考研考试

【单选题】
A、friend of mine had a grandfather who supervised the payroll at a large company long ago. People who knew him say this man was a paragon of virtue when it came to making sure the employees were treated fair and square on every payday.But he also believed that once wages were disbursed, workers should take full responsibility for their financial security. In his view, honest labor and thrifty habits were basic elements of the free-enterprise system. Nobody should expect any money unless they earned it. He opposed company pension plans, and was thoroughly dismayed by the fiscal structure and benefits of Social Security.
I wonder how many people hold the same views now. The debate about changing Social Security is part of a larger question: What obligation, if any, doAmericans feel toward fellow citizens who need help Note, I didn’t say "less fortunate," "disadvantaged," or some other term that might be construed as evidence I’m promoting my own brand of social engineering. I just want to know how much concern people have for what happens outside their own households.
Critics of government assistance programs often say they do more harm than good by creating a cycle of dependency for recipients and a gigantic bureaucracy that demoralizes the rest of society by taking money away from us and creating a welfare state of slackers.
The term I prefer to describe our current situation is "safety-net culture." It has lots of problems, but I also know what life was like before safety nets, because my dad gave me abundant testimony from his 1920s boyhood near San Francisco—it was no Norman Rockwell painting. His father worked for the Southern Pacific RailroadCompany, so they did have a house.But one neighbor lived in a tent on a vacant lot and another was known for owning only one pair of overalls, which his wife laundered in a tub on the stove on Saturdays while he sat by, wrapped in a blanket. My dad’s family often ate boiled rice for breakfast. The beverage of choice was tea, but if that ran out they made "silver tea"— hot water with milk and sugar. Money for college wasn’t in the family budget. My dad got his degree thanks to the GIBill.
Decades of safety-net culture have removed a lot of anxiety from our lives but we’re still not dose to Utopi
A、Amid all the Social Security debate about aging baby boomers and shrinking worker contributions, I’m most compelled by this statistic:Close to 20 percent of retirees get all of their income from Social Security. Should that number be a source of national pride or embarrassment Or perhaps a better question: How do you honestly feel about drinking silver tea during your golden years
According to the author, the safety net can
A、eliminate poverty.

B、relieve the pressure that comes with old age.
C．lead to a shrinking workforce.
D．have some negative effects on the economy.

网考网参考答案：B
网考网解析：
本题问根据作者所说，“safety net”的作用是什么。末段“Decades of safety-net culture have removed a lot of anxiety from our live”表明作者认为“safety net”能够减少我们生活中的压力；且从上文得知“silver tea”是生活过得不好时喝的。因此末句“How do you honestly feel about drinking silver tea during your golden years ”用问句的形式表明没有社会保障的晚年是很悲惨的。故[B]“能够减少上了年纪所带来的压力”正确。 [A]消除贫困：“eliminate”过于绝对。“safety net”作为一种社会保障体系，只能缓解贫困，不可能消除贫困。 [C]导致劳动力的减少：取材于本段第二句中的shrinking worker contributions，但原文中并没有指出safety net是劳动力减少的原因。 [D]对经济造成一些负面的影响：“shrinking worker contributions”不是“safety net”造成的。 document.getElementById("warp").style.display="none"; document.getElementById("content").style.display="block"; 查看试题解析出处>>