单选题 The American recovery seems to be picking up pace. The growth seems to be everywhere except the place it matters most—labour markets. Employment in America turned in a surprisingly poor performance in November, indicating that recovery still hasn't gotten the job creation machine turning steadily.
The Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) reported a disappointing gain of only 39,000 jobs for the month of November. The figure came in well below expectations. In October, on Wednesday a private employment report estimated that the economy added 93,000 private sector workers. Markets had expected one of the strongest reports of the recovery so far. That's not what they received.
In November, according to the BLS, private employers added just 50,000 new jobs—the worst performance since April. Within the private sector, drops in employment among goods-producing and retail trade firms were offset by new hires among professional and business services and in the health and education sectors.
The unemployment rate rose to 9.8%—its highest level since April and close to the 10.1% recession peak. At 15.1 million, the number of unemployed workers rose back to its April high. Fully 6.3 million people have been out of work for more than 27 weeks. Many of these workers are now cycling off federal emergency unemployment benefits, which expired on November 30. Congress has yet to re-authorise the emergency benefits package, as it has done so many times through the recession. Some 2 million jobless workers may lose benefits by the end of 2010, and perhaps 4 million or more will lose them by April.
There is little to be happy about in this report. But there are some indications that the November numbers may be an exception. September's job losses were revised down to 24,000 in this report, while October's job gains were revised upward, from 151,000 to 172,000. Through November, weekly data on initial jobless claims showed significant improvement. And of course, many other indicators have been flashing positive signs in recent weeks.
It's likely that the November figures will be revised up in future months to show a better performance more in keeping with broader trends. And it's important to remember that monthly data are noisy. America's labour markets have yet to generate job growth sufficient to bring down the unemployment rate. But the pace of recovery has been improving. There is good reason to suspect that when all is said and done this report will appear as a tiny deviation from a strengthening upward employment trend. All the same, policymakers in Washington weighing whether to extend unemployment benefits and tax cuts should pay attention to the obvious weakness in labour markets.

单选题 What can we learn from the Bureau of Labour Statistics' report?
A．The unemployment rate of 9.8% is not the highest level since April.
B．The unemployment crisis will get better naturally after October.
C．Private employers increased just 50,000 new jobs in November.
D．A gain of 39,000 jobs in November was well above expectations.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 由题干中的Bureau of Labour Statistics' report定位到原文第二、三段。
事实事节题。本题考查关于美国劳工部的一份报告。定位段援引了美国劳工部的一份报告，美国11月份的就业情况令人失望。C“11月份私营雇主仅新增了50000个就业岗位”与原文表述一致，故为答案。A“9.8%的失业率并非自4月份以来的最高纪录”和D“11月份新增的39000个工作岗位高于预期”与原文表述不符，故排除；B“10月份以后失业问题会自然好转”原文未提及，故排除。

单选题 What did the congress use to deal with the unemployment problem in the recession?
A．Give money to the unemployed.
B．Authorise the emergency benefits package.
C．Provide food for the unemployed.
D．Enroll the unemployed to work for them.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 由题干中的congress定位到原文第四段第五句。
事实细节题。本题考查国会以往是如何应对经济衰退时期的失业问题的。定位句指出，国会尚未像以往应对经济衰退那样，再次批准新一轮的一揽子失业应急救济金方案。由此可以推断，每当经济低迷、失业率居高不下时，国会通常会批准一揽子的失业应急救济金方案以缓解失业问题，故B“批准应急救济金方案”为答案。A“给失业人员发钱”表述不正确，国会作为政府的立法机构，它的职责是批准或否决提议及法案，而不会直接发钱，故排除；C“给失业人员发放食品”和D”雇用失业人员为国会工作”原文均未提及，故排除。

单选题 Why do Americans feel unhappy about the report?
A．Because the economy recovery speed is slow.
B．Because the economy is in danger of overheat.
C．Because the congress won't approve the report.
D．Because the unemployment is getting worse.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 由题干中的unhappy about the report定位到原文第五段第一句。
推理判断题。本题考查美国人对该报告感到不高兴的原因。定位句开门见山指出，美国人对该报告的态度是不高兴的。原因如前四段所分析的，失业率居高不下，甚至在11月份有持续恶化的迹象，故D“因为失业情况有所恶化”为答案。A“因为经济复苏速度缓慢”、B“因为经济面临过热的威胁”和C“因为国会不批准该报告”均与原文表述不符，故排除。

单选题 Why does the author remind readers to see the monthly data in the long run?
A．Because people are doubt of the truth of monthly data.
B．Because monthly data may not reflect the exact trend,
C．Because monthly data are usually wrong.
D．Because monthly data are worthless.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 由题干中的monthly data定位到最后一段前两句。
事实细节题。本题考查作者提醒从长远来看待月度数据的原因。原文最后一段指出，“单月数据是杂乱的，明白此点至关重要”。B“因为单月数据不能反映经济的真正趋势”与原文表述相符，故为答案。A“因为人们怀疑单月数据的真实性”、C“因为单月数据通常是错误的”和D“因为单月数据没有参考价值”均与原文不符，故排除。