How many really suffer as a result of labor market problems? This is one of the most critical yet contentious social policy questions. In many ways, our social statistics exaggerate the degree of hardship. Unemployment does not have the same dire consequences today as it did in the 1930’s when most of the unemployed were primary breadwinners, when income and earnings were usually much closer to the margin of subsistence, and when there were no countervailing social programs for those failing in the labor market. Increasing affluence, the rise of families with more than one wage earner, the growing predominance of secondary earners among the unemployed, and improved social welfare protection have unquestionably mitigated the consequences of joblessness. Earnings and income data also overstate the dimensions of hardship. Among the millions with hourly earnings at or below the minimum wage level, the overwhelming majority are from multiple-earner, relatively affluent families. Most of those counted by the poverty statistics are elderly or handicapped or have family responsibilities which keep them out of the labor force, so the poverty statistics are by no means an accurate indicator of labor market pathologies.
Yet there are also many ways our social statistics underestimate the degree of labor-market-related hardship. The unemployment counts exclude the millions of fully employed workers whose wages are so low that their families remain in poverty. Low wages and repeated or prolonged unemployment frequently interact to undermine the capacity for self-support. Since the number experiencing joblessness at some time during the year is several times the number unemployed in any month, those who suffer as a result of forced idleness can equal or exceed average annual unemployment, even though only a minority of the jobless in any month really suffer. For every person counted in the monthly unemployment tallies, there is another working part-time because of the inability to find full-time work, or else outside the labor force but wanting a job. Finally, income transfers in our country have always focused on the elderly, disabled, and dependent, neglecting the needs of the working poor, so that the dramatic expansion of cash and in-kind transfers does not necessarily mean that those failing in the labor market are adequately protected.
As a result of such contradictory evidence, it is uncertain whether those suffering seriously as a result of labor market problems number in the hundreds of thousands or the tens of millions, and, hence, whether high levels of joblessness can be tolerated or must be countered by job creation and economic stimulus. There is only one area of agreement in this debate that the existing poverty, employment, and earnings statistics are inadequate for one their primary applications, measuring the consequences of labor market problems.
1.Which of the following is the principal topic of the passage?
2.The author uses “labor market problems” in Line 1 to refer to which of the following?
3.Which of the following proposals best responds to the issues raised by the author?
4.The author states that the mitigating effect of social programs involving income transfers on the income level of low-income people is often not felt by（ ）.
5.According to the passage, one factor that causes unemployment and earnings figures to over-predict the amount of economic hardship is the （ ）.
问题1选项
A.What causes labor market pathologies that result in suffering.
B.Why income measures are imprecise in measuring degrees of poverty.
C.Where the areas of agreement are among poverty, employment, and earnings figures.
D.How social statistics give an unclear picture of the degree of hardship caused by low wages and
问题2选项
A.The overall causes of poverty.
B.Deficiencies in the training of the work force.
C.Trade relationships among producers of goods.
D.Shortages of jobs providing adequate income.
问题3选项
A.Innovative programs using multiple approaches should be set up to reduce the level of unemployment.
B.A compromise should be found between the positions of those who view joblessness as an evil greater than economic control and those who hold the opposite view.
C.New statistical indices should be developed to measure the degree to which unemployment and inadequately paid employment cause suffering.
D.Consideration should be given to the ways in which statistics can act as partial causes of the phenomena that they purport to measure.
