Question

There are many older people in the world and there will be many more. A little-known fact is that over 60 per cent of the older people live in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization, by 2020 there will be 1 billion, with over 700 million living in developing countries.

It is a surprising fact that the population ageing is particularly rapid in developing countries. For example, it tookFrance115 years for the proportion of older people to double from 7 per cent to 14 per cent. It is esti?mated to takeChinaa mere 27 years to achieve this same increase.

What are the implications of these increased numbers of older folk? One of the biggest worries for gov?ernments is that the longer people live, the more likeli?hood there is for diseases and for disability. Attention is being paid to the need to keep people as healthy as possi?ble, including during old age, to lessen the financial burden on the state.

Another significant problem is the need for the younger generations to understand and value the older people in their society. In some African countries, certainly in Asia, older people are respected and regarded as the ones with special knowledge. Yet traditions are fading away daily, which does not ensure the continued high regard of older people. As society changes, attitudes will change.

Much needs to be done to get rid of age discrimination (歧视)in employment. Life-long learning programmes need to be provided to enable older people to be active members in a country's development.

Social security policies need to be established to provide adequate income protection for older people. Both public and private schemes are vital in order to build a suitable safety net.

To achieve equality in such matters will take con?siderable time and effort. One thing is sure: there is no time to be lost.

5. According to the passage, which of the following are governments most worried about?

A.The longer life and good health of people.

B.The diseases and disability of older people.

C.The loss of taxes on older people.

D.The increasing respect for older people.

6.It is stated directly in the passage that older people

should    .

A.be treated differently in different cultures

B.enjoy a similar lifestyle

C.be valued by the younger generations

D.be ignored as society changes

7.Which of the following measures is NOT mentioned to solve the population ageing problem?

A.Getting rid of age discrimination in employment.

B.Ensuring adequate income protection for older people.

C Supplying life-long learning programmes to older people.

D.Providing free health care for sick older people.

8.The author concludes in the last paragraph that

A.governments have spent lots of time in solving the ageing problem

B.people are too busy to solve the population age?ing problem

C.population ageing is a hard problem, but it needs to be solved urgently

D.much time and effort will be lost in solving the ageing problem

Answer 1

【文章大意】本文介绍了老年社会到来后需要注意的问题。第一段说大部分老年人都在发展中国家。后面几段讲到需要尽可能地保证老年人的身体健康，让年轻人对老年人保持尊重，克服工作歧视等方面的内容。

B 细节理解题。根据第三段的"One of the biggest worries for governments is that the longer people live, the more likeli?hood there is for diseases and for disability.'，可知,政府最大的一个担心是人们上了年纪之后，生病和残疾的可能性增大了。故选B。

C 细节理解题。根据文章第四段的"Another significant problem is the need for the younger generations to understand and value the older people in their society."可知,作者认为有必要让年轻的后辈理解并看重社会中的年长者。故选择C项。

D细节理解题。在文章第五、六段中可以找

到A、B、C三项的对应语句；文中只提到尽可能地保持老人的身体健康，但未提到free health care。因此D项符合题干要求。

C推理判断题。根据文章最后一段可知，作者认为解决这个问题将花很多时间与精力，而且没有时间可以被浪费了。因此排除A(已经花了很多时间）、B(太忙以至于不能解决这个问题）、D(很多时间和努力会被花掉）。故选C。