Many people talked of the 288,000 new jobs the Labor Department reported for June, along with the drop in the unemployment rate to 6.1 percent, as good news. And they were right. For now it appears the economy is creating jobs at a decent pace. We still have a long way to go to get back to full employment, but at least we are now finally moving forward at a faster pace.
However, there is another important part of the jobs picture that was largely overlooked. There was a big jump in the number of people who repot voluntarily working part-time. This figure is now 830,000 (4.4 percent) above its year ago level.
Before explaining the connection to the Obamacare, it is worth making an important distinction. Many people who work part-time jobs actually want full-time jobs. They take part-time work because this is all they can get. An increase in involuntary part-time work is evidence of weakness in the labor market and it means that many people will be having a very hard time making ends meet.
There was an increase in involuntary part-time in June, but the general direction has been down. Involuntary part-time employment is still far higher than before the recession, but it is down by 640,000 (7.9 percent) from is year ago level.
We know the difference between voluntary and involuntary part-time employment because people tell us. The survey used by the Labor Department asks people if they worked less than 35 hours in the reference week. If the answer is “yes”, they are classified as worked less than 35 hours in that week because they wanted to work less than full time or because they had no choice. They are only classified as voluntary part-time workers if they tell the survey taker they chose to work less than 35 hours a week.
The issue of voluntary part-time relates to Obamacare because one of the main purposes was to allow people to get insurance outside of employment. For many people, especially those with serious health conditions or family members with serious health conditions, before Obamacare the only way to get insurance was through a job that provided health insurance.
However, Obamacare has allowed more than 12 million people to either get insurance through Medicaid or the exchanges. These are people who may previously have felt the need to get a full-time job that provided insurance in order to cover themselves and their families. With Obamacare there is no longer a link between employment and insurance.
1.Which part of the jobs picture are neglected?
2.Many people work part-time because they ( ).
3.Involuntary part-time employment in the US ( ).
4.It can be learned that with Obamacare, ( ).
5.The text mainly discusses( ).
问题1选项
A.The prospect of a thriving job market.
B.The increase of voluntary part-time market.
C.The possibility of full employment.
D.The acceleration of job creation.
问题2选项
A.prefer part-time jobs to full-time jobs.
B.feel that is enough to make ends meet.
C.cannot get their hands on full-time jobs.
D.haven't seen the weakness of the market.
问题3选项
A.is harder to acquire than one year ago.
B.shows a general tendency of decline.
C.satisfies the real need of the jobless.
D.is lower than before the recession.
问题4选项
A.it is no longer easy for part-timers to get insurance
B.employment is no longer a precondition to get insurance
C.it is still challenging to get insurance for family members
D.full-time employment is still essential for insurance
问题5选项
A.employment in the US
B.part-timer classification
C.insurance through Medicaid
D.Obamacare's trouble
第1题:B
第2题:C
第3题:B
第4题:B
第5题:A
第1题:
【选项释义】
Which part of the jobs picture are neglected? 工作中的哪一部分被忽略掉了?
