考試吧恩波：2008年12月六級(jí)預(yù)測(cè)試卷及解析(五)

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.

　　In recent years crisis in welfare states has been high on the political scheme both in the Scandinavian(斯堪的那維亞)countries and elsewhere. The crisis consists of many individual elements and is partly due to the fact that the present welfare arrangements originated and developed in the 1960s and 1970s at a time of high economic growth and low unemployment. It has never been the intention either with unemployment, sickness benefits or with cash benefits that so many people should receive them or that they should receive them for so long as has been the case in recent years. The financing of the welfare state has thus become a problem, and as it has not been politically possible to increase taxes, which are already very high.The question is therefore whether the national compromise can be maintained in the future. Generally speaking, the changes and cuts which have been made in the welfare systems in the Scandinavian countries in recent years--and there are actually many-foretell an on-going adaptation of the systems to the present economic situation. This does not mean that changes are being contemplated in the concept of the welfare state, i.e. that it is the intention to adopt another welfare model. However, there is already now much to suggest that a more fragmented welfare system is slowly but surely emerging in the Scandinavian countries.

　　In all the Scandinavian countries a supplementary welfare system has developed in recent years, giving greater benefits to those who are in the labor market. This is a clear deviation from the equality principle that is at the heart of the Scandinavian welfare model. The breach has occurred partly because better arrangements have been reached relating to maternity leave, sickness and pensions through the free collective agreements between employers and employees that regulate conditions in the labor markets in all the Scandinavian countries. That is to say benefits that are paid out to the vast majority of employees in the Scandinavian labor markets, who are included in such an agreement--but not to all citizens.

　　57. The cause of the crisis in welfare states is that .

　　A) the economy of these countries has been on the verge of collapse

　　B) there are too few people enjoying the social welfare

　　C) the economical situation in these countries has worsened

　　D) the welfare system has been outdated in the present situation

　　58. According to the passage, the financing of the welfare society becomes a problem because .

　　A) the tax rate is too low in these countries

　　B) the tax rate is too high in these countries

　　C) the population has grown larger but national revenue declined

　　D) the growth of population has exceeded that of the economy

　　59. The Scandinavian countries are .

　　A) considering a different welfare model B) preparing to partially modify the welfare model

　　C) cutting down the welfare system D) building a new welfare society

　　60. In the supplementary welfare system, .

　　A) everyone is entitled to the same rights only if he/she is a citizen

　　B) employers and employees have reshaped the old welfare system

　　C) new agreements have been reached in the labor markets

　　D) the equality principle is still at the core for all citizens

　　61.According to the article, in the supplementary welfare system, everyone doesn’t have .

　　A) the same rights to receive education B) the same rights to enjoy pensions

　　C) the same medical care support D) the same unemployment subsidy