共用题干 The Industrial Age and EmploymentThe industrial age has been the only period of human history in which most people's work has taken the form of jobs.The industrial age may now be coming to an end,and some of the changes in work patterns which it brou

共用题干
第一篇

Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population.Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time.In fact,it is a decrease in death rates, not an increase in birth rates,that has led to the population explosion.
Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load.In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them.In hunting and gathering cultures,old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die.In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child.In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work;we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age.Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,somebody else must support them. In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people;unless they have wealth or private or government insurance,they must often"go on welfare"if they have a serious illness.
When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families.In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died.Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person.To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built. These are often profit-making organizations, although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply "dumping grounds"for the dying in which" care" is given by poorly paid,overworked,and underskilled personnel.

Which of the following best describes the writer's attitude toward most of the nursing homes,and convalescent hospitals?
A:Sympathetic.
B:Unfriendly.
C:Optimistic.
D:Critical.

共用题干
第二篇

The American Industry

A history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap,but if properly handled,it may become a driving force.When the United States entered just such a glowing period after the end of the Second World War,it had a market eight times larger than any competitor,giving its industries unparalleled economies of scale.Its scientists were the world's best,its workers the most skilled.America and Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had destroyed.
It was inevitable that this primacy should have narrowed as other countries grew richer. Just as inevitably,the retreat from predominance proved painful.By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness.Some huge American industries, such as consumer electronics,had shrunk or vanished in the face of foreign competition.By 1987 there was only one American television maker left,Zenith.(Now there is none:Zenith was bought by South Korea's LG Electronics in July.)Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market. America's machine-tool industry was on the ropes.For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors,which America had which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.
All of this caused a crisis of confidence.Americans stopped taking prosperity for granted.They began to believe that their way of doing business was failing,and that their incomes would therefore shortly begin to fall as well. The mid-1980s brought one inquiry after another into the causes of America's industrial decline.Their sometimes sensational findings were filled with warnings about the growing competition from overseas.
How things have changed!In 1995 the United States can look back on five years of solid growth while Japan has been struggling. Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle.Self-doubt has yielded to blind pride."American industry has changed its structure,has gone on a diet,has learnt to be more quick-witted,"according to Richard Cavanagh,executive dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government,"It makes me proud to be an American just to see how our businesses are improving their productivity,"says Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute,a think-tank in Washington,DC.And William Sahlman of the Harvard Business School believes that people will look back on this period as"a golden age of business management in the United States."

What can be inferred from the passage?
A:It is human nature to shift between self-doubt and blind pride.
B:Intense competition may contribute to economic progress.
C:The revival of the economy depends on international cooperation.
D:A long history of success may pave the way for further development.

共用题干
Prolonging Human Life

1.Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population.Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time.In fact,it is a decrease in death rates,not an increase in birthrates,that has led to the population explosion.
2.Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load.In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them. In hunting and gathering cultures,old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die.In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child.
3.In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work.We also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age.Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,somebody else must support them.In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people.Unless they have wealth or private or government insurance,they must often"go on welfare"if they have a serious illness.
4.When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families.In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died.Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person.To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built. These are often profit-making organizations, although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply"dumping grounds"for the dying in which"care"is given by poorly paid,overworked,and under-skilled personnel.

Paragraph 4________
A:The old people are heavy load for the society.
B:Prolonging human life may lead to population explosion.
C:How to prolong human life.
D:Dependency load caused by prolonging human life.
E:Increased birthrate helps prolong human life.
F: How the old people are cared for when they are getting weak in contemporary society.

共用题干
Prolonging Human Life
Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population. Many people alive
today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because
more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time. In fact,it is a decrease in death rates,not an increase in birthrates,that has led to the population explosion.
Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load. In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them. In hunting and gathering cultures,old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die. In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child. In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work;we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age. Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,some-body else must support them. In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people;unless they have wealth or private or government insur-ance,they must often“go on welfare” if they have a serious illness.
When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families. In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died. Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person. To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built.These are of-ten profit-making organizations,although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply“dumping grounds”for the dying in which“care”is given by poorly paid,overworked,and under-skilled personnel.