A. The prospect of a thriving job market. A. 用工市场的繁荣前景。
B. The increase of voluntary part-time market. B. 自愿兼职工作数量的增加。
C. The possibility of full employment. C. 全民就业的可能性。
D. The acceleration of job creation. D. 加速提供工作岗位。
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】定位文章第二段一、二句“然而,我们忽略(overlooked)了工作中的另一重要部分:报告表明,兼职就业(working part-time)的人数大幅度增加了”,由此可知,选项B正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、C、D选项都不是被忽略的部分,与题干无关,属于曲解原文。
第2题:
【选项释义】
Many people work part-time because they _____. 许多人从事兼职工作是因为他们_____。
A. prefer part-time jobs to full-time jobs A. 与全职工作相比,更喜欢兼职工作
B. feel that is enough to make ends meet B. 感觉这足以平衡他们的开支
C. cannot get their hands on full-time jobs C. 不能获取全职工作
D. haven’t seen the weakness of the market D. 未能发现市场的疲软
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】由题干定位到文章第三段第三句“They take part-time work because this is all they can get”,原因是“他们只能找到这样的工作”,也就是他们无法找到全职工作。对应C选项内容。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、D选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
Involuntary part-time employment in the US _____. 美国的非自愿兼职工作_____。
A. is harder to acquire than one year ago A. 与一年前相比,更难获得
B. shows a general tendency of decline B. 总体呈现下降的趋势
C. satisfies the real need of the jobless C. 满足了失业者真正的需求
D. is lower than before the recession D. 人数比经济衰退前更少
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】由题干定位到文章第四段第一句“6月,非自愿兼职(involuntary part-time)工作者的人数是增加了,但总体方向仍是下降的(general direction has been down)”,由此可知,选项B符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A、C、D选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
It can be learned that with Obamacare, _____. 可以得知Obamacare _____。
A. it is no longer easy for part-timers to get insurance A. 加大了兼职工作者获取保险的难度
B. employment is no longer a precondition to get insurance B. 就业与否不再是获取保险的前提条件
C. it is still challenging to get insurance for family members C. 使得家庭成员获取保险仍有难度
D. full-time employment is still essential for insurance D. 全职就业仍是获取保险的关键
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位最后一段最后一句“奥巴马医改Obamacare让就业和保险之间的关系不复存在了(no longer a link between employment and insurance)”,也就是选项B的内容。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“加大了兼职工作者获取保险的难度”,与原文最后一段“奥巴马医改正是为了使兼职员工也有可能获得保险”不符,属于曲解原文;
C选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有;
D选项“全职就业仍是获取保险的关键”,与原文“就业和保险之间的关系不复存在”不符,属于曲解原文。
第5题:
【选项释义】
The text mainly discusses _____. 这篇文章主要谈论了_____。
A. employment in the US A. 美国的就业情况
B. part-timer classification B. 兼职工作的分类
C. insurance through Medicaid C. 医疗救济保险
D. Obamacare’s trouble D. 奥巴马医改的困境
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】文章第一、二段就以转折递进讲述了就业形势的一个重要方面被忽略,下文围绕这个方面展开,因此本文主要谈论的是美国就业方面的问题。
【干扰项排除】
B选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有;
C选项原文提到了一点,属于以偏概全;
D选项原文没有提及,属于无中生有。
【参考译文】
许多人认为,美国劳工部公布的6月份新增28.8万个就业岗位以及失业率降至6.1%是个好消息。他们是对的。目前看来,经济正在以不错的速度创造就业机会。要恢复充分就业,我们还有很长的路要走,但至少我们现在终于在以更快的速度向前迈进。
然而,就业形势的另一个重要部分在很大程度上被忽视了。自愿从事兼职工作的人数大幅增加。目前,这一数字比去年同期高出83万(4.4%)。
在解释与奥巴马医改的关系之前,值得做一个重要的区分。许多从事兼职工作的人实际上都希望获得全职工作。他们从事兼职工作是因为他们只能得到这份工作。非自愿兼职工作的增加证明劳动力市场疲软,这意味着许多人将很难维持生计。
6月份非自愿兼职人数有所增加,但总体趋势是下降的。非自愿兼职就业人数仍远远高于经济衰退前的水平,但比去年同期减少了64万人(7.9%)。
我们之所以知道自愿和非自愿兼职就业之间的区别,是因为人们告诉了我们。劳工部使用的调查询问人们,他们在参考周内的工作时间是否少于35小时。如果答案是“是”,他们就被归类为在该周工作少于35小时,因为他们想工作少于全职或因为他们别无选择。只有当他们告诉调查员他们选择每周工作少于35小时时,他们才会被归类为自愿兼职工作者。
自愿兼职的问题与奥巴马医改有关,因为奥巴马医改的主要目的之一是允许人们在工作之外获得保险。对于许多人来说,特别是那些有严重健康问题或家庭成员有严重健康问题的人,在奥巴马医改之前,获得保险的唯一途径是通过一份提供医疗保险的工作。
然而,奥巴马医改使1200多万人可以通过医疗补助计划或交易所获得保险。这些人以前可能觉得有必要找一份提供保险的全职工作,以便为自己和家人提供保障。有了奥巴马医改,就业和保险之间不再有联系。
【出处】《United Steelworks》2014.7.15