The poverty line is the minimum income that people need for an acceptable standard of living. People with incomes below the poverty line are considered poor. Economists study the causes of poverty in order to find solutions to the problem.
As the general standard of living in the country rises, the poverty line does, too. Therefore, even with today’s relatively high standard of living, about 10 percent of the people in the United States are below the poverty line. However, if these people had stable jobs, they could have an acceptable standard of living. Economists suggest several reasons why poor people do not have jobs.
For one thing, more than half of the poor people in the United States are not qualified to work. Over 40 percent of the poor people are children. By law, children less than 16 years old cannot work in many industries. A large number of poor people are old. Many companies do not hire people over 65 years old, the normal retirement age.
Some poor adults do not look for jobs for a variety of personal reasons: they are sick, they do not have any motivation, they have family problems, or they do not believe that they can find a job.
Other poor people look for a job but cannot find one. Many poor adults never went to high school. Therefore, when they look for jobs, they have few skills that they can offer.
At the present time, the government thinks it can reduce poverty in the country in the following ways.
First, if the national economy grows, businesses and industries hire more workers. Some of the poor who are qualified to look for jobs may find employment. Then they will no longer be below the poverty line.
Second, if society invests in the poor, the poor will become more productive. If the government spends money on social programs, education, and training for poor people, the poor will have the skills to offer. Then it is more likely that they can find jobs.
Finally, if the government distributes society’s income differently, it raises some poor people above the poverty line. The government collects taxes from the non-poor and gives money to the poor. These payments to the poor are called welfare. In 1975 over 18 million people in the United States received welfare.
Some economists are looking for better solutions to the poverty problem. However, at the present time, many people depend on welfare for a minimally acceptable standard of living.
1. The author’s main purpose to write this article is ______.
2. Which of the following is NOT true?
3. More than 40 percent of the poor people are children. This is mainly because ______.
4. Most of the American poor people are not qualified for employment because ______.
5. We may concluded from the passage that ______.
问题1选项
A.to define (下定义) what the poverty line is
B.to explain why some people live the poverty line
C.to find solutions to the problem of poverty
D.to show sympathy for those poor people
问题2选项
A.Ten percent of the Americans live a poor life.
B.Poor people are those who live below the poverty line.
C.The poverty line rises as the general standard of living rises.
D.The poverty line tends to be at the same level.
问题3选项
A.they do not have enough motivation
B.they are so young that they don’t have the right to work
C.they fail to get enough education
D.they are very poor in health
问题4选项
A.they do not have any motivation to work
B.they are not very self-confident
C.they are too young or too old to work
D.they have physical and family problems
问题5选项
A.better solutions to the poverty problem are not yet found
B.welfare will enable them to be rich
C.poor people are sure to go out of the poverty line if they have chances to do business
D.employment is the best solution to the poverty problem
第1题:C
第2题:D
第3题:B
第4题:C
第5题:A
第1题:
【选项释义】
The author's main purpose to write this article is_______. 作者写这篇文章的主要目的是_______。
A. to define (下定义) what the poverty line is A. 定义什么是贫困线以下
B. to explain why some people live the poverty line B. 解释为什么有些人生活在贫困线以下
C. to find solutions to the problem of poverty C. 找到解决贫困问题的方法
D. to show sympathy for those poor people D. 对那些穷人表示同情
【答案】C
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】原文首段最后一句“经济学家研究贫困的原因是为了找到解决问题的方法”和尾段首句“一些经济学家正在寻找解决贫困问题的更好办法”均有提及“经济学家们正在寻找更好的解决贫困问题的办法”,并且作者在六、七、八和九段提及了政府解决贫困问题的三条措施。由此可知,原文大篇幅讲述的是解决贫困的方法。故选项C正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“定义什么是贫困线以下”,作者只在第一段第一句提及;B选项“解释为什么有些人生活在贫困线以下”,作者只在第二段提及。从篇幅长短考虑均不是全文的主要内容,属于以偏概全;
D选项“对那些穷人表示同情”,原文中并没有提及,属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following is NOT true? 下列哪一项是不正确的?