Which of the following best describes the writer's attitude toward most of the nursing homes,and convalescent hospitals?
A: Sympathetic.
B: Unfriendly.
C: Optimistic.
D: Critical.

共用题干
Prolonging Human Life

1.Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population.Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time.In fact,it is a decrease in death rates,not an increase in birthrates,that has led to the population explosion.
2.Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load.In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them. In hunting and gathering cultures,old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die.In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child.
3.In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work.We also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age.Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,somebody else must support them.In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people.Unless they have wealth or private or government insurance,they must often"go on welfare"if they have a serious illness.
4.When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families.In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died.Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person.To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built. These are often profit-making organizations, although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply"dumping grounds"for the dying in which"care"is given by poorly paid,overworked,and under-skilled personnel.

Many people would have died of_______if they had been born 100 years ago.
A:too weak and ill
B:hunting and gathering cultures
C:childhood diseases
D:no one at home
E:epidemic diseases
F: traditional cultures

共用题干
Prolonging Human Life
Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population. Many people alive
today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because
more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time. In fact,it is a decrease in death rates,not an increase in birthrates,that has led to the population explosion.
Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load. In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them. In hunting and gathering cultures,old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die. In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child. In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work;we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age. Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,some-body else must support them. In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people;unless they have wealth or private or government insur-ance,they must often“go on welfare” if they have a serious illness.
When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families. In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died. Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person. To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built.These are of-ten profit-making organizations,although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply“dumping grounds”for the dying in which“care”is given by poorly paid,overworked,and under-skilled personnel.

According to the passage,which of the following statements about retired people in the United States is true?
A: Many of them have a very hard life.
B: They cannot live a decent life without enough bank savings.
C: They rely mainly on their children for financial support.
D: Most of them live with their children and therefore are well looked after.

共用题干
Prolonging Human Life
Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population. Many people alive
today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because
more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time. In fact,it is a decrease in death rates,not an increase in birthrates,that has led to the population explosion.
Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load. In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them. In hunting and gathering cultures,old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die. In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child. In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work;we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age. Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,some-body else must support them. In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people;unless they have wealth or private or government insur-ance,they must often“go on welfare” if they have a serious illness.
When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families. In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died. Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person. To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built.These are of-ten profit-making organizations,although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply“dumping grounds”for the dying in which“care”is given by poorly paid,overworked,and under-skilled personnel.

It can be inferred from the passage that in hunting and gathering cultures______.
A: it was a moral responsibility to keep old-aged people alive
B: infants could be left dead in times of starvation
C: parents had to impart the cultural wisdom of the tribe to their children
D: death was considered to be freedom from hardships

共用题干
Prolonging Human Life
Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population.Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time.In fact,it is a decrease in death rates,not an increase in birthrates,that has led to the population explosion.
Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load.In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them.In hunting and gathering cultures, old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die.In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child.In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not.We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work;we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age.Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,somebody else must support them.In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty.Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people;unless they have wealth or private or government insurance,they must often"go on welfare"if they have a serious illness.
When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families.In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died.Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person.To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built.These are often profit-making organizations,although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply"dumping grounds"for the dying in which"care"is given by poorly paid,overworked,and underskilled personnel.

According to the passage,which of the following statements about retired people in the United States is true?
A:Many of them have a very hard life.
B:They cannot live a decent life without enough bank savings.
C:They rely mainly on their children for financial support.
D:Most of them live with their children and therefore are well looked after.

共用题干
Prolonging Human Life
Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population.Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time.In fact,it is a decrease in death rates,not an increase in birthrates,that has led to the population explosion.
Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load.In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them.In hunting and gathering cultures, old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die.In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child.In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not.We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work;we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age.Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,somebody else must support them.In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty.Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people;unless they have wealth or private or government insurance,they must often"go on welfare"if they have a serious illness.
When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families.In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died.Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person.To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built.These are often profit-making organizations,although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply"dumping grounds"for the dying in which"care"is given by poorly paid,overworked,and underskilled personnel.

