進入英語學習論壇下載音頻 去聽寫專區一展身手

A total of 124 bus drivers in Nujiang Lisu autonomous prefecture of Southwest China's Yunnan province continued their strike on Monday in protest over a reform imposed by the local transportation company.

Drivers started their strike last Thursday in response to the reform pushed forward by the prefecture's transportation group.

Prior to the reform, drivers had ownership of the buses and affiliated themselves with the company. The reform is now pushing drivers to sell their vehicles to the company and then take out a contract for operational rights, according to local media reports.

The drivers consider the amount they are being offered for the buses to be too low. The arrangement would also require them to pay high management fees as well as to renew their contracts every two years, local drivers said.

Zhao Ziwen, a 44-year-old driver and the owner of two buses, said most of his colleagues had faced a long and winding road in their battle and were dissatisfied with the amount being offered by the company for their vehicles.

According to Zhao, the company unilaterally determines the value of each driver's vehicle by dividing the factory price of the bus by the number of years it has been on the road.

"We don't want to make trouble," Zhao said, "But we have spent more than 100,000 yuan ($14,650) of hard-earned money on a bus. Who can bear the loss of selling it at 30,000 yuan?"

Another reason for the strike is the cost of management fees, totaling 5,000 to 6,000 yuan a month, while drivers' operational rights have not been protected and numerous unlicensed buses illegally siphon off their passengers, Beijing News reported on Monday.

Negotiations mediated by local traffic authorities made some headway over the weekend, when the company agreed to return the drivers' money after contracts are signed.

Questions:

1. What province is the strike taking place in?

2. How may bus drivers are on strike?

3. How much are the management fees?

Answers:

1. Yunnan.

2. 124.

3. 5,000 to 6,000 yuan.

去聽寫專區一展身手

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.