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Female employees consistently pay lower airfares than men do for the same flights because they tend to book earlier.

We compared the airfare paid by employees in the same position within a company for the same class of travel and used a common statistical technique to account for other factors that might affect differences in airfares.We found that women paid on average $18 less per ticket than their male colleagues.Further investigation allowed us to conclude that this gap is largely explained by the fact that women tended to book earlier than men,1.8 days on average.

We wanted to determine what was causing these gender differences in booking business trips so we tested a variety of possible explanations,such as women choosing to plan ahead or male frequent travelers being inclined to book late.None of these explained away the gender gap,so we applied data collected from surveys that express consumer preferences that play a central role in economic decisions,such as patience and risk avoidance.

We found that only the concept of "negative reciprocity"-in which an employee who feels unfairly treated engages in negative behaviors,such as spending their company's money less carefully-explains these differences.The surveys showed men tend to exhibit more of these negative behaviors than women.This isn't to say that all men engage in these behaviors—or that booking relatively late is a sign of abnormal behavior.It only means that the gender gap disappears when we plug in the negative reciprocity variable.

Prior research on negative reciprocity among workers found that it can result in lower employee motivation, business performance and workplace morale (士气)and culture.

Our results show another way these negative behaviors can manifest themselves,like in airline bookings, and add to evidence that women are less likely to engage in them.

Companies spend significant sums of money on business travel.While that $18 difference per ticket may seem small,it adds up.Our analysis suggests early booking by women can translate into savings of $1 million a year for a large multinational company with 20,000 regular travelers.

1.1.What did the author's team conclude about the gender difference in airfares from their further investigation?

A It is largely attributed to women booking earlier than men.

B It is largely explained by women's choosing cheaper flights.

C It is mainly accounted for by male employees'readiness to pay more.

D It is due to the fact that women care more about their company's money.

解析：选A。A细节理解题。根据题干关键词author's team conclude和from their further investigation可以将答案定位到第二段最后一句。第二段最后一句指出，通过进一步调查，我们得出结论:造成这种差距的主要原因是女性往往比男性更早预订机票，平均早1.8天。由此可知，选项A正确。

2.2.What did the researchers want to determine by testing a variety of possible explanations?

A What made male frequent travelers book air tickets late.

B What caused women to plan ahead in booking business trips.

C What motivated women to book cheaper flights.

D What accounted for the gender gap in airfares.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据题干关键词testing a variety of possible explanations可以将答案定位到第三段第一句。第三段第一句指出，我们想确定是什么造成了在预订商务行程方面的这些性别差异，所以我们测试了各种可能的解释，例如女性选择提前计划或者经常出差的男性倾向于较晚预订机票。由此可知，研究人员想确定是什么造成了机票价格的性别差异，故选项D正确。

3.3.What happened when the negative reciprocity variable was taken into account?

A Both men and women were found to engage in negative behaviors.

B Neither men nor women viewed booking late as a bad behavior.

C The gender difference in airfare expenses no longer existed.

D The gender gap tended to narrow to a significant degree.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据题干关键词the negative reciprocity variable was taken into account可以将答案定位到第四段最后一句。题干中的was taken into account与原文中的plug in是同义替换。第四段最后一句指出，这只意味着当我们插入消极互惠的变量时，性别差距就消失了。由此可知，当考虑消极互惠变量时，机票价格的性别差异就不复存在了，故选项C正确。

4.4.What did prior research on negative reciprocity among workers find?

A It can do more harm to the workplace than to employees.

B It contributes to the male-female divide in the workplace.

C It proves to be counterproductive in a number of ways.

D It can result in increasing labor-management conflicts.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据题干关键词prior research on negative reciprocity among workers可以将答案定位到第五段。第五段指出，之前针对员工之间消极互惠的研究发现，它可能会导致员工的积极性下降，业务绩效降低工作场所士气和文化低落。由此可知，消极互惠在很多方面都会产生不良影响，让事情适得其反，故选项C正确。

5.5.What does the author emphasize about their analysis in the last paragraph?

A It can help companies increase their savings significantly.

B It can duly contribute to companies'business performance.

C It can translate women's booking practice into men's behavior.

D It can enhance large multinational companies'competitiveness.

解析：选A。A 推理判断题。根据题干关键词analysis in the last paragraph可以将答案定位到最后一段末句。最后一段末句指出，我们的分析表明，对于一家拥有2万名需要经常出差的员工的大型跨国公司来说，女性提前预订机票每年可以为公司节省100万美元。由此可知，作者强调，他们的分析可以帮公司节省一大笔钱，故选项A正确。