Which of the following best describes the writer's attitude toward most of the nursing homes,and convalescent hospitals?
A:Sympathetic.
B:Unfriendly.
C:Optimistic.
D:Critical.

共用题干
The Industrial Age and Employment

The industrial age has been the only period of human history in which most people's
work has taken the form of jobs.The industrial age may now be coming to an end,and
some of the changes in work patterns which it brought about may have to be reversed.This
seems a daunting（大胆的）thought. But, in fact, it could offer the prospect of a better
future for work.Universal employment,as its history shows,has not meant economic freedom.
Employment became widespread when the enclosures of the 17th and 18th centuries
made many people dependent on paid work by depriving（剥夺）them of the use of the
land,and thus of the means to provide a living for themselves.Then the factory system
destroyed the cottage industries and removed work from people's homes.Later,as
transport improved, first by rail and then by road, people commuted（乘车往返）longer
distances to their places of employment until,eventually,many people's work lost all
connection with their home lives and the places in which they lived.
Meanwhile,employment put women at a disadvantage.In pre-industrial times,men
and women had shared the productive work of the household and village community.Now it
became customary(惯例的）for the husband to go out to paid employment, leaving the
unpaid work of the home and family to his wife.Tax and benefit regulations still assume this
norm today,and restrict more flexible sharing of work roles between the sexes.
It was not only women whose work status suffered.As employment became the
dominant form of work,young people and old people were excluded-a problem now,as
more teenagers become frustrated at school and more retired people want to live active lives.
All this may now have to change.The time has certainly come to switch some efforts
and resources away from the utopian（乌托邦的）goal of creating jobs for all, to the urgent
practical task of helping many people to manage without full-time jobs.

Universal employment has brought about economic freedom.
A:Right
B:Wrong
C:Not mentioned

共用题干
The Industrial Age and Employment

The industrial age has been the only period of human history in which most people's
work has taken the form of jobs.The industrial age may now be coming to an end,and
some of the changes in work patterns which it brought about may have to be reversed.This
seems a daunting（大胆的）thought. But, in fact, it could offer the prospect of a better
future for work.Universal employment,as its history shows,has not meant economic freedom.
Employment became widespread when the enclosures of the 17th and 18th centuries
made many people dependent on paid work by depriving（剥夺）them of the use of the
land,and thus of the means to provide a living for themselves.Then the factory system
destroyed the cottage industries and removed work from people's homes.Later,as
transport improved, first by rail and then by road, people commuted（乘车往返）longer
distances to their places of employment until,eventually,many people's work lost all
connection with their home lives and the places in which they lived.
Meanwhile,employment put women at a disadvantage.In pre-industrial times,men
and women had shared the productive work of the household and village community.Now it
became customary(惯例的）for the husband to go out to paid employment, leaving the
unpaid work of the home and family to his wife.Tax and benefit regulations still assume this
norm today,and restrict more flexible sharing of work roles between the sexes.
It was not only women whose work status suffered.As employment became the
dominant form of work,young people and old people were excluded-a problem now,as
more teenagers become frustrated at school and more retired people want to live active lives.
All this may now have to change.The time has certainly come to switch some efforts
and resources away from the utopian（乌托邦的）goal of creating jobs for all, to the urgent
practical task of helping many people to manage without full-time jobs.

Employed women of equal qualifications are paid less than men.
A:Right
B:Wrong
C:Not mentioned

共用题干
第一篇

Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population.Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time.In fact,it is a decrease in death rates, not an increase in birth rates,that has led to the population explosion.
Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load.In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them.In hunting and gathering cultures,old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die.In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child.In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work;we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age.Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,somebody else must support them. In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people;unless they have wealth or private or government insurance,they must often"go on welfare"if they have a serious illness.
When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families.In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died.Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person.To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built. These are often profit-making organizations, although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply "dumping grounds"for the dying in which" care" is given by poorly paid,overworked,and underskilled personnel.

