Part A: Reading Comprehension

Directions: Read the following text. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)

Text 1

In order to “change lives for the better” and reduce “dependency,” George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the “upfront work search” scheme. Only if the jobless arrive at the jobcentre with a CV, register for online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit—and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly. What could be more reasonable?

More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseeker’s allowance. “Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on,” he claimed. “We’re doing these things because we know they help people stay off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster.” Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with “reforms” to an obviously indulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsidises laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for “fundamental fairness”—protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits.

Losing a job is hurting: you don’t skip down to the jobcentre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state. It is financially terrifying, psychologically embarrassing and you know that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life. Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself and your family and pay the bills has disappeared. Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job.

But in Osborneland, your first instinct is to fall into dependency—permanent dependency if you can get it—supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood. It is as though 20 years of ever-tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened. The principle of British welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens. Even the very phrase “jobseeker’s allowance” is about redefining the unemployed as a “jobseeker” who had no fundamental right to a benefit he or she has earned through making national insurance contributions. Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited “allowance,” conditional on actively seeking a job; no entitlement and no insurance, at £71.70 a week, one of the least generous in the EU.

21. George Osborne’s scheme was intended to

[A]

encourage jobseekers’ active engagement in job seeking. 

[B]

provide the unemployed with easier access to benefits. 

[C]

guarantee jobseekers’ legitimate right to benefits. 

[D]

motivate the unemployed to report voluntarily. 

22. The phrase, “to sign on” (Line 2, Para. 2) most probably means

[A]

to check on the availability of jobs at the jobcentre. 

[B]

to accept the government’s restrictions on the allowance. 

[C]

to register for an allowance from the government. 

[D]

to attend a governmental job-training program. 

23. What prompted the chancellor to develop his scheme?

[A]

A desire to secure a better life for all. 

[B]

An eagerness to protect the unemployed. 

[C]

An urge to be generous to the claimants. 

[D]

A passion to ensure fairness for taxpayers. 

24. According to Paragraph 3, being unemployed makes one feel

[A]

uneasy. 

[B]

insulted. 

[C]

enraged. 

[D]

guilty. 

25. To which of the following would the author most probably agree?

[A]

Unemployment benefits should not be made conditional. 

[B]

The British welfare system indulges jobseekers’ laziness. 

[C]

The jobseekers’ allowance has met their actual needs. 

[D]

Osborne’s reforms will reduce the risk of unemployment. 

Answers & Explanations (答案与深度解析)

试题精解

21. [A] encourage jobseekers’ active engagement in job seeking.
【解析】细节推断题。第一段提到，Osborne 推出了“提前求职”计划：只有当失业者带上简历来到就业中心、注册在线职位搜索、并且“开始找工作（start looking for work）”时，他们才有资格获得福利。这表明该计划旨在促使求职者“积极参与到找工作中（active engagement in job seeking）”。B、C 选项与 Osborne 苛刻的改革方向完全相反。

22. [C] to register for an allowance from the government.
【解析】词义推测题。结合第二段上下文：“最初的几天应该花在找工作上，而不是指望去 sign on（Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on）”。在这里，sign on 与 looking for work 形成对比，且由于前文一直在讨论领取失业救济金的资格（allowance/benefits），因此 sign on 指的是“登记领取政府津贴（to register for an allowance）”。

23. [D] A passion to ensure fairness for taxpayers.
【解析】细节题。第二段最后一句明确指出：激发他（Osborne）这样做的动机，我们要明白，是他对“基本公平”的狂热（zeal）——“保护纳税人（protecting the taxpayer）”、控制开支等。D 选项中的 passion（激情）对应 zeal，ensure fairness for taxpayers 完美对应原文内容。A、B、C 选项是 Osborne 表面上的幌子，或者是作者讽刺的对象。

24. [A] uneasy.
【解析】细节推断题。第三段详细描写了失业的痛苦：在经济上令人恐惧（financially terrifying），心理上令人尴尬（psychologically embarrassing），而且你失去了生活的目标感，还要担心养家糊口的账单。这些都使人感到深切的不安和焦虑。A选项 uneasy（不安的/忧虑的）是对这段描述最准确的情感概括。insulted（被侮辱）、enraged（愤怒）和 guilty（内疚）均不准确。

25. [A] Unemployment benefits should not be made conditional.
【解析】作者观点题。文章最后一段，作者讽刺了 Osborne 的改革：英国福利的原则不再是“一旦发生灾难，你可以获得无条件的支付（receive unconditional payments）”。取而代之的是，申领人只能获得有时间限制的津贴，且“以积极找工作为条件（conditional on actively seeking a job）”；作者批评这剥夺了他们原本享有的基本权利（fundamental right）。因此，作者显然同意“失业救济金不应该被附加上条件（should not be made conditional）”。

考研核心句型与长难句

【长难句剖析】

1. Only if 引导的倒装句：
"Only if the jobless arrive at the jobcentre with a CV, register for online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit—and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly."
【解析】Only if 放于句首，主句需要部分倒装，所以是 will they be eligible 而不是 they will be。这里列举了领取救济金的三个严苛前置条件，凸显了新政策的严厉。

2. 强烈的讽刺语调（反串黑）：
"On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with “reforms” to an obviously indulgent system... and subsidises laziness."
【解析】"On first hearing (初听之下)" 和 "obviously indulgent (明显纵容的)" 是作者在模仿 Osborne 的口吻，实际上是对他所谓“关心社会”、“改变生活”的言辞进行强烈的讽刺，暗示其实际目的并非如此。

3. 同位语与长定语从句：
"Even the very phrase “jobseeker’s allowance” is about redefining the unemployed as a “jobseeker” who had no fundamental right to a benefit he or she has earned through making national insurance contributions."
【解析】who 引导定语从句修饰 jobseeker。而在 a benefit 后面，又跟了一个省略了 that 的定语从句 (that) he or she has earned...。这句话揭露了政策的伪善：政府通过把“失业者”改名为“求职者”，剥夺了他们本该依法享有的权益。