The Spring Festival travel - the world s largest movement of people - grew even larger this year with a record 23.23 billion trips reported during the 40-day rush that ended yesterday. Railway officials said 187 million passengers traveled by train during those 40 days, up 10.6 percent year-on-year. On average, 4.8 million people took a train trip on each of those days. The biggest surge was on Feb 14, Valentine s Day, when 5.93 million people traveled by train, setting a record, according to Ministry of Railways spokesman Wang Yongping. Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said 25.72 million people traveled by air in the 40 days, up 19 percent over last year.www.100test.com And the Ministry of Transport said 2.11 billion bus trips were made in the period, too, up 4.6 percent. The country s busiest travel period is generally a big test to the transport systems. Last year, severe blizzards paralyzed some north-south railways and expressways, and left tens of thousands of people stranded just before the Chinese New Year. Despite the absence of snowstorms this year, the railway network faced public criticism after many found it was extremely difficult to secure train tickets during the travel rush. Some angry people even uploaded video clips to YouTube that showed a suspected scalper selling overpriced tickets inside a railway station. The situation prompted President Hu Jintao to order the ministry to ensure tickets go to those who need them.www.100test.com The ministry had asked all railway stations to display the number of available tickets, and that policy may go on, Wang said. During the rush, train tickets were sold around the clock. The railway police also cracked down on 12,421 scalpers and seized 88,384 tickets. But the core problem lies in the system s limited capacity, he said. "Only after China s railway length reaches 110,000 km by 2012 will buying a ticket in the travel rush be easier," he said. At least five high-speed railways will be completed and put into operation this year. The huge traffic flow, however, was good news for domestic airlines. "Last year was the worst year for us since 2003 when the SARS broke out," Air China Chairman Kong Dong said yesterday. But things turned around in January, when the number of passengers increased by 22.6 percent, he said. He didn t reveal the actual number. 更多链接： 四六级机考与笔试差异评析 2009年四六级考试时间及流程详解 08年12月四六级成绩2月24日发布