The writer believes that the population explosion results from__________.
A:an increase in birth rates
B:the industrial development
C:a decrease in death rates
D:cultural advances

共用题干
第二篇

The American Industry

A history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap,but if properly handled,it may become a driving force.When the United States entered just such a glowing period after the end of the Second World War,it had a market eight times larger than any competitor,giving its industries unparalleled economies of scale.Its scientists were the world's best,its workers the most skilled.America and Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had destroyed.
It was inevitable that this primacy should have narrowed as other countries grew richer. Just as inevitably,the retreat from predominance proved painful.By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness.Some huge American industries, such as consumer electronics,had shrunk or vanished in the face of foreign competition.By 1987 there was only one American television maker left,Zenith.(Now there is none:Zenith was bought by South Korea's LG Electronics in July.)Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market. America's machine-tool industry was on the ropes.For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors,which America had which sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty.
All of this caused a crisis of confidence.Americans stopped taking prosperity for granted.They began to believe that their way of doing business was failing,and that their incomes would therefore shortly begin to fall as well. The mid-1980s brought one inquiry after another into the causes of America's industrial decline.Their sometimes sensational findings were filled with warnings about the growing competition from overseas.
How things have changed!In 1995 the United States can look back on five years of solid growth while Japan has been struggling. Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle.Self-doubt has yielded to blind pride."American industry has changed its structure,has gone on a diet,has learnt to be more quick-witted,"according to Richard Cavanagh,executive dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government,"It makes me proud to be an American just to see how our businesses are improving their productivity,"says Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute,a think-tank in Washington,DC.And William Sahlman of the Harvard Business School believes that people will look back on this period as"a golden age of business management in the United States."

What does"the American industry has gone on a diet"mean?
A:Employees in the American industry are on a diet.
B:The American industry has reduced redundant staff.
C:The American industry has shrunk.
D:The American industry has been made more efficient.

共用题干
Prolonging Human Life

1.Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population.Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time.In fact,it is a decrease in death rates,not an increase in birthrates,that has led to the population explosion.
2.Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load.In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them. In hunting and gathering cultures,old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die.In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child.
3.In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work.We also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age.Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,somebody else must support them.In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people.Unless they have wealth or private or government insurance,they must often"go on welfare"if they have a serious illness.
4.When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families.In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died.Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person.To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built. These are often profit-making organizations, although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply"dumping grounds"for the dying in which"care"is given by poorly paid,overworked,and under-skilled personnel.

In________,old people who could not keep up might be abandoned to die.
A:too weak and ill
B:hunting and gathering cultures
C:childhood diseases
D:no one at home
E:epidemic diseases
F: traditional cultures

共用题干
Prolonging Human Life
Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population. Many people alive
today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because
more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time. In fact,it is a decrease in death rates,not an increase in birthrates,that has led to the population explosion.
Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load. In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them. In hunting and gathering cultures,old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die. In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child. In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work;we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age. Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,some-body else must support them. In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people;unless they have wealth or private or government insur-ance,they must often“go on welfare” if they have a serious illness.
When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families. In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died. Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person. To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built.These are of-ten profit-making organizations,although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply“dumping grounds”for the dying in which“care”is given by poorly paid,overworked,and under-skilled personnel.

The writer believes that the population explosion results from______.
A: an increase in birthrates
B: the industrial development
C: a decrease in death rates
D: cultural advances

共用题干
Prolonging Human Life
Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population. Many people alive
today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because
more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time. In fact,it is a decrease in death rates,not an increase in birthrates,that has led to the population explosion.
Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load. In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them. In hunting and gathering cultures,old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die. In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child. In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work;we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age. Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,some-body else must support them. In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people;unless they have wealth or private or government insur-ance,they must often“go on welfare” if they have a serious illness.
When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families. In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died. Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person. To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built.These are of-ten profit-making organizations,although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply“dumping grounds”for the dying in which“care”is given by poorly paid,overworked,and under-skilled personnel.

