六级模拟试卷 ---- 阅读7
Passage Three Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage. Polls can provide important guidance for politicians, but there are times when it is foolish and dangerous to rely on a temporarily misinformed public for a political compass. The current debate over Social Security provides one of the most compelling examples in modern history of the pitfalls of poll-driven political strategy. Yesterday two leading Democratic strategists publicly took their party to task for their“just say no” approach to President Bush’s program. “To say there is no problem simply puts Democrats out of the conversation for the great majority of the country that want political leaders to secure this very important retirement program,” they warned, “Voters are looking for reform, change, and new ideas, but Democrats seem stuck in concrete.” Stuck, indeed. To be more exact, they are holding their ground and refusing to surrender to a president who is once again manufacturing a “crisis” for a political purpose. And otherwise, when this strategy is clearly working? Let’s start with the facts. According to President Bush, Social Security can pay all promised benefits for the next 37 years without any changes at all. Even if nothing were done by 2043, the program would still pay a higher real benefit than what people receive today. So this attack on Social Security has nothing to do with the solvency (偿付能力) of the program. Nonetheless last week, a Quinnipiac University poll found that respondents, by a 49 to 42 percent margin, believed that Social not be able to pay them a benefit when they retire. But this is a ridiculous idea, based completely on misinformation. It is even more far fetched(牵强的) than the notion, which also commanded a majority before the invasion of Iraq, that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the massacre of 9/11. In the case of Social Security, there is no dispute about the facts. There are just a few cheap verbal and accounting tricks that have been used to convince the public that Social Security faces serious problems. These are easily refuted. The same Quinnipiac poll showed that 59 percent of Americans disapprove of the way the president is handling Social Security, with only 28 percent approving. It makes no political sense to pretend that this attack on our nation’s most successful and popular government program is actually an attempt to insure its solvency. Even in politics, there are times when honesty is the best policy. 31. What can we know about the Democrats, according to the author? 32. The author raise the example of Saddam Hussein in order to show that . 33. According to the author, which of the following is correct? 34. By saying “honesty is the best policy”, the author seems to disapprove of . 35. The best title for this passage should be.
32. C)推理题此题问作者为何要举萨达姆的例子。例子都是用来澄清观点,说明道理,这样的题目每次考试都有,请大家关注。我们回到文章第六段,在包含萨达姆这个例子的前一句话是个表转折的句子:“但这是个可笑的想法,它完全基于错误的信息”。再看后一句即可知道,作者认为这一次比伊拉克战争前萨拉姆制造了 9·11更加牵强。A)说入侵伊拉克代表了普通大众的意志,这一点文章没有提及。B)说还没有证据证明萨达姆与9·11事件有关,这不是举例子的目的。 C)说有时公众会在没有确切消息时得出愚蠢的结论,这个正是正确答案。D)“政府信赖大众来做出重要的政治决定是错误的”,这与当前的例子说明的问题无关,而且说得也太绝对了。 33. A)推理题此题问就作者而言,哪项是正确的。A)说不用担心社会保障计划的偿付能力。细看文章的第二部分即第四、五、六段,可以看出,该项是正确的。B)说大部分民众将在不久的将来接受该项社会保障计划,这点文中没有涉及。C)说只有生育高峰出生的人才该担心自己未来变老的日子,这个选项也没有出现。D) “民主党人攻击该计划是为了怀疑其偿付能力”,这在前面讲了,是不正确的。 34. D)推导题问作者为什么说“诚为上策”,他反对什么。这句话出现在文章的末尾,作者是为了揭露民主党人借民意测验的结果达成政治目的的企图。所以D)是正确答案。 35. B)主旨题问文章的最佳标题。A)“是重新考虑社会保险的时候了”,这个适合用于怀疑当前政策的文章。C)“社会保险只是个幻想”,这是悲观主义者的论调。D)“拥抱社会保险的美好明天”,这是乐观主义的、歌功颂德式文章的标题。该文章是驳论文,应以B)为最佳,文章是为驳斥某些别有用心的民主党人所写,特别又在文章末尾点题,颇具匠心。 |