单选题 German Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck may be most famous for his military and diplomatic talent, but his legacy includes many of today''s social insurance programs. During the middle of the 19th century, Germany, along with other European nations, experienced an unprecedented rash of workplace deaths and accidents as a result of growing industrialization. Motivated in part by Christian compassion for the helpless as well as a practical political impulse to undercut the support of the socialist labor movement, Chancellor Bismarck created the world''s first workers'' compensation law in 1884. By 1908, the United States was the only industrial nation in the world that lacked workers'' compensation insurance. America''s injured workers could sue for damages in a court of law, but they still faced a number of tough legal barriers. For example, employees had to prove that their injuries directly resulted from employer negligence and that they themselves were ignorant about potential hazards in the workplace. The first state workers'' compensation law in this country passed in 1911, and the program soon spread throughout the nation. After World War II, benefit payments to American workers did not keep up with the cost of living. In fact, real benefit levels were lower in the 1970s than they were in the 1940s, and in most states the maximum benefit was below the poverty level for a family of four. In 1970, President Richard Nixon set up a national commission to study the problems of workers'' compensation. Two years later, the commission issued 19 key recommendations, including one that called for increasing compensation benefit levels to 100% of the states'' average weekly wages. In fact, the average compensation benefit in America has climbed from 55% of the states'' average weekly wages in 1972 to 97% today. But as most studies show, every 10% increase in compensation benefits results in a 5% increase in the numbers of workers who file for claims. And with so much more money floating in the workers'' compensation system, it''s not surprising that doctors and lawyers have helped themselves to a large slice of the growing pie.
单选题 The world''s first workers'' compensation law was introduced by Bismarck________.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】由第一段最后一句可知,在削减对社会主义劳动运动的支持这种实际的政治驱动下,和对无助者的基督怜悯精神的驱使下,俾斯麦首相于1884年创立了世界上第一部工人赔偿法。
单选题 We learn from the passage that the process of industrialization in Europe________.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】由第一段第二句可知,在19世纪中期,德国和其他欧洲国家一样,由于工业化的发展而经历了史无前例的一连串的工厂伤亡事件。
单选题 One of the problems the American injured workers faced in getting compensation in the early 19 th century was that________.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】由第二段可知,到1908年时,美国是世界上唯一缺少工人赔偿保障的工业化国家。受伤的工人可以在法庭上就损失提出诉讼,但他们仍然面对许多法律上的强硬障碍。
单选题 After 1972 workers'' compensation insurance in the U. S. became more favorable to workers so that________.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】第三段谈到1972年的立法使赔偿增加到工资的100%,而第四段指出从1972年至今赔偿不断增加,但申请赔偿人数也相应增加,由此可知C项符合题意。
单选题 The author ends the passage with the implication that________.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】文章最后一段最后一句指出,大量钱流向工人赔偿组织系统,难怪医生们和律师们都来分享这块日益增长的大蛋糕。可见,工人们并不是唯一从赔偿体系中获益的人,这正是B项的内容。