六级英语阅读理解强化题及答案(2)
六级英语阅读理解强化题(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
六级英语阅读理解强化题答案
61.A)。定位 由题干中的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.
详解 推理判断题。本题考查有关纪录片《永不退休的城镇》的理解。由定位句“英国广播公司最近推出一部纪录片《永不退休的城镇》，该纪录片旨在表现通过促使退休人员重回工作岗位来提高国家退休年龄这一政策所带来的影响。片子虽然有趣，但影片制作者们真是杞人忧天了”可知，实际情况是人们到了退休年龄会主动要求继续工作，与这部纪录片所要表达的内容相反，故答案为A)。B)“这部纪录片得到了观众的好评”为过度推断，该段第二句仅指出“片子虽然有趣”，故排除;C)“这部纪录片旨在批评英国糟糕的退休金条款”与D)“这部纪录片反映出目前退休职工重返工作的现象”均未在原文中提及，故排除。
62.D)。定位 由题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.
详解 语义理解题。本题考查代词…it 的指代。定位句提到，而且在禁止年龄歧视规定的驱动下，人们的态度在慢慢改变，这也使之较以往更容易。该段主题为英国劳动力老龄化及其原因，定位句为劳动力老龄化的最后一点原因，故it指代退休后重返工作岗位，故答案为D)。
63.B)。定位 根据题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.
详解 事实细节题。本题考查英国老年劳动者的情况。定位句提到，大多数老年就业者还是坚守在原来的岗位：在超过国家退休年龄的工作者中，63%的人和雇主共事的时间已超过十年。这些人中，超过三分之二的人现在从事兼职，主要从事他们全职时曾做过的工作。换言之，年长的工作者大都很少挑战新类型的工作，故B)为答案。A)“大多数年长的工作者对之前的老板很衷心”为过度推断，故排除;C)“年长的工作者不用缴纳国家工资税”，该段最后一句指出“不用再支付国民保险税”，而非国家工资税，故排除;D)“63%的年长工作者超过退休年龄后继续工作”是对原文内容的曲解，故排除。
64.A)。定位 由题干中的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.
详解 事实细节题。本题考查Christopher Nieper珍视他的半退休员工们的原因。由定位句可知，克里斯多夫很珍视他的半退休员工们，这些人可在短时间内上工而且并不需要全职工作来谋生，A)中的fill in the jobvacancy和in a brief time分别对应原文的be employed和at short notice，故为答案。B)“因为英国劳动力已耗尽”，该段最后一句指出“抛弃了熟练的工人”，而非耗尽了所有的劳动力，故排除;C)“由于经济压力，他们比年轻的劳动力更努力工作”，定位句指出“这些人可在短时间内上工而且并不需要全职工作来谋生”，说明他们经济压力不大，与原文不符，故排除;D)“因为他们的工作时间自由，可以随意安排”为过度推断，故排除。
65.B)。定位 由题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.
详解 推理判断题。定位句指出，临近退休工人的就业率在欧洲是不平衡的，在北部的老年员工就业情况最好。政府的信用级别也与此成正相关。英国的老年劳动力更类似于德国而非意大利，这一点可以证实这个国家的自救措施在起作用。由此可知，英国的老年劳动力的就业情况好于意大利，所以其政府的信用级别要高于意大利，故答案为B)。A)“英国老龄劳动力与意大利类似”与原文不符，故排除;C)“英国的解救措施好于德国”，定位句指出“英国的老龄化劳动力更类似于德国”，故无法判断孰重孰轻，为过度推断，故排除;D) “英国老龄劳动力的就业率高于德国”与原文不符，故排除。
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