Aging poses a serious challenge to OECD (Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, in particular, how to pay for future public pension liabilities. And early retirement places an【C1】______ burden on pension financing. There is no easy solution, but【C2】______ retirement could help. Early retirement may seem like a worthy individual goal, but it is a socially【C3】______ one, and makes the present public pension system difficult to sustain for long. The【C4】______ reason is that more people are retiring early and living longer. That means more retirees depending on the【C5】______ of those in work for their income. The【C6】______ is worrying. In the next 50 years, low fertility rates and【C7】______ life expectancy in OECD countries will cause this old-age dependency rate to roughly double【C8】______ size. Public pension payments, which afford 30% ~ 80% of total retirement incomes in OECD countries, are【C9】______ to rise, on average, by over three percentage points in GDP and by as much as eight percentage points in some countries.【C10】______ is the pressure on pension funds that there is a danger of today's workers not getting the pensions they expected or felt they【C11】______ for. Action is needed,【C12】______ simply aiming to reduce the【C13】______ (and cost) of public pensions, or trying to【C14】______ the role of privately funded pensions within the system, though necessary steps, may be【C15】______ to deal with the dependency challenge. After years of【C16】______ early retirement schemes to avoid【C17】______ and higher unemployment, many governments are now looking【C18】______ persuading people to stay in work until they are older. Surely, the thinking goes, if we are healthier now and jobs are physically less【C19】______ and unemployment is down, then perhaps the【C20】______ rate should rise anew.
单选题
【C1】
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：形容词辨析。空格处的形容词修饰burden，说明“提早退休给退休金的融资带来了负担”。由下文第二段首句对提早退休的叙述Early retirement…makes the present public pension system difficult to sustain for long(提早退休使当前的公共养老金系统难以持久)，可知文中强调的是其不可持续性，C项unsustainable“不能持续的，无法维持的”最符合文意。B项additional“附加的，额外的”、D项undue“不适当的，过度的”无法从文中推知。本文意在讨论前几年提倡的提前退休给养老金系统带来的挑战，并试图找出解决方案，所以A项unsolvable“不能解决的”与文意矛盾。
【答案解析】解析：动词辨析。填入的动名词作depend on的介词宾语，说明“退休人员依赖在职者的……以保障他们的收入”。关键是辨析四个核心动词的词义。四个选项都有“提供资金”的含义，donate意为“捐赠，捐献”，一般要接表具体物体、金钱的名词，所赠的对象一般是慈善事业或机构；sponsor意为“赞助(活动，节目等)”，而且目的常常是为了做宣传；subsidize意为“补助，资助(某人或组织支付某种费用)”；fund指supply with money“为……提供资金，资助”。文中说的是在职者“资助”而非“捐赠、赞助或补贴”退休工人的收入。D项符合文意，为正确答案。
单选题
【C6】
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：名词辨析。空格处填入的名词作句子的主语，被表语worrying修饰。由下文In the next 50 years．．．可知接下来是对将来可能发生情况的预测，A项outlook填入空格意为“前景令人担忧”，符合文意，为正确答案。B项outcome“结果”，C项outbreak“(战争的)爆发，(疾病的)发作”，D项outset“开端，开始”都不正确。
【答案解析】解析：动词用法。空格处填入的动词作句子的谓语，所在部分是被动语态结构。从语法、语义上均符合文章要求的只有expect“预期，认为”，构成搭配be expected to do，原文意为“公共退休金的支出有望上升”。conceive“构思，设想”，其含义不与上下文不符。reckon“估计，猜想，认为”和mean“打算，意欲”都不能构成be+v．ed+to do的搭配。
【答案解析】解析：通过上下文选择名词。空格处填入的名词作of public pensions的中心语以及reduce的动词宾语。根据上文，第二段末句提到“养老基金的压力太大了”，第三段首句则提出“需要采取行动”。由此推出后面的内容应该围绕如何减小压力展开论述。因此空格处的内容“减少公共养老金的……”是减小压力的一种方法。A项multitude与reduce搭配，意为“减小……的数量”，代入原文，“减小公共养老金的数量”显然不是减压的方法。B项implementation“实施，执行”通常不直接作reduce的宾语。C项application的搭配应是application for public pensions(申请公共养老金)。只有D项generosity“慷慨，宽大”符合文意，意为“现在的养老金支出过于慷慨，需要减少”。
单选题
【C14】
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：动词辨析。空格处填入的动词与the role of．．．搭配。备选四项都有“使变大”的意思，但D项multiply“(使加倍)增大”不与the role搭配，A项exaggerate“夸大，夸张”和C项magnify“放大，扩大”都表示“实际大小没变而夸大或使看起来大”。B项augment表示“扩大；增加(某事的价值，数量，效果等)”，符合文意，原文意为“增强私人养老金在系统中的作用”。
【答案解析】解析：形容词词义辨析。本题要求填入一个形容词修饰early retirement或early retirement schemes。从语义看，A项advancing“提前的，超前的”修饰early retirement意为“提前退休”，即比正常的退休年龄要早；B项previous“在前的，早先的”修饰schemes，意为“之前的早退休计划”，与前面的after语义重复；C项ahead“在前，提前”要放在所修饰的名词之后，如He kept his gaze fixed on the car ahead(他眼睛一直盯着前面的车)；D项preceding“在前的，前述的”指在所提到的之前，或前文，也不符合文意。因此，A项为正确答案。