介绍:
Questions 1 and 2 will be based on the following news item.
The number of Americans over the age of 65 is expected to double
[01:00.92]between now and 2030.
[01:03.50]This next generation of retirees will be the healthiest,
[01:07.50]best educated, and most wealthy in American history.
[01:12.54]But many of them won’t have a retirement benefit
[01:16.07]their parents’ generation fought hard to get.
[01:19.61]It is something known as a defined-benefit plan, or “pension”.
[01:24.53]Retired workers who have a pension
[01:27.38]continue to be paid a certain percentage of their highest annual salary
[01:33.01]---usually anywhere from one to three percent---
[01:36.89]multiplied by the number of years they worked for the company.
[01:40.94]Pensions first became popular during World War II,
[01:44.77]when a federally-approved wage-freeze meant unions
[01:48.44]had to negotiate for retirement benefits,
[01:51.68]instead of pay increases.
[01:54.29]Pensions reached the height of their popularity in the late 1970s,
[01:59.22]when more than 60 percent of Americans had one.
1. What problem does the next generation of retirees have?
a) Their health becomes worse
b) They don't fight as hard as before
c) They won't get the benefit of pension
d) They receive less education
2. When did pensions reach the height of their popularity?
a) In the late 1970s
b) In the early 1970s
c) During the World War II
d) In the late 1960s
Questions 3 and 4 will be based on the following news item.
U.S. government health and safety officials
[02:53.68]are investigating the cause of the recent explosion
[02:56.72]at a West Virginia coal mine,
[02:58.71]which killed 12 miners.
[03:00.71]The accident was apparently an error in an industry
[03:04.45]which has prided itself on miner safety
[03:07.08]at a time of extraordinary expansion.
[03:09.73]Mine companies operate in 27 states,
[03:12.96]from West Virginia in the east to Montana in the west,
[03:16.78]producing a total of about one billion tons a year,
[03:20.88]or more than a third of the world’s coal supply.
[03:24.41]The U.S. economy is dependent on coal production.
[03:27.99]Coal-fired power plants generate about 50 percent
[03:31.27]of the nation’s electricity.
[03:33.56]More than half the nation’s coal is mined underground
[03:36.42]by thousands of men and women who daily risk injury and death.
[03:41.46]But the occupation has become much safer since the late 1960s,
[03:45.94]when the U.S. Congress passed laws
[03:48.28]requiring federal mine inspections.
3.What do we learn about the recent explosion at a coal mine?
a) Nobody was injured in it
b) It was caused by an error
c) It killed 27 miners
d) It affected national electricity supply
4. What made the mining industry safer in the late 1960s?
a) Extraordinary expansion of mine companies
b) The laws requiring federal mine inspections
c) The decline of coal supply in the world
d) An accident causing thousands of death
Questions 5 to 7 will be based on the following news item.
When it comes to dieting,
[04:45.18]losing weight fast holds some appeal.
[04:48.99]Maybe that’s why U.S. News & World Report
[04:52.86]has added a Fast Weight-Loss Diet category
[04:56.65]to its annual rankings of best diet plans.
[05:00.24]And one of the diets that comes out on top
[05:03.10]is the Health Management Resources (HMR) program.
[05:07.98]HMR is a meal replacement diet
[05:11.63]that can be done on your own at home
[05:14.32]or under medical supervision.
[05:16.86]Instead of made-at-home meals,
[05:19.30]dieters can order low-calorie milk,
[05:22.13]soups,
[05:22.98]nutrition bars and multigrain cereal.
[05:26.26]The U.S. News reviewers say
[05:28.75]the plus side to the HMR diet is its quick-start option
[05:33.29]and the convenience of having meals delivered to you.
[05:37.17]The down side is “the milk lacks variety,”
[05:41.05]and it’s tough to eat out while on this diet.
[05:44.54]“A common misunderstanding is
[05:47.32]that losing weight quickly is not healthy, not sustainable,
[05:51.41]and will just lead to future weight re-gain,”
[05:54.88]wrote Carol Addy,
[05:56.21]the chief medical officer at HMR,
[05:58.85]in a release.
[06:00.40]But she says, to the contrary,
[06:03.00]“numerous studies demonstrate
[06:05.29]that following a lifestyle change program
[06:08.38]which promotes fast initial weight loss
[06:11.31]can result in better long-term success.”
5. What is the HMR program?
a) An express company that delivers food
b) A meal replacement diet
c)A report on fast weight-loss diet category
d) An annaul ranking of best diet plans
6. What is the advantage of HMR program?
a) The food is made by medical workers
b) The food is healthier than made-at-home meal
c) The food is delieverd to dieters directly
d) Dieters can order a variety of food
7. What’s the common misunderstanding about losing weight fast?
a) It is tough to achieve
b) It may change our lifestyle
c) It is unhealthy and unsustainable
d) It can lead to future disease
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