Section C: Reading Comprehension
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
Many people want to work past the traditional retirement age of 65. They stay healthy longer. Women are now more often joining the workforce and keeping working. And people have less physically demanding jobs. But they also have longer-term financial needs than they did 20 years ago.
Even so, it is not unusual to hear politicians and business leaders complain about the old not making room for the young. The argument that older people must be pushed out of the labor market to create opportunities for the next generation is known as the lump of labor fallacy (谬误). It has been repeatedly proven false.
The truth is, those countries which have the highest employment rates among adults over 60 are the countries that tend to have the highest-employment for youth. There is a positive correlation between early and late retirement. There is no country where pensioners are unemployed and the younger generation is not.
Actually, if older people kept working longer, they would pay taxes, they would buy goods and services, and they would create other jobs. In addition, if people retire too early, they take their skills and knowledge with them. This will result in a decrease in the workforce and slow the growth of the economy.
All over the world, populations are aging, meaning that the part of the society comprised of retirees is growing while the active workforce is shrinking. By 2050, 22 percent of the American population will be 65 or older, compared to just 15 percent today. According to a recent report, almost every OECD member faces the same challenge. The only way to avoid the disastrous outcomes from this demographic shift is if workforces also age. This means we must encourage people to continue working, we must provide lifelong learning and training, and we also need to rethinking how we weigh salaries against experience.
46. Why do many people choose to work past the traditional retirement age?
47. What does the “lump of labor fallacy” mean?
48. What do we learn from the passage about the correlation between early and late retirement?
49. What will happen when older people retire too early?
50. What is unavoidable due to the demographic shift?
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
You see them driving around in some cities: cars with someone behind the wheel not touching it, and sometimes no one there at all. Self-driving cars are coming, probably sooner than you think, and they will radically change our lives.
The good news is that once fully autonomous cars hit the roadways, they will be the safest they've ever been. The number of people killed in car accidents will drop. “Humans are bad drivers, because we're distracted on cellphones, talking to other passengers, eating, or even looking at our infotainment (信息娱乐) systems,” Mary Cummings, director of Duke University’s Humans and Autonomy Lab, says.
But don't expect perfect safety. Self-driving cars won't make mistakes in their first few years, but they will be worse, we have to tolerate them as we go through this transition. Many experts believe that those fatalities will decrease over time. They point out it's a matter of when rather than if. We can imagine how cellphone technology evolved from the early days to what we have now. It will take a decade or two for the vehicle fleet to evolve into a similar level of automation.
A survey by the University of Maryland showed that's an acceptable timeframe. The majority of Americans would feel unsafe in a self-driving car without a driver today, but nearly 60% want the next generation to have more advanced safety features like automatic emergency braking. This feature alone can reduce accidents by 50%, according to an institute. They're ready to embrace self-driving cars, and the automakers and tech companies developing them. Just as Ford started producing motor vehicles in 1903 and the world changed fundamentally within decades, expect the same thing with the introduction of self-driving vehicles.
“Society has gotten used to the way things are today, but we're about to change everything,” said a spokesman for General Motors. Other major players include Nissan, Volkswagen, Toyota, Apple, and Google.
51. What good news tells us about self-driving cars?
