Question

阅读理解 　　Among rich countries, people in the United States work the longest hours．They work much longer than in Europe．This difference is quite surprising because productivity per hour worked is the same in the United States as it is in France, Spain and Germany, and it is growing at a similar speed． 　　In most countries and at most times in history, as people have become richer they have chosen to work less．In other words they have decided to “spend”a part of their extra income on a fuller personal life．Over the last fifty years Europeans have continued this pattern, and hours of work have fallen sharply．But not in the United States．We do not fully know why this is．One reason may be more satisfying work, or less satisfying personal lives． 　　Longer hours does of course increase the GDP(国内生产总值)．So the United States has produced more per worker than, say, France．The United States also has more of its people at work, while in France many more mothers and older workers have decided to stay at home．The overall result is that American GDP per head is 40％ higher than in France, even though productivity per hour worked is the same． 　　It is not clear which of the two situations is better．As we have seen, work has to be compared with other values like family life, which often get lost in interest．It is too early to explain the different trends(趋势)in happiness over time in different countries．But it is a disappointing idea that in the United States happiness has made no progress since 1975, while it has risen in Europe．Could this have anything to do with trends in the work-life balance(平衡)? (1) From the text we know that the author ________． [　　] A． believes that longer working hours is better B． prefers shorter working hours to longer ones C． says nothing certain about which pattern is better D． thinks neither of the patterns is good (2) Which of the following countries has none of its people at work? [　　] A． Spain． B． France． C． Germany． D． America． (3) In the last paragraph, the underlined word “which” refers to ________． [　　] A． family life B． situations C． other values D． trends (4) What message can we get from the text? [　　] A． The GDP of Europe is higher than that of America． B． Two possible reasons are given for working longer hours in the US． C． People all over the world choose to work less when they are richer． D． Americans are happier than Europeans． (5) Which of the following would be the best title for the text? [　　] A． Americans and Europeans B． Staying at Home C． Work and Productivity D． Work and Happiness

Answer 1

答案：1．C;2．B;3．C;4．D;5．D;
解析：

(1)	这是一道主旨题。从最后一段第一句说“哪种状况更好还不清楚”可知，选C项。
(2)	这是一道判断题。第三段讲到拿法国和美国比较，法国许多母亲和年老的工人就不工作了，而美国有更多的人在工作。因此选B项。
(3)	这是一个非限制性定语从句，主要混淆答案是family life。而family life是对other values的举例，因此which指的是other values。
(4)	这是一道主旨题。文中讲了在美国工作时间更长的两个原因：greatly lower taxes; more satisfying work or less satisfying personal lives。其他选项能明显排除。
(5)	这是一道主旨题。本文比较了美国和欧洲国家的工作效率、工作时间、工作人数和GDP，并说明了这种状况的原因。最后一段说到美国人工作时间长导致从1975年以来幸福感下降，而欧洲人幸福感在上升。因此，本文题目应该是工作和幸福感。