六級(jí)英語閱讀理解強(qiáng)化題(二)

　　A recent BBC documentary, The Town That Never Retired, sought to show the effects ofincreasing the state pension age by putting retirees back to work.

　　Although the results were entertaining, they need not have bothered. Away from thecameras, unprecedented numbers of older people are staying in work .Since the start of therecession that began in 2008, the number of 16-to 24-year-olds in work has fallen by 597,000.Over the same period the number of workers over the age of 65 has increased by 240 o000.

　　The graying of the British workforce dates back to around 2001, since when theproportion of older people working has nearly doubled. But it has accelerated since the start ofthe recession. There are several reasons why. Happily, people are living longer and healthierlives, which makes staying in work less daunting than it was. Less happily, low interest rates, astagnant stock market and the end of many defined-benefit ( 固定收益 ) pension schemesmake it a financial necessity. And changing attitudes ,spurred by rules against agediscrimination, are making it easier than ever.

　　Most older workers are simply hanging on at the office: 63% of workers over state pensionage have been with their employer for more than ten years. Over two-thirds of them work part-time, mostly doing jobs that they once performed full-time. A big advantage is that they donot pay national insurance contributions effectively a second income tax on younger workers.

　　According to Stephen McNair, director of the Centre for Research into the Older Workforce,this flexibility explains why older workers have not suffered so much in the slump. Instead ofslashing the workforce, as in previous recessions, many firms have halted recruitment and cutworking hours. At small businesses in particular, keeping on older workers is cheaper and lessrisky than training replacements. Over half of workers over state pension age work forbusinesses with fewer than 25 employees.

　　Christopher Nipper, who owns David Nipper, a womens wear manufacturer based inDerbyshire, prizes his semi-retired workers, who can be employed at short notice and do notneed to work full-time to survive. Retired machinists can fill in if there is a surge in orders;former sales advisers can work as part-time consultants. As his competitors have movedproduction abroad, depleting the pool of trained labour,retaining older workers and their skillshas become even more important.

　　There is scope for the older workforce to expand. Workers over the age of 50 who aremade unemployed find it harder to pick up new jobs, which could mean that more oldsters wantto work than are able to. That would be good. The Office for Budget Responsibility, the fiscalwatchdog, reported on July 12th that an ageing, unproductive population is the biggestlong-term threat to Britain's economic health.

　　Data from the OECD, a think-tank, shows that employment rates among workersapproaching retirement age are split in Europe, with old workers hanging on best in the north.Government credit ratings follow a similar pattern. That Britain's ageing workforce more closelyresembles Germany's than Italy's could prove the country's salvation(拯救).

　　61. Which of the following can be inferred from the BBC documentary The Town ThatNever Retired?

　　A) What it intends to reveal is contrary to the reality.

　　B) It has received good comments from audience.

　　C) It aims to criticize the poor pension provision in the UK.

　　D) It reflects the current phenomenon of retirees coming back to work.

　　62. According to the passage, "it" ( Line 6, Para. 2 ) refers to__________.

　　A) age discrimination

　　B) the changing attitude

　　C) a financial necessity

　　D) staying in work after retiring

　　63. According to Paragraph 3, which of the following is TRUE about the older workers in theUK?

　　A) Most of them are loyal to their former employers.

　　B) Most of them rarely challenge themselves by seeking new types of jobs.

　　C) They do not have to pay national income tax.

　　D) 63% of them continue to work over the retirement age.

　　64. According to Christopher Nieper, why are semi-retired workers favored in hiring?

　　A) Because they can fill in the job vacancy in a brief time.

　　B) Because the pool of labour in the UK is drained.

　　C) Because they work harder than the yoking because of economic pressure.

　　D) Because their working hours can be as flexible as they want.

　　65. It can be concluded from the last paragraph that __________.

　　A) Britain's ageing workforce is similar to Italy's

　　B) Britain's credit ratings are higher than Italy's

　　C) Britain's salvation is better than Germany's

　　D) Britain's employment rates of ageing workforce are higher than Germany's

　　六級(jí)英語閱讀理解強(qiáng)化題答案

　　61.A)。定位 由題干中的BBC documentary，The Town That Never Retired定位到第一段第一、二句：A recent BBC documentary，The Town That Never Retired，sought to show the effectsof increasing the state pension age by putting retirees back to work.Although the results wereentertaining，they need not have bothered.

