, included tour operators from many other fields).
What does the word “coveted” mean?
- A generous
- B competitive
- C desired
- D honorable
思路引導 VIP
請觀察這個單字所修飾的對象是「第一名（Number One spot）」。試著思考：在一個全球性的專業評比中，所有的參賽公司對於這個「第一名」的位子，通常會抱持著什麼樣的態度？這個詞放在這裡，是用來強調這個頭銜的什麼特性呢？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
真是令人驚嘆的推理，你果然看穿了真相！
- 真相解析：你精準地鎖定了 coveted 的核心。這個詞的源頭是動詞 covet（垂涎、渴望），在文章中，它無疑是修飾那「世界第一」的寶座。這就好比一樁懸案，所有的線索都指向一個目標：在激烈的旅遊獎項中，首獎就是所有業者都極度渴望、夢寐以求的榮譽。因此，與選項 (C) desired（渴望的）完美匹配，這就是唯一的「真相」！
- 謎題難度：這是一個設定為 medium 的字彙謎題，它巧妙地考驗著偵探們的詞彙理解與邏輯推理能力。即使對關鍵字不甚熟悉，優秀的偵探也能從「競爭排名」與「獎項榮譽」這些確鑿的「證據」中，抽絲剝繭，最終推斷出「受人追捧」的特質。身為偵探，這點程度的謎題是難不倒你的，因為「真相」只有一個！