Question

【題目】The passages below discuss the retirement age．

Passage 1：

In the United States，the financial crisis has left the country with 11 million fewer jobs than Americans need now．No matter how tough the policy ,we are not going to find 11 million new jobs soon．So common sense suggests we should make some decisions about who should come first：older people，who have already worked three or four decades at hard jobs? Or younger people，many just out of school，with fresh skills and ambitions?

The answer is obvious．Older people who would like to retire and would do so if they could afford it should get some help．The right step is to reduce，not increase，the retirement age．As a rough cut，why not make it a law to set a three—year window during which the age for receiving full Social Security benefits would drop to 62——providing a voluntary ,one—time，grab-it-now bonus for leaving work? Let them go home! With a secure pension(退休金)and medical care，they will be happier．Young people who need work will be happier．And there will also be more jobs．With pension security, older people will consume services until the end of their lives．They will become．each and every one，an employer．

Passage 2：

Too many people see longer working lives as a worry rather than an opportunity—and not just because they are going to be chained to their desks．Some worry that there will not be enough jobs to go around．This misunderstanding，known to economists as the“l(fā)ump of labour fallacy(勞動總量固定的謬論)”，was once used to argue that women should stay at home and leave all the jobs for breadwinning males．Now /span>lump-of-labourites say that keeping the old at work would deprive(剝奪)the young of employment．The idea that society can become

better-off by paying more of its citizens to be idle(無所事事的)is clearly ridiculous．On that reasoning，if the retirement age came down to 25 we would all be as rich as Bill Gates．

【1】In Passage 1，one reason for suggesting earlier retirement in the US is the_______

A．tough policy B．stable pension

C．high unemployment D．free medical care

【2】In Passage I，the writer suggests encouraging older people to retire earlier by____________.

A．cutting their pension if they remain at work

B．giving them an extra sum o f money on retiring

C．convincing them that young people need work

D．offering them a bonus each year for three years

【3】Lump-of-laborites believe that____________．

A．young citizens should be better paid

B．the old should leave jobs for the young

C．males should earn bread for the family

D．earlier retirement will lead to a poorer society

【4】What is the author’s attitude towards earlier retirement in Passage 2?

A．Negative． B．Positive．

C．Unconcerned． D．Tolerant．

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】B

【3】B

【4】A

【解析】

試題分析：這兩篇文章主要討論了關于退休年齡的事情，第一篇主要講了美國的退休年齡正在縮短的現(xiàn)象以及原因。第二篇講了人們認為希望得到更長的工作壽命的機會的這種誤解令人擔憂。而經(jīng)濟學家分析了這種原因。

【1】C 推理判斷題，從第一篇文章In the United States，the financial crisis has left the country with 11 million fewer jobs than Americans need now．在美國，經(jīng)濟危機造成了人們獲得了比現(xiàn)在更少的工作機會。說明美國的經(jīng)濟危機造成了高失業(yè)率。故選C。

【2】B 推理判斷題，從第一篇文章中Older people who would like to retire and would do so if they could afford it should get some help．年紀大的人想要退休，也會想這樣做，如果他們負擔得起的人應該得到一些幫助。可以推斷出若提前退休，可以給他們一些額外的退休金，他們就會愿意提前退休。故選B。

【3】B 細節(jié)理解題，從第二篇文章中Now lump-of-labourites say that keeping the old at work would deprive(剝奪)the young of employment．現(xiàn)在lump-of-labourites認為讓老人繼續(xù)工作會剝奪了 （剝奪) 年輕人的就業(yè)。可以說明他們認為老人們應該把工作機會留給年輕人。故選B。

【4】A 推理判斷題，從第二篇文章中The idea that society can become better-off by paying more of its citizens to be idle(無所事事的)is clearly ridiculous．社會可以變得富裕通過支付更多的公民將是無所事事的想法顯然是荒謬的。說明作者認為這種想法是不實際的。所以作者應該對這種主意是消極的、不支持的。故選A。