2013年英语四级阅读试题及答案8

　　Passage Two

　　While still in its early stages, welfare reform has already been judged a great success in many states ?a at least in getting people off welfare. It's estimated that more than 2 million people have left the rolls since 1994. In the past four years, welfare rolls in Athens County have been cut in half. But 70 percent of the people who left in the past two years took jobs that paid less than $6 an hour. The result: The Athens County poverty rate still remains at more than 30 percent--twice the national average. For advocates (代言人)for the poor, that's an indication much more needs to be done. "More people are getting jobs, but it's not making their lives any better," says Kathy Lairn，a policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington. A center analysis of US Census data nationwide found that between 1995 and 1996, a greater percentage of single, femalea2headed households were earning money on their own, but that average income for these households actually went down. but for many, the fact that poor people are able to support themselves almost as well without government aid as they did with it is in itself a huge victory. "Welfare was a poison. It was a toxin (毒素) that was poisoning the family," says Robert Rector, a welfarea2reform policy analyst. "The reform is changing the moral climate in lowa2income communities. It's beginning to rebuild the work ethic (道德观)，which is much more important." Mr. Rector and others argued that once "the habit of dependency is cracked," then the country can make other policy changes aimed at improving living standards.

　　56. From the passage, it can be seen that the author _______.

　　A) believes the reform has reduced the government's burden

　　B) insists that welfare reform is doing little good for the poor

　　C) is overenthusiastic about the success of welfare reform

　　D) considers welfare reform to be fundamentally successful

　　[答案及分析]：A。从第一段可知，作者认为福利改革至少使许多人不再靠救济吃饭，这显然减轻了政府的负担。但改革是否非常成功，或对穷人有无帮助，作者没有表达自己的观点。

　　57. Why aren't people enjoying better lives when they have jobs?

　　A) Because many families are divorced.

　　B) Because government aid is now rare.

　　C) Because their wages are low.

　　D) Because the cost of living is rising.

　　[答案及分析]：C。文章第二、三、四段告诉我们，虽然人们找到工作，但收入少了，还不如靠救济宽松。

　　58. What is worth noting from the example of Athens County is that _______.

　　A) greater efforts should be made to improve people's living standards

　　B) 70 percent of the people there have been employed for two years

　　C) 50 percent of the population no longer relies on welfare

　　D) the living standards of most people are going down

　　[答案及分析]：A。第二、三段说：雅典镇的贫困率超过30%，是全国的一倍，这表明还需要做很多工作来改善那里人们的生活水平。

　　59. From the passage we know that welfare reform aims at _______.

　　A) saving welfare funds

　　B) rebuilding the work ethic

　　C) providing more jobs

　　D) cutting government expenses

　　[答案及分析]：B。文章的三段讲的是支持福利改革人士的观点，他们认为救济对人们的道德观念是有害的，改革会重建工作观念，这更重要。依赖的思想被打破后，国家才能制定政策来提高人民的生活水平。

　　60. According to the passage, before the welfare reform was carried out, _______.

　　A) the poverty rate was lower

　　B) average living standards were higher

　　C) the average worker was paid higher wages

　　D) the poor used to rely on government aid

　　[答案及分析]：D。从倡导改革人士可知，过去穷人过分依赖救济，既增加了政府负担，又滋生懒惰情绪。