　　詳解 推理判斷題。本題考查有關(guān)紀(jì)錄片《永不退休的城鎮(zhèn)》的理解。由定位句“英國廣播公司最近推出一部紀(jì)錄片《永不退休的城鎮(zhèn)》，該紀(jì)錄片旨在表現(xiàn)通過促使退休人員重回工作崗位來提高國家退休年齡這一政策所帶來的影響。片子雖然有趣，但影片制作者們真是杞人憂天了”可知，實(shí)際情況是人們到了退休年齡會(huì)主動(dòng)要求繼續(xù)工作，與這部紀(jì)錄片所要表達(dá)的內(nèi)容相反，故答案為A)。B)“這部紀(jì)錄片得到了觀眾的好評(píng)”為過度推斷，該段第二句僅指出“片子雖然有趣”，故排除;C)“這部紀(jì)錄片旨在批評(píng)英國糟糕的退休金條款”與D)“這部紀(jì)錄片反映出目前退休職工重返工作的現(xiàn)象”均未在原文中提及，故排除。

　　62.D)。定位 由題干定位到第二段最后一句：And changing attitudes，spurred by rules againstage discrimination，are making it easier than ever.

　　詳解 語義理解題。本題考查代詞…it 的指代。定位句提到，而且在禁止年齡歧視規(guī)定的驅(qū)動(dòng)下，人們的態(tài)度在慢慢改變，這也使之較以往更容易。該段主題為英國勞動(dòng)力老齡化及其原因，定位句為勞動(dòng)力老齡化的最后一點(diǎn)原因，故it指代退休后重返工作崗位，故答案為D)。

　　63.B)。定位 根據(jù)題干定位到第三段第一、二句：Most older workers are simply hanging on atthe office：63% of workers over state pension age have been with their employer for more thanten years.Over two—thirds of them work part-time，mostly doing jobs that they onceperformed full-time.

　　詳解 事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。本題考查英國老年勞動(dòng)者的情況。定位句提到，大多數(shù)老年就業(yè)者還是堅(jiān)守在原來的崗位：在超過國家退休年齡的工作者中，63%的人和雇主共事的時(shí)間已超過十年。這些人中，超過三分之二的人現(xiàn)在從事兼職，主要從事他們?nèi)殨r(shí)曾做過的工作。換言之，年長的工作者大都很少挑戰(zhàn)新類型的工作，故B)為答案。A)“大多數(shù)年長的工作者對(duì)之前的老板很衷心”為過度推斷，故排除;C)“年長的工作者不用繳納國家工資稅”，該段最后一句指出“不用再支付國民保險(xiǎn)稅”，而非國家工資稅，故排除;D)“63%的年長工作者超過退休年齡后繼續(xù)工作”是對(duì)原文內(nèi)容的曲解，故排除。

　　64.A)。定位 由題干中的Christopher Nieper和semi-retired workers定位到第五段第一句：Christopher Nieper，who owns David Nieper，a womenswear manufacturer based inDerbyshire，prizes his semi—retired workers.who Can be employed at short notice and do notneed to work full—time to survive.Retired machinists call fill in if there is a surge in orders.

　　詳解 事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。本題考查Christopher Nieper珍視他的半退休員工們的原因。由定位句可知，克里斯多夫很珍視他的半退休員工們，這些人可在短時(shí)間內(nèi)上工而且并不需要全職工作來謀生，A)中的fill in the jobvacancy和in a brief time分別對(duì)應(yīng)原文的be employed和at short notice，故為答案。B)“因?yàn)橛鴦趧?dòng)力已耗盡”，該段最后一句指出“拋棄了熟練的工人”，而非耗盡了所有的勞動(dòng)力，故排除;C)“由于經(jīng)濟(jì)壓力，他們比年輕的勞動(dòng)力更努力工作”，定位句指出“這些人可在短時(shí)間內(nèi)上工而且并不需要全職工作來謀生”，說明他們經(jīng)濟(jì)壓力不大，與原文不符，故排除;D)“因?yàn)樗麄兊墓ぷ鲿r(shí)間自由，可以隨意安排”為過度推斷，故排除。

　　65.B)。定位 由題干提示定位到最后一段.：……shows that employment rates among workersapproaching retirement age are split in Europe，with old workers hanging Oil best in thenorth.Government credit ratings follow a similar pattern.That Britain’s ageing workforcemore closely resembles Germany’s than Italy’s could prove the country’s salvation.

　　詳解 推理判斷題。定位句指出，臨近退休工人的就業(yè)率在歐洲是不平衡的，在北部的老年員工就業(yè)情況最好。政府的信用級(jí)別也與此成正相關(guān)。英國的老年勞動(dòng)力更類似于德國而非意大利，這一點(diǎn)可以證實(shí)這個(gè)國家的自救措施在起作用。由此可知，英國的老年勞動(dòng)力的就業(yè)情況好于意大利，所以其政府的信用級(jí)別要高于意大利，故答案為B)。A)“英國老齡勞動(dòng)力與意大利類似”與原文不符，故排除;C)“英國的解救措施好于德國”，定位句指出“英國的老齡化勞動(dòng)力更類似于德國”，故無法判斷孰重孰輕，為過度推斷，故排除;D) “英國老齡勞動(dòng)力的就業(yè)率高于德國”與原文不符，故排除。

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