07年6月英语六级考试模拟试卷（九）

出处：Examlink收集整理作者：王志南日期：2007年05月16日 13时19分

Passage Three

　　Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

　　Polls can provide important guidance for politicians, but there are times when it is foolish and dangerous to rely on a temporarily misinformed public for a political compass. The current debate over Social Security provides one of the most compelling examples in modern history of the pitfalls of poll-driven political strategy.

　　Yesterday two leading Democratic strategists publicly took their party to task for their"just say no" approach to President Bush's program. "To say there is no problem simply puts Democrats out of the conversation for the great majority of the country that want political leaders to secure this very important retirement program," they warned, "Voters are looking for reform, change, and new ideas, but Democrats seem stuck in concrete."

　　Stuck, indeed. To be more exact, they are holding their ground and refusing to surrender to a president who is once again manufacturing a "crisis" for a political purpose. And why should they do otherwise, when this strategy is clearly working?

　　Let's start with the facts. According to President Bush, Social Security can pay all promised benefits for the next 37 years without any changes at all. Even if nothing were done by 2043, the program would still pay a higher real benefit than what people receive today.

　　And even looking into the future of the 75-year planning period, the shortfall is less than what we fixed in the '50s, '60s, and '80s. In other words, Social Security is financially stronger today than it has been throughout most of its history.

　　So this attack on Social Security has nothing to do with the solvency (偿付能力) of the program. Nonetheless last week, a Quinnipiac University poll found that respondents, by a 49 to 42 percent margin, believed that Social Security would not be able to pay them a benefit when they retire. But this is a ridiculous idea, based completely on misinformation. It is even more far fetched（牵强的） than the notion, which also commanded a majority before the invasion of Iraq, that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the massacre of 9/11.

　　In the case of Social Security, there is no dispute about the facts. There are just a few cheap verbal and accounting tricks that have been used to convince the public that Social Security faces serious problems. These are easily refuted.

　　The same Quinnipiac poll showed that 59 percent of Americans disapprove of the way the president is handling Social Security, with only 28 percent approving. It makes no political sense to pretend that this attack on our nation's most successful and popular government program is actually an attempt to insure its solvency. Even in politics, there are times when honesty is the best policy.

　　31. What can we know about the Democrats, according to the author?

　　A) They want to help secure the retirement program.

　　B) They refuse to admit that the Social Security program has been successful.

　　C) They are making efforts to solve the crisis of the Social Security program.

　　D) They organize polls in order to gain political interests.

　　32. The author raise the example of Saddam Hussein in order to show that .

　　A) the invasion of Iraq represented the wills of common people

　　B) no evidence had come up to prove the relationship between Saddam Hussein and the massacre of 9/11

　　C) sometimes the public without proper information will draw foolish conclusions

　　D) it was wrong for the government to rely on the public for important political decisions

　　33. According to the author, which of the following is correct?

　　A) There is no point in worrying about the solvency of the Social Security program.

　　B) The majority of the public will accept the Social Security program in the near future.

　　C) Only the baby boomers should worry about the future days when they grow old.

　　D) The Democrats attack the Social Security program in order to question its solvency.

　　34. By saying "honesty is the best policy", the author seems to disapprove of .

　　A) the Quinnipiac University who organized the poll

　　B) the Bush administration who initiated the Social Security program

　　C) the ill-informed public who worried about their future

　　D) those Democrats who wanted to gain political interests through this incident

　　35. The best title for this passage should be.

　　A) Time to Reconsider Social Security

　　B) Let's be Honest about Social Security

　　C) Social Security is an Illusion

　　D) Embrace the Bright Future of Social Security

　　Passage Four

　　Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

　　"When more and more people are thrown out of work, unemployment results," Calvin Coolidge once observed. As the U. S. economy crumbles, Coolidges silly maxim might appear to be as apt as ever: the number of unemploymentinsurance claims is rising, and overall joblessness is creeping upward. But in today's vast and complex labor market, things aren't always what they seem. More and more people are indeed losing their jobs but not necessarily because the economy appears to be in recession. And old-fashioned unemployment isn't the inevitable result of job loss. New work, at less pay, often is.

　　Call it new-wave unemployment: structural changes in the economy are overlapping the business downturn, giving joblessness a grim new twist. Small wonder that the U. S. unemployment rate is rising. Now at 5.7 percent, it is widely expected to edge toward 7 percent by the end of next year. But statistics alone can't fully capture a complex reality. The unemployment rate has been held down by slow growth in the labor force-the number of people working or looking for work-since few people sense attractive job opportunities in a weak economy. In addition, many more people are losing their jobs than are actually ending up unemployed. Faced with hungry mouths to feed, thousands of women, for example, are taking two or more part-time positions or agreeing to shave the hours they work in service-sector jobs. For better and for worse, work in America clearly isn't what it used to be. Now unemployment isn't, either.

　　Like sour old wine in new bottles, this downturn blends a little of the old and the new reflecting a decade's worth of change in the dynamic U. S. economy. Yet, in many respects the decline is following the classic pattern, with new layoffs concentrated among blue-collar workers in the most "cyclical" (循环的) industries, whose ups and downs track the economy most closely.

　　As the downturn attracts attention on workers-ill fortunes, some analysts predict that political upheaval (动乱) may lie ahead. Real wages for the average U. S. worker peaked in 1973 and have been falling almost ever since. As a result, a growing group of downwardly mobile Americans could soon begin pressing policymakers to help produce better-paying jobs. Just how loud the outcry becomes will depend partly on the course of the recession. But in the long run, there's little doubt that the bleak outlook for jobs and joblessness is "politically, socially and psychologically dynamite (具有爆炸性的)".

　　36. Why does the author refer to Coolidge's maxim as silly?

　　A) More and more people are applying for unemployment insurance.

　　B) Unemployment rate is not likely to rise quickly nowadays.

　　C) Losing jobs doesn't necessarily lead to unemployment.

　　D) Today's labor market is much too complicated than Coolidge's time.

　　37. According to the passage, the unemployment rate has been kept under limits because .

　　A) the number of the people in the work force slowly increases

　　B) very few people really lose their original jobs

　　C) less and less people are out finding new jobs

　　D) the government has taken strong measures to control the unemployment rate

　　38. According to the passage, under the great pressure of life, many women .

　　A) will do a part-time job along with the full-time job

　　B) would rather stay at home than apply for a part-time position

　　C) would be fired if they can not finish the job quickly

　　D) will agree to have their working hours shortened if required

　　39. The present downturn is similar to traditional ones in that .

　　A) we can never predict which way the economy will head

　　B) the economic prospects have been unfavorable for 10 years

　　C) the government has done relatively little to intervene the market

　　D) physical laborers are the chief victims of the economic decline

　　40. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

　　A) Blue-collar workers are given less and less wages in recent years.

　　B) The unemployment problem may lead to serious social problems.

　　C) The unemployment problem will probably become less serious in no time.

　　D) The government will create more jobs with better pay in the near future.