湖北专升本英语每日一练（4月21月）

Passage 5

Who takes care of the elderly in the United States today? The fact is that family members provide over 80% of the care that elderly people need. In most cases the elderly live in their own homes. A very small percentage of America’s elderly live in nursing homes.

Samuel Preston, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, studied how the American family is changing. He reported that by the time the average American couple reaches about 40 years of age, their parents are usually still alive. The statistics show the change in lifestyles and responsibilities of aging(老龄化)Americans. The average middle aged couple can look forward to caring for elderly parents sometime after their own children have grown up. Moreover, because people today live longer after an illness than people did years ago, family members must provide long term care. These facts also mean that after caregivers provide for their elderly parents, who will eventually die, they will be old and may require care too. When they do, their spouses(配偶)will probably take care of them because they have had fewer children than their parents did.

Because Americans are living longer than ever, more social workers have begun to study ways of care giving to improve the care of the elderly. They have found that all caregivers share a common characteristic: They believe that they are the best people for the job. The social workers have also discovered three basic reasons why the caregivers take on the responsibility of caring for an elderly, dependent relative. Many caregivers believe they had an obligation(职责)to help their relatives. Some think that helping others makes them feel more useful. Others hope that by helping someone now, they will deserve care when they become old and dependent.

101. Samuel Preston’s study shows that ______.

A. lifestyles and responsibilities of the elderly are not changing

B. most American couples over 40 have no living parents

C. middle aged Americans have to take care of their children and parents at the same time

D. elderly people may need care for a long time because they live longer after an illness

102. Who will most probably take care of the middle aged Americans when they need care themselves?

A. They themselves. B. Their close friends.

C. Their children. D. Their husbands or wives.

103. All caregivers believe that they can ______.

A. care for their elderly parents better than any other people

B. keep closer to their old parents by this means

C. do much better if they have a job as social workers

D. improve the care of the elderly with the help of the social workers

104. Which of the following is NOT a reason why people look after their relatives?

A. They feel they are of use to other people.

B. They want to set an example to their children.

C. They think it is their duty to help their relatives.

D. They hope they deserve care when they need it.

105. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Most old people live longer today after an illness than people did years ago.

B. Many old people are put into nursing homes by their families, who do not visit them regularly.

C. Most elderly people are taken care of by their families, who assume the responsibility for different reasons.

D. Most elderly people are satisfied with the better ways of care giving that social workers have come up with.

101.【答案】D

【解析】细节题。题干：Samuel Preston的研究表明了______。根据“Samuel Preston’s study”定位到第二段，由“because people today live longer after an illness than people did years ago”(因为今天的人在生病后比几年前活得更长)可知D选项正确;由“The statistics show the change in lifestyles and responsibilities of aging(老龄化)Americans.”(数据显示了美国老年人生活方式和责任的变化)可知A选项错误;由“the average American couple reaches about 40 years of age, their parents are usually still alive.”(美国夫妇平均活到40岁左右，但他们的父母通常还健在)可知B选项错误;由“The average middle aged couple can look forward to caring for elderly parents.”(普通的中年夫妇可以期待照顾年迈的父母)可知C选项错误。综上所述，故答案选D。

102.【答案】D

【解析】细节题。题干：当中年的美国人需要照顾的时候，谁是那个最可能照顾他们的人?根据文中第二段最后一句话“their spouses will probably take care of them because they have had fewer children than their parents did.”(跟他们的父母比起来他们的孩子很少，所以很可能是由他们的配偶来照顾他们)，故答案选D。

103.【答案】A

【解析】细节题。题干：所有的照看者都相信他们能______。根据文中第三段第二句话“They believe that they are the best people for the job.”(他们相信他们是做这个工作最合适的人选)，可知A选项正确;B选项“keep closer to their old parents by this means”(通过这种方式与他们年迈的父母保持密切的联系)，原文并未提到;C和D选项都提到“social workers”，由原文“The social workers have also discovered three basic reasons why the caregivers take on the responsibility of caring for an elderly, dependent relative.”(社会工作者也发现了照顾者承担照顾一个年老的、受抚养的亲人的责任的三个基本原因)可知，C和D选项错误。综上所述，故答案选A。

104.【答案】B

【解析】细节题。题干：下面哪一项不是人们照顾他们亲人的原因?从文中第三段的“Many caregivers believe they had an obligation(职责)to help their relatives. Some think that helping others makes them feel more useful. Others hope that by helping someone now, they will deserve care when they become old and dependent.”(许多看护人认为他们有义务帮助他们的亲属。一些人认为帮助别人会让他们觉得自己更有用。另一些人希望通过现在帮助别人，当他们变老和依赖别人时，他们会得到关心)可知四个选项与原文一一对照，只有B项不是其中的原因。故答案选B。

105.【答案】C

【解析】主旨题。题干：这篇文章的主旨是什么?本文提出了老龄化社会谁来担负起照顾老年人责任的问题，指出经研究表明大部分的责任由家人来承担，并且分析了这种现象和其中的原因，所以C选项正确;A选项只是原文描述老龄化的一个现象;B选项与原文的“A very small percentage of America’s elderly live in nursing homes.”(只有很小一部分的美国老人住在疗养院里)相悖;由原文“more social workers have begun to study ways of care giving to improve the care of the elderly.”(更多的社会工作者已经开始研究护理方法，以改善对老年人的护理)可知，社会工作者是开始研究护理方法，并非是社会工作者提出的护理方法。综上所述，故答案选C。