问题4选项
A.the employed poor
B.dependent children in single-earner families
C.workers who become disabled
D.retired workers
问题5选项
A.recurrence of periods of unemployment for a group of low-wage workers
B.possibility that earnings may be received from more than one job per worker
C.fact that unemployment counts do not include those who work for low wages and remain poor
D.establishment of a system of record-keeping that makes it possible to compile poverty statistics
第1题:D
第2题:D
第3题:C
第4题:A
第5题:B
第1题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following is the principal topic of the passage? 以下哪项是文章的主要主题？
A. What causes labor market pathologies that result in suffering A. 是什么导致了劳动力市场的病态，导致了痛苦
B. Why income measures are imprecise in measuring degrees of poverty B. 为什么用收入来衡量贫困程度是不精确的
C. Where the areas of agreement are among poverty, employment, and earnings figures C. 贫困、就业和收入数据之间的共识在哪里
D. How social statistics give an unclear picture of the degree of hardship caused by low wages and insufficient employment opportunities D. 社会统计数据如何不清楚地说明低工资和就业机会不足所造成的困难程度
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到原文第一段第一句“有多少人真的因为劳动力市场问题而遭受损失？”（How many really suffer as a result of labor market problems?）文章开头用一句话引出话题。原文第二段第一句“然而，我们的社会统计数据也以许多方式低估了劳动力市场相关困难的程度。”（Yet there are also many ways our social statistics underestimate the degree of labor-market-related hardship.）以及第三段第一句“由于这些相互矛盾的证据，目前尚不确定那些因劳动力市场问题而遭受严重痛苦的人数是几十万还是几千万，因此，高失业率是可以容忍的，还是必须通过创造就业和经济刺激来应对。”（As a result of such contradictory evidence…economic stimulus.）再通读全文可知作者主要讲述了劳动市场问题对社会所造成的冲击很难用数据体现，全文从数据对社会问题的夸大和低估两个方面开始进行分析，所以正确答案为D选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项原文未提到导致劳动力市场病态的内容，属于无中生有；
B选项对应原文第一段第六句“收入和收入数据也夸大了困难的程度。”（Earnings and income data also overstate the dimensions of hardship.），但没有解释用收入来衡量贫困程度是不精确的，属于过度推测；
C选项对应原文第三段最后一句“在这场辩论中，只有一个观点是一致的，即现有的贫困、就业和收入统计数据不足以衡量劳动力市场问题的后果。”（There is only one area…of labor market problems.），属于以偏概全。
第2题:
【选项释义】
The author uses “labor market problems” in Line 1 to refer to which of the following? 作者在第一行中使用“劳动力市场问题”指的是以下哪一个？
A. The overall causes of poverty A. 贫困的总体原因
B. Deficiencies in the training of the work force B. 劳动力培训方面的不足
C. Trade relationships among producers of goods C. 商品生产者之间的贸易关系
D. Shortages of jobs providing adequate income D. 提供足够收入的工作短缺
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到原文第一段第一句“有多少人真的因为劳动力市场问题而遭受损失？”（How many really suffer as a result of labor market problems?）原文第二段第一句“然而，我们的社会统计数据也以许多方式低估了劳动力市场相关困难的程度。”（Yet there are also many ways our social statistics underestimate the degree of labor-market-related hardship.）以及第三段第一句“由于这些相互矛盾的证据，目前尚不确定那些因劳动力市场问题而遭受严重痛苦的人数是几十万还是几千万，因此，高失业率是可以容忍的，还是必须通过创造就业和经济刺激来应对。”（As a result of such contradictory evidence…economic stimulus.）再通读全文可知全文都在说劳动市场问题就是低工资和高就业率这两个问题，所以正确答案为D选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项对应原文第一段最后一句“贫困统计数据统计的大多数人都是老年人或残疾人，或者有家庭责任使他们无法进入劳动力市场，因此贫困统计数据绝不是劳动力市场病态的准确指标。”（Most of those counted by the poverty statistics…labor market pathologies.）可知导致贫困的原因不仅仅是劳动市场这个原因，属于以偏概全；
B、C选项“员工缺少训练”“生产者之间贸易关系”原文都没有提及，属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following proposals best responds to the issues raised by the author? 下列哪项建议最好地回答了作者提出的问题？
A. Innovative programs using multiple approaches should be set up to reduce the level of unemployment A. 应该建立多种方法的创新项目来降低失业水平
