Question

 

Among rich countries, people in the Untied 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 Untied 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 Untied States. We do not fully know why this is. One reason may be greatly lower taxes in America, which increase the rewards（回报）to work. Another may be more satisfying work, or less satisfying personal lives.

Longer hours do of course increase the GDP（国民生产总值）. 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 situation is better. As we have seen, work has to be compared with other values like family life, which often get lost in its 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 Untied States happiness had 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 author ________.

    A. says nothing certain about which pattern is better

    B. prefers shorter working hours to longer ones

    C. believes that longer working hours is better

    D. thinks neither of the patterns is good

2.Which of the following countries has more of its people at work?

    A. Spain            B. America          C. Germany          D. France

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. People all over the world choose to work less when they are richer.

    B. Americans are happier than Europeans

    C. The GDP of Europe is higher than that of America.

    D. Two possible reasons are given for working longer hours in the US.

5.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

    A. Staying at Home                      B. Work and Happiness

    C. Work and Productivity                D. Americans and Europeans

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.A

【解析】从文章第二段最后一句One reason may be …Another may be…可知。

【考点】细节归纳题。

2.B

【解析】从第三段可看出选项B正确。

【考点】细节理解题。

3.C

【解析】从文章最后一段“正如我们所看到的那样，工作必须与像家庭生活一样的其他价值相比较的话，它们往往就失去了其重要性”可知。

【考点】细节推理题。

4.D

【解析】选项A的叙述明显与文意相违背；从文章最后一段看出B项错误；选项C与文章第三段意思不一致。D项是文章第二段结束时所提及的。

【考点】细节归纳题。

5.B

【解析】文章最后一段揭示了主题。

【考点】主旨大意题。

【备考建议】

       提高阅读理解能力最有效的办法就是平时多读多练，阅读不仅有助于扩大词汇量，丰富语言知识，培养语感，而且可以帮助学生了解英语文化背景，扩大知识面。所以，复习阶段要注意选择紧贴生活的原汁原味的文章。尤其要涉猎各种题材和体裁的语言材料，最好每天读一点报刊杂志上的英语文章或其他浅显的英文读物，以积累语言知识。在这个过程中，要做到认真阅读，反复理解，重点把握。在此基础上，熟悉掌握NMET阅读理解题的特点以及问题类型，加强限时训练，提高阅读速度。同时，要养成良好的阅读习惯。