52. What is Mary Cummings’s prediction about fully autonomous cars?
53. Why do experts compare the evolution of self-driving cars with that of cellphones?
54. What does the survey by the University of Maryland indicate?
55. How does a spokesman for General Motors view the arrival of self-driving cars?
Answers & Explanations (答案与解析)
Passage One
46. B。解析：题干问“为什么许多人选择在传统的退休年龄之后继续工作？” 第一段最后一句指出：“But they also have longer-term financial needs than they did 20 years ago.”（但是与20年前相比，他们也有长期的财务需求）。这说明他们需要继续工作来满足财务需求。因此选 B（他们可以更好地满足他们的财务需求）。
47. A。解析：题干问“‘lump of labor fallacy（劳动块谬误）’是什么意思？” 第二段指出：“The argument that older people must be pushed out of the labor market to create opportunities for the next generation is known as the lump of labor fallacy.”（认为必须将老年人赶出劳动力市场以为了下一代创造机会的论点被称为劳动块谬误）。因此选 A（为了帮助年轻人找工作，应该解雇老年人）。
48. D。解析：题干问“关于早退休和晚退休之间的相关性，我们从文章中了解到什么？” 第三段指出早退休和晚退休之间存在正相关，接着第四段反面论证：“if older people kept working longer... they would create other jobs... if people retire too early... This will result in a decrease in the workforce and slow the growth of the economy.”（如果老年人继续工作，他们会创造其他工作岗位……如果他们退休过早，这会导致劳动力减少并减缓经济增长）。这说明老年人如果不退休，反而会创造工作；如果退休（退出），整体经济受影响，也不会有那么多新空缺。因此选 D（当老年人辞职时，可用的新空缺会更少）。（注：此题D选项在历年解析中有争议，但结合第三段“最高就业率的老年人对应最高就业率的年轻人”，说明老年人退出并不能增加年轻人的空缺，即空缺变少）。
49. B。解析：题干问“如果老年人过早退休会发生什么？” 第四段指出：“if people retire too early, they take their skills and knowledge with them. This will result in a decrease in the workforce and slow the growth of the economy.”（如果人们过早退休，他们会带走他们的技能和知识。这将导致劳动力减少并减缓经济增长）。这说明经济会因为缺乏有技能/专业知识的人而受到影响。因此选 B（经济将因缺乏专业人士而受损）。
50. C。解析：题干问“由于人口结构的转变，什么是不可避免的？” 最后一段指出：“All over the world, populations are aging... The only way to avoid the disastrous outcomes from this demographic shift is if workforces also age.”（全世界的人口都在老龄化……避免这种人口转变带来灾难性后果的唯一方法是，如果劳动力也老龄化）。因此，劳动力的老龄化是应对人口转变必然/不可避免的趋势。因此选 C（劳动力的老龄化将显著增加）。
Passage Two
51. A。解析：题干问“关于自动驾驶汽车的好消息是什么？” 第一段最后一句指出自动驾驶汽车将改变生活，第二段首句指出：“The good news is that once fully autonomous cars hit the roadways, they will be the safest they've ever been.”（好消息是，一旦完全自动驾驶汽车上路，它们将是有史以来最安全的）。结合第一段提到的 “probably sooner than you think”（可能比你想象的更早），选项A（它们可能会比预期更早普及）最符合文章前半部分的积极语境。不过，最直接的好消息是“安全”，但选项中没有直接提安全，而是A选项符合第一段的基调。（注：本题在部分题库中存在争议，但普遍倾向于考察文章开篇对自动驾驶汽车即将到来的乐观态度）。
52. B。解析：题干问“玛丽·卡明斯对完全自动驾驶汽车的预测是什么？” 第二段引用她的话之前说：“once fully autonomous cars hit the roadways, they will be the safest they've ever been. The number of people killed in car accidents will drop.” 然后引用卡明斯的话解释为什么人类是糟糕的司机。这说明她的预测是自动驾驶汽车会提高道路安全性。因此选 B（它们将逐渐使道路成为有史以来最安全的）。
53. C。解析：题干问“为什么专家将自动驾驶汽车的演变与手机的演变进行比较？” 第三段指出：“We can imagine how cellphone technology evolved... It will take a decade or two for the vehicle fleet to evolve into a similar level of automation.”（我们可以想象手机技术是如何演变的……车队（自动驾驶汽车）需要一两年的时间才能演变到类似的自动化水平）。作者用手机的发展时间来类比自动驾驶汽车达到成熟所需的时间。因此选 C（前者（车）需要一二十年才能达到后者（手机）的水平）。
54. B。解析：题干问“马里兰大学的调查表明了什么？” 第四段指出：“The majority of Americans would feel unsafe in a self-driving car without a driver today...”（如今，大多数美国人在没有司机的自动驾驶汽车里会感到不安全）。这表明大多数人对自动驾驶汽车的安全性仍有疑虑。因此选 B（大多数美国人仍然对自动驾驶汽车的安全性有疑问）。
55. A。解析：题干问“通用汽车的发言人如何看待自动驾驶汽车的到来？” 最后一段引用发言人的话说：“Society has gotten used to the way things are today, but we're about to change everything”（社会已经习惯了今天事物的样子，但我们即将改变一切）。这说明他认为自动驾驶汽车将彻底改变我们现有的生活方式。因此选 A（它将从根本上改变我们的生活方式）。
核心搭配与高分句型
【核心搭配与高频短语】
make room for：为...腾出空间（making room for the young）
result in：导致，引起（result in a decrease in the workforce）
be comprised of：由...组成（the society comprised of retirees）
weigh against：权衡，比较（weigh salaries against experience）
hit the road：上路，出发（hit the roadways）
get used to：习惯于（Society has gotten used to the way things are today）
【亮点句型解析】
It is not unusual to hear... 形式主语+不定式双重否定结构（P1第二段）：
"Even so, it is not unusual to hear politicians and business leaders complain about..."
（即使如此，听到政治家和商业领袖抱怨……并不罕见。）`it` 是形式主语，真正的主语是后面的不定式短语。`not unusual` 双重否定表肯定，语气委婉但强调了这种现象的普遍性。
"Even so, it is not unusual to hear politicians and business leaders complain about..."
（即使如此，听到政治家和商业领袖抱怨……并不罕见。）`it` 是形式主语，真正的主语是后面的不定式短语。`not unusual` 双重否定表肯定，语气委婉但强调了这种现象的普遍性。
a matter of when rather than if... 并列对比结构（P2第三段）：
"They point out it's a matter of when rather than if."
（他们指出，这是（什么时候发生）时间问题，而不是（是否发生）会不会的问题。）这个句型非常地道，常用于表达某事必然会发生，唯一的不确定因素只是时间。
"They point out it's a matter of when rather than if."
（他们指出，这是（什么时候发生）时间问题，而不是（是否发生）会不会的问题。）这个句型非常地道，常用于表达某事必然会发生，唯一的不确定因素只是时间。