Question

A serious problem for today’s society is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.
First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.
Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.
In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions(養(yǎng)老金). Furthermore, some in-situations should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.
One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent.
To sum up, all these options(選擇) have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.
【小題1】According to the passage, how can the government help to improve the lives of retired people?

A．Set aside some profits to help people with problems after they retire.

B．Increase savings levels of people during their working years.

C．Increase the discounts for food and transport for the old.

D．Increase the level of pensions.

【小題2】The underlined word “viable” in the fourth paragraph most probably means “______”.

A．impossible

B．practical

C．perfect

D．obvious

【小題3】What is the writer’s main purpose in writing this article?

A．To point out the need for government support for old people.

B．To make general readers aware of the problems of retired people.

C．To discuss some possible solutions to an important social problem.

D．To instruct retired people on how they can have a happier life.

Answer 1

【小題1】D
【小題1】B
【小題1】C

解析【小題1】細(xì)節(jié)題，根據(jù)第四段的：This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions(養(yǎng)老金). 這可以用政府財(cái)政支持來增加養(yǎng)老金標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。選D
【小題1】猜詞題，根據(jù)劃線單詞的前后文，Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.
說明政府負(fù)擔(dān)不了照顧老人，所以這是不實(shí)際的答案。選B項(xiàng)。
【小題1】主旨題，文章兩段都提到solution，如第三段的：Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual.第五段的： One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the eld