A. Ten percent of the Americans live a poor life. A. 百分之十的美国人过着贫穷的生活。
B. Poor people are those who live below the poverty line. B. 穷人是指生活在贫困线以下的人。
C. The poverty line rises as the general standard of living rises. C. 贫困线随着生活水平的提高而提高。
D. The poverty line tends to be at the same level. D. 贫困线往往在同一水平。
【答案】D
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据第二段首句“随着这个国家的总体生活水平提高,贫困线也在提高。”由此可知,与选项D不相符,故选项D正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“百分之十的美国人过着贫穷的生活”可定位到第二段“因此,即使在今天生活水平相对较高的情况下,仍有大约10%的美国人生活在贫困线以下。”由此可知,选项A符合原文;
B选项“穷人是指生活在贫困线以下的人”可定位到第一段“收入低于贫困线的人被认为是穷人。”由此可知,选项B符合原文;
C选项“贫困线随着生活水平的提高而提高”可定位到第二段“随着这个国家的总体生活水平提高,贫困线也在提高。”由此可知,选项C符合原文。
第3题:
【选项释义】
More than 40 percent of the poor people are children. This is mainly because_______. 超过40%的贫困人口是儿童。这主要是因为_______。
A. they do not have enough motivation A. 他们没有足够的动力
B. they are so young that they don’t have the right to work B. 他们太年轻了,没有工作的权利
C. they fail to get enough education C. 他们没有得到足够的教育
D. they are very poor in health D. 他们的健康状况很差
【答案】B
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息,我们可以定位到第三段“超过40%的贫困人口是儿童。根据法律规定,16岁以下的儿童不能在许多行业工作。”由此可知,最主要的原因是这些儿童太小,没有工作的权利,选项B正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“他们没有足够的动力”和D选项“他们的健康状况很差”可定位到第四段“一些贫穷的成年人不找工作各种个人原因:他们生病,他们没有任何动机。”由此可知,选项A和D讲述的对象是成年人,而题目问的是儿童,属于张冠李戴;
C选项“他们没有得到足够的教育”可定位到第五段“许多贫穷的成年人从未上过高中。因此,当他们找工作时,他们能提供的技能很少。”由此可知,没有得到足够的教育是贫穷的成年人找不到工作的原因,而不是儿童,属于张冠李戴。
第4题:
【选项释义】
Most of the American poor people are not qualified for employment because_______. 大多数美国穷人不能胜任工作是因为_______。
A. they do not have any motivation to work A. 他们没有任何工作的动力
B. they are not very self-confident B. 他们不是很自信
C. they are too young or too old to work C. 他们太年轻或太老而不能工作
D. they have physical and family problems D. 他们有身体和家庭问题
【答案】C
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息,我们可以定位到第三段“在美国,超过一半的穷人不能胜任工作。超过40%的贫困人口是儿童”和“许多穷人都是老年人”。由此可知,美国大部分的穷人都没有工作,是因为这些人不是老人就是小孩,没有工作的能力,故选项C正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“他们没有任何工作的动力”,B选项“他们不是很自信”和D选项“他们有身体和家庭问题”均讲述的是贫穷的成年人不能工作的原因,他们不能代表大多数美国穷人即老人和儿童,属于张冠李戴。
第5题:
【选项释义】
We may concluded from the passage that_______. 我们可以从文中得出结论_______。
A. better solutions to the poverty problem are not yet found A. 还没有找到更好的解决贫困问题的办法
B. welfare will enable them to be rich B. 福利将使他们变富有
C. poor people are sure to go out of the poverty line if they have chances to do business C. 如果穷人有机会做生意,他们一定会脱离贫困线
D. employment is the best solution to the poverty problem D. 就业是解决贫困问题的最好办法
【答案】A
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据原文最后一段的内容“一些经济学家正在寻找更好的解决贫困问题的办法。然而,目前许多人依靠福利来维持最低限度的可接受的生活水平。”由此可知,贫困问题并没有找到更好的解决办法,故选项A正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“福利将使他们变富有”可定位到第九段“如果政府以不同的方式分配社会收入,就会使一些穷人处于贫困线以上。这些给穷人的钱叫做福利。”由此可知,福利可以使一些穷人处于贫困线以上,但不能推出使他们变富有,属于推理过度;
C选项“如果穷人有机会做生意,他们一定会脱离贫困线”可定位到第七段“如果国民经济增长,企业和工厂就会雇佣更多的工人。一些有资格找工作的穷人可能会找到工作。然后他们将不再处于贫困线以下。”由此可知,并不是穷人有机会做生意,属于曲解原文;
D选项“就业是解决贫困问题的最好办法”,根据第二段“如果这些人有稳定的工作,他们可以有一个可接受的生活标准。”由此并不能推出就业是解决贫困问题的最好办法,属于推理过度。