In Paragraph 3,the phrase“this need” refers to______.
A: the need to prolong the lives of old people
B: the need to enrich the life of the retired people
C: the need to build profit-making nursing homes
D: the need to take care of a sick and weak person

共用题干
Prolonging Human Life

1.Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population.Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time.In fact,it is a decrease in death rates,not an increase in birthrates,that has led to the population explosion.
2.Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load.In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them. In hunting and gathering cultures,old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die.In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child.
3.In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work.We also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age.Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,somebody else must support them.In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people.Unless they have wealth or private or government insurance,they must often"go on welfare"if they have a serious illness.
4.When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families.In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died.Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person.To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built. These are often profit-making organizations, although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply"dumping grounds"for the dying in which"care"is given by poorly paid,overworked,and under-skilled personnel.

Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is________who can care for a sick or weak person.
A:too weak and ill
B:hunting and gathering cultures
C:childhood diseases
D:no one at home
E:epidemic diseases
F: traditional cultures

共用题干
Prolonging Human Life
Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population.Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time.In fact,it is a decrease in death rates,not an increase in birthrates,that has led to the population explosion.
Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load.In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them.In hunting and gathering cultures, old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die.In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child.In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not.We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work;we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age.Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,somebody else must support them.In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty.Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people;unless they have wealth or private or government insurance,they must often"go on welfare"if they have a serious illness.
When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families.In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died.Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person.To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built.These are often profit-making organizations,although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply"dumping grounds"for the dying in which"care"is given by poorly paid,overworked,and underskilled personnel.

In Paragraph 3,the phrase"this need"refers to______.
A:the need to prolong the lives of old people
B:the need to enrich the life of the retired people
C:the need to build profit-making nursing homes
D:the need to take care of a sick and weak person

共用题干
Prolonging Human Life
Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population.Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago.Because more people live longer,there are more people around at any given time.In fact,it is a decrease in death rates,not an increase in birthrates,that has led to the population explosion.
Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load.In all societies,people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them.In hunting and gathering cultures, old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die.In times of famine,infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved,whereas if the parents survived they could have another child.In most contemporary societies,people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not.We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work;we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age.Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement,somebody else must support them.In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty.Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people;unless they have wealth or private or government insurance,they must often"go on welfare"if they have a serious illness.
When older people become senile or too weak and ill to care for themselves,they create grave problems for their families.In the past and in some traditional cultures,they would be cared for at home until they died.Today,with most members of a household working or in school,there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person.To meet this need,a great many nursing homes and convalescent hospitals have been built.These are often profit-making organizations,although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups.While a few of these institutions are good,most of them are simply"dumping grounds"for the dying in which"care"is given by poorly paid,overworked,and underskilled personnel.

The writer believes that the population explosion results from______.
A:an increase in birthrates
B:the industrial development
C:a decrease in death rates
D:cultural advances

共用题干
The Industrial Age and Employment

The industrial age has been the only period of human history in which most people's
work has taken the form of jobs.The industrial age may now be coming to an end,and
some of the changes in work patterns which it brought about may have to be reversed.This
seems a daunting（大胆的）thought. But, in fact, it could offer the prospect of a better
future for work.Universal employment,as its history shows,has not meant economic freedom.
Employment became widespread when the enclosures of the 17th and 18th centuries
made many people dependent on paid work by depriving（剥夺）them of the use of the
land,and thus of the means to provide a living for themselves.Then the factory system
destroyed the cottage industries and removed work from people's homes.Later,as
transport improved, first by rail and then by road, people commuted（乘车往返）longer
distances to their places of employment until,eventually,many people's work lost all
connection with their home lives and the places in which they lived.
Meanwhile,employment put women at a disadvantage.In pre-industrial times,men
and women had shared the productive work of the household and village community.Now it
became customary(惯例的）for the husband to go out to paid employment, leaving the
unpaid work of the home and family to his wife.Tax and benefit regulations still assume this
norm today,and restrict more flexible sharing of work roles between the sexes.
It was not only women whose work status suffered.As employment became the
dominant form of work,young people and old people were excluded-a problem now,as
more teenagers become frustrated at school and more retired people want to live active lives.
All this may now have to change.The time has certainly come to switch some efforts
and resources away from the utopian（乌托邦的）goal of creating jobs for all, to the urgent
practical task of helping many people to manage without full-time jobs.