B. A compromise should be found between the positions of those who view joblessness as an evil greater than economic control and those who hold the opposite view B. 认为失业是比经济控制更大的罪恶的人和持相反观点的人之间应该找到一种妥协的立场
C. New statistical indices should be developed to measure the degree to which unemployment and inadequately paid employment cause suffering C. 应该制定新的统计指数，以衡量失业和薪酬不足的就业造成痛苦的程度
D. Consideration should be given to the ways in which statistics can act as partial causes of the phenomena that they purport to measure D. 应该考虑统计可以作为其声称要测量的现象的部分原因的方式
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到原文第一段前三句“有多少人真的因为劳动力市场问题而遭受损失？这是最关键也最具争议的社会政策问题之一。在许多方面，我们的社会统计数据夸大了困难的程度。”（How many really suffer as a result of labor market problems? This is one of the most critical yet contentious social policy questions. In many ways, our social statistics exaggerate the degree of hardship.）以及第三段最后一句“在这场辩论中，只有一个观点是一致的，即现有的贫困、就业和收入统计数据不足以衡量劳动力市场问题的后果。”（There is only one area of agreement in this debate that the existing poverty, employment, and earnings statistics are inadequate for one their primary applications, measuring the consequences of labor market problems.）可知作者认为目前面临的最大问题便是已有的统计数据不能估计出劳动市场问题所带来的具体影响，因此推断出新的统计方式迫在眉睫。新的标准应该用来衡量失业和收入太少的职业，所以正确答案为C选项。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、D选项均无法回答作者提出的问题。
第4题:
【选项释义】
The author states that the mitigating effect of social programs involving income transfers on the income level of low-income people is often not felt by ______. 作者指出，社会项目对低收入人群收入水平的影响，往往不受______的影响。
A. the employed poor A. 有工作的穷人
B. dependent children in single-earner families B. 单亲家庭的受抚养儿童
C. workers who become disabled C. 残疾工人
D. retired workers D. 退休工人
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到原文第二段最后一句“最后，我国的收入转移一直集中在老年人、残疾人和依赖者身上，忽视了工作贫困人口的需求，因此现金和实物转移的急剧扩大并不一定意味着劳动力市场上的失败者得到了充分的保护”（Finally, income transfers in our country have always focused on the elderly, disabled, and dependent, neglecting the needs of the working poor, so that the dramatic expansion of cash and in-kind transfers does not necessarily mean that those failing in the labor market are adequately protected）其中提到从首付分配转移中得利的是老人、残疾人还有需要赡养的人，而那些工作的穷人则被忽视了。所以正确答案为A选项。
【干扰项排除】
B、C、D选项根据解题思路可知属于反向干扰。
第5题:
【选项释义】
According to the passage, one factor that causes unemployment and earnings figures to over-predict the amount of economic hardship is the ______. 根据这篇文章，导致失业和收入数据过度预测经济困难程度的一个因素是______。
A. recurrence of periods of unemployment for a group of low-wage workers A. 一群低工资工人失业期的再次出现
B. possibility that earnings may be received from more than one job per worker B. 每个工人从多个工作中获得收入的可能性
C. fact that unemployment counts do not include those who work for low wages and remain poor C. 事实上，失业并不包括那些低工资的穷人
D. establishment of a system of record-keeping that makes it possible to compile poverty statistics D. 建立记录保存制度，使汇编贫困统计数字成为可能
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干信息可定位到原文第一段第七句“在每小时收入达到或低于最低工资水平的数百万人中，绝大多数人都来自相对富裕的多人工作家庭。”（Among the millions with hourly earnings at or below the minimum wage level, the overwhelming majority are from multiple-earner, relatively affluent families.）从中可以看出有些人虽然单份工作的工资不高，但是他们身兼数职，收入不低，所以正确答案为B选项。
【干扰项排除】
A、C选项会让人低估社会的贫困问题，题干中的over-predict是高估的意思，所以这两个选项排除；
D选项原文未提及，属于无中生有。
