2013年12月英语四级考试真题答案卷二_第7页

Section C

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 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.

A recent global survey of 2 000 high-net-worth individuals found that 60% were not planning on a traditional retirement. Among US participants, 75% expected to continue working in some capacity even after stepping away from full-time jobs. "Many of these people made their wealth by doing something they're passionate (有激情的）about," says Daniel Egan, head of behavioral finance for Barclays Wealth Americas. "Given the choice, they prefer to continue working." Barclays calls these people “nevertirees”.

Unlike many Americans compelled into early retirement by company restrictions, the average nevertiree often has no one forcing his hand. If 106-year-old investor Irving Kahn, head of his own family firm, wants to keep coming to work every day, who's going to stop him? Seventy-eight-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s job security is guaranteed in the Constitution.

It may seem that these elderly people are trying to cheat death. In fact, they are. And it’s working. Howard Friedman, a professor at UC Riverside, found in his research that those who work hardest and are successful in their careers often live the longest lives. "People are generally being given bad advice to slow down, take it easy, stop worrying, and retire to Florida，" he says. He described one study participant, still working at the age of 100, who was recently disappointed to see his son retire.

"We're beginning to see a change in how people view retirement，" says George Leeson, co-director of the Institute of Population Ageing at Oxford. Where once retirement was seen as a brief reward after a long struggle through some miserable job, it is now akin (近似）to being cast aside. What Leeson terms "the Warren Buffett effect" is becoming more broadly appealing as individuals come to "view retirement as not simply being linked to economic productivity but also about contribution."

Observers are split on whether this is a wholly good thing. On the one hand, companies and financial firms can benefit from the wisdom of a resilient (坚韧的）chief. On the other, the new generation can find it more difficult to advance—an argument that typically holds little sway to a nevertiree.

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

56. What do we learn about the so-called “nevertirees”？

A) They are passionate about making a fortune.

B) They have no choice but to continue working.

C) They love what they do and choose not to retire.

D) They will not retire unless they are compelled to.

57. What do Irving Kahn and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have in common?

A) Neither of them is subject to forced retirement.

B) Neither of them desires reward for their work.

C) Both cling to their positions despite opposition.

D) Both are capable of coping with heavy workloads.

58. What is the finding of Howard Friedman’s research?

A) The harder you work, the bigger your fortune will be.

B) The earlier you retire, the healthier you will be.

C) Elderly people have to slow down to live longer.

D) Working at an advanced age lengthens people’s life.

59. What is the traditional view of retirement according to the passage?

A) It means a burden to the younger generation.

B) It is a symbol of a mature and civilized society.

C) It is a compensation for one's life-long hard work.

D) It helps increase a nation’s economic productivity.

60. What do critics say about "nevertirees"?

A) They are an obstacle to a company’s development.

B) They lack the creativity of the younger generation.

C) They cannot work as efficiently as they used to.

D) They prevent young people from getting ahead.

Passage Two

Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.

When we talk about Americans barely into adulthood who are saddled with unbearable levels of debt* the conversation is almost always about student loan debt. But there’s a growing body of evidence suggesting that today’s young adults are also drowning in credit-card debt-and that many of them will take this debt to their graves.

More than 20% overspent their income by more than $ 100 every single month. Since they haven’t built up their credit histories yet, it's a safe bet that these young adults are paying relatively high interest rates on the resulting credit card debt.

Although many young people blame "socializing" as a barrier to saving money, most of them aren’t knocking back $ 20 drinks in trendy (时尚的）lounges. They’re struggling with much more daily financial demands.

To a disturbingly large extent, the young and the broke are relying on credit cards to make it until their next payday. This obviously isn’t sustainable in the long run, and it’s going to put a huge drag on their spending power even after they reach their peak earning years, because they’ll still be paying interest on that bottle of orange juice or box of spaghetti (意式面条）they bought a decade earlier.

A new study out of Ohio State University found that young adults are accumulating credit card debt at a more rapid rate than other age groups, and that they're slower at paying it off. "If what we found continues to hold true, we may have more elderly people with substantial financial problems in the future’" warns Lucia Dunn, professor of economics at Ohio State. "If our findings persist, we may be faced with a financial crisis among elderly people who can’t pay off their credit cards."

Dunn says a lot of these young people are never going to get out from under their credit card debt. "Many people are borrowing on credit cards so heavily that payoff rates at these levels are not sufficient to recover their credit card debt by the end of their life* which could have loss implications for the credit card issuing banks,"

注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

61. What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

A) Many young Americans will never be able to pay off their debts.

B) Credit cards play an increasingly important role in college life.

C) Credit cards are doing more harm than student loans.

D) The American credit card system is under criticism.

62. Why do young people have to pay a higher interest on their credit card debt?

A) They tend to forget about the deadlines.

B) They haven't developed a credit history.

C) They are often unable to pay back in time.

D) They are inexperienced in managing money.

63. What is said to be the consequence of young adults relying on credit cards to make ends meet?

A) It will place an unnecessary burden on society.

B) It will give them no motivation to work hard.

C) It will exert psychological pressure on them.

D) It will affect their future spending power.

64. What will happen to young adults if their credit card debt keeps accumulating according to Lucia Dunn?

A) They will have to pay an increasingly higher interest rate.

B) They may experience a financial crisis in their old age.

C) Their quality of life will be affected.

D) Their credit cards may be cancelled.

65. What does Lucia Dunn think might be a risk for the credit card issuing banks?

A) They go bankrupt as a result of over-lending.

B) They lose large numbers of their regular clients.

C) Their clients leave their debts unpaid upon death.

D) Their interest rates have to be reduced now and then.