Now is the time to handle the issue of employment in a practical manner.
A:Right
B:Wrong
C:Not mentioned

共用题干
The Industrial Age and Employment

The industrial age has been the only period of human history in which most people's
work has taken the form of jobs.The industrial age may now be coming to an end,and
some of the changes in work patterns which it brought about may have to be reversed.This
seems a daunting（大胆的）thought. But, in fact, it could offer the prospect of a better
future for work.Universal employment,as its history shows,has not meant economic freedom.
Employment became widespread when the enclosures of the 17th and 18th centuries
made many people dependent on paid work by depriving（剥夺）them of the use of the
land,and thus of the means to provide a living for themselves.Then the factory system
destroyed the cottage industries and removed work from people's homes.Later,as
transport improved, first by rail and then by road, people commuted（乘车往返）longer
distances to their places of employment until,eventually,many people's work lost all
connection with their home lives and the places in which they lived.
Meanwhile,employment put women at a disadvantage.In pre-industrial times,men
and women had shared the productive work of the household and village community.Now it
became customary(惯例的）for the husband to go out to paid employment, leaving the
unpaid work of the home and family to his wife.Tax and benefit regulations still assume this
norm today,and restrict more flexible sharing of work roles between the sexes.
It was not only women whose work status suffered.As employment became the
dominant form of work,young people and old people were excluded-a problem now,as
more teenagers become frustrated at school and more retired people want to live active lives.
All this may now have to change.The time has certainly come to switch some efforts
and resources away from the utopian（乌托邦的）goal of creating jobs for all, to the urgent
practical task of helping many people to manage without full-time jobs.

Many people depended on the land for a living before the 17th century.
A:Right
B:Wrong
C:Not mentioned

共用题干
The Industrial Age and Employment

The industrial age has been the only period of human history in which most people's
work has taken the form of jobs.The industrial age may now be coming to an end,and
some of the changes in work patterns which it brought about may have to be reversed.This
seems a daunting（大胆的）thought. But, in fact, it could offer the prospect of a better
future for work.Universal employment,as its history shows,has not meant economic freedom.
Employment became widespread when the enclosures of the 17th and 18th centuries
made many people dependent on paid work by depriving（剥夺）them of the use of the
land,and thus of the means to provide a living for themselves.Then the factory system
destroyed the cottage industries and removed work from people's homes.Later,as
transport improved, first by rail and then by road, people commuted（乘车往返）longer
distances to their places of employment until,eventually,many people's work lost all
connection with their home lives and the places in which they lived.
Meanwhile,employment put women at a disadvantage.In pre-industrial times,men
and women had shared the productive work of the household and village community.Now it
became customary(惯例的）for the husband to go out to paid employment, leaving the
unpaid work of the home and family to his wife.Tax and benefit regulations still assume this
norm today,and restrict more flexible sharing of work roles between the sexes.
It was not only women whose work status suffered.As employment became the
dominant form of work,young people and old people were excluded-a problem now,as
more teenagers become frustrated at school and more retired people want to live active lives.
All this may now have to change.The time has certainly come to switch some efforts
and resources away from the utopian（乌托邦的）goal of creating jobs for all, to the urgent
practical task of helping many people to manage without full-time jobs.

The established work patterns may be changed with the closing of the industrial age.
A:Right
B:Wrong
C:Not mentioned