A serious problem for today’s society is who should be responsible for our elderly(老年人) and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.
First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.
Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.
In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions（养老金）. Furthermore, some in-situation should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.
One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.
To sum up, all these options（选择）have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.
【小题1】What is the passage mainly about?

A serious problem for today’s society is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.
First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.
Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.
In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions(养老金). Furthermore, some in-situations should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.
One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.
To sum up, all these options(选择) have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.
【小题1】According to the passage, how can the government help to improve the lives of retired people?

A serious problem for today's society is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.
First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.
Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.
In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions. Furthermore, some institutions should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.
One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.
To sum up, all these options have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.
【小题1】What is the passage mainly about?

A farmer found a wounded eagle (鹰) in his field. He was so   26   that he took it home and cleaned its wounds. After that he placed it  27  in the yard, in the hope that it    28    recover soon.

Strangely enough, the eagle soon got used to the    29   of all the chickens in the yard. It learned to    30    from side to side like chickens, and eat happily from a trough (食槽). For many years, the eagle    31    his new life on the farm.

Then one day, one of the farmer’s friends pointed to the playing    32   and asked, “  33   is that eagle acting like a chicken?” The farmer told him what had   34  , and the friend felt quite   35  .

“I can’t believe that!” said the friend. “It should fly in the    36   , not live here!” He picked up the eagle, and   37   it into the air. The eagle was  38  , and cried loudly. Then it just fell down on the ground.

That night, the friend could   39   sleep as he remembered the chicken-like eagle. The next morning, he headed back to the farm for another   40  . This time he carried the eagle to the   41   of a nearby mountain.

When he stood at the highest place of the mountain, he looked into its eyes and shouted, “Don’t you   42   ? You weren’t made to live like a chicken!” As he   43   the eagle up, he made sure it was facing into the bright   44   of the rising sun. Then he    45    tossed (抛) the bird into the sky. This time the eagle opened his wings, and disappeared into the clouds.

1.                A．polite          B．brave          C．kind D．proud

2.                A．forward        B．outside         C．inside    D．backward

3.                A．would          B．should          C．must D．need

4.                A．food           B．sounds         C．water    D．habits

5.                A．walk           B．sleep           C．talk  D．drink

6.                A．wasted         B．forgot          C．lost  D．enjoyed

7.                A．chicken        B．eagle           C．farmer   D．plane

8.                A．When          B．How           C．Why D．What

9.                A．suffered        B．experienced     C．happened D．found

10.               A．pleased        B．surprised       C．worried   D．satisfied

11.               A．sky            B．sea            C．land  D．lake

12.               A．pulled         B．moved         C．took  D．threw

13.               A．afraid          B．interested      C．excited    D．angry

14.               A．hardly         B．exactly         C．actually   D．finally

15.               A．drink          B．meeting        C．rest  D．try

16.               A．top            B．foot           C．center    D．side

17.               A．believe         B．cry            C．understand D．work

18.               A．held           B．put            C．filled D．tied

19.               A．sight           B．light           C．space D．shape

20.               A．easily          B．softly          C．quickly    D．powerfully

A serious problem for today's society is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.

First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.

Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.

In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions. Furthermore, some institutions should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.

One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.

To sum up, all these options have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A．The problems faced by the old in society.

B．Why we should take responsibility for the old.

C．How we can improve the lives of the old.

D．Where the old can go to get their pensions.

2. The underlined word "viable" most probably means"       ".

A．impossible         B．practical          C．useful            D．important

3.What is the writer's main purpose in writing this article?

A．To point out the need for government support for old people.

B．To make general readers aware of the problems of retired people.

C．To discuss some possible solutions to an important social problem.

D．To instruct retired people on how they can have a happier life.

4.The text is most likely to be found in a book about____.  

A．social science                          B．historical events

C．political problem                        D．political systems