Question

【題目】The United States estimates that about one out of every 10 people on the planet today is at least 60 years old. By 2050, it’s projected to be one out of 5. This means that not only will there be more old people, but there will be relatively fewer young people to support them.

Professor Richard Lee of the University of California at Berkeley says this aging of the world has a great effect on economics. “Population aging increases the concentration of population in the older ages and therefore it is costly,” he said.

Aging populations consume (消耗) more and produce less. With more people living longer, it could get expensive. But Mr. Lee says with continuing increases in worker productivity and smart planning, it can be manageable.

Societies have different methods for caring for the elderly, but each carries a cost. Generally, there are three types of support. Seniors can live off the wealth they gained when they were younger. They can rely on their family to take care of them, or they can rely on the government.

In industrialized nations, governments created publicly-funded (公共資助的) support systems. These worked relatively well until recent years, when aging population growth in places like the United States and Western Europe began to gradually weaken the systems finances. These nations now face some tough choices. Mr. Lee says the elderly in some of these countries must either receive less money, retire later or increase taxes to make the system continuable.

Most developing nations haven’t built this type of government-funded support, but have instead relied on families to care for their elderly. These nations also generally have a much younger population, which means their situation is not as urgent as more developed nations. But Mr. Lee says that doesn’t mean they can ignore the issue. “Third World countries should give very careful thought to this process, to population aging and how it may affect their economies — now, before population aging even becomes an issue,” he explained.

【1】“Aging” in this text means .

A. there are more young people than old people

B. an increasing number of old people are dying

C. more and more young people are growing old

D. the percentage of old people in the world is increasing

【2】What is Professor Richard Lee’s attitude towards population aging?

A. Indifferent. B. Optimistic.

C. Negative. D. Worried.

【3】The publicly-funded support systems in industrialized nations.

A. are facing the risk of failing

B. have failed to provide support for the old

C. will be replaced by other support systems

D. have greatly affected the nations’ economies

【4】We can infer from the text that developing nations.

A. should prepare for population aging

B. don’t see population aging as an issue

C. are facing urgent situations of population aging

D. have better ways to deal with population aging

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】B

【3】A

【4】A

【解析】

試題分析：本文是一篇新聞，報(bào)道了人口老齡化的問題。講述現(xiàn)在很多國家都出現(xiàn)嚴(yán)重的人口老齡化，Richard Lee教授，表示人口老齡化是可以控制的，同時(shí)，對于發(fā)展中國家而言，在人口老齡化問題到來前要做一定的準(zhǔn)備，比如：進(jìn)行老年人口統(tǒng)計(jì)等等措施。

【1】D細(xì)節(jié)理解題。Aging本意為“老化”，根據(jù)文中第一段This means that not only will there be more old people，可知這里指的是老年人的數(shù)目在不斷增加，故選D。

【2】B推理判斷題。根據(jù)文中第三段，But Mr. Lee says with continuing increases in worker productivity and smart planning, it can be manageable，可知在他看來雖然人口老齡化會消耗更多資源，生產(chǎn)力降低，但是只要提高工作效率和智能規(guī)劃，這些問題是能解決的，推測他的態(tài)度是樂觀的，故選B。

【3】A細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第五段，These nations now face some tough choices，可以知道他們正面臨艱難的選擇，面臨失敗的危險(xiǎn)，故選A。

【4】A細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章最后一段內(nèi)容，可知發(fā)展中國家不能忽視這個(gè)問題，而要為這個(gè)問題到來而做準(zhǔn)備，如統(tǒng)計(jì)老齡人口，擬定計(jì)劃等等，故選A。