单选题

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If life expectancy were a marathon, you could say that the United States is fading from the pack. Al though everyone is living longer, the inhabitants of other industrialized nations have made more dramatic strides in life expectancy than Americans have. Australian men gained an extra six years between 1980 and 2001; Japanese women, 6.1% years. The result: Americans, once on a par with countries such as Italy and New Zealand—in the middle of the pack--now rank below Spain and Greece, near the end.
On the face of it, this should not be happening.
Healthier nations are usually wealthier nations. The United States is the third richest of the 30 developed nations belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), after Luxembourg and Norway. But it now ranks 22nd in life expectancy—down from 12th for women and 18th for men in 1980.
Could the problem be inadequate healthcare spending?
No. The US spends $1 of every $7 of its gross domestic product on healthcare—far more than any other OECD nation, which typically devotes less than $1 in $10 of GDP to the sector. Per person, that works out to an extra $1,800 compared with the Swiss or $2,300 compared with the Canadians, even though both those groups live longer than Americans.
So what's at work?
One factor could be diet, according to a new study on longevity by Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, and two students, Robert Hatch and James Lee^①. Americans have been getting fatter, and physicians maintain that putting on weight often shrinks a person's life span.
On the positive side, US alcohol and tobacco consumption is more moderate than the OECD average.
Another factor holding back longevity: poverty. The quarter to a third of Americans with low incomes often have less money than the same low-income groups in several other rich countries, points out Mr. Burt less.
A third factor—inequality—worsens the problem. The most prosperous 10 percent of Americans receive 17 times as much income as those in the bottom 10 percent. In countries with high life expectancies among those at 65—such as Japan, Sweden, and Norway—the top 10 percent makes only five times as much in come as those in the bottom, Professor Munnell says.
The US also struggles with inequality in healthcare. While most rich nations have universal coverage, 45 million in the US did not have health insurance last year, according to census statistics—a rise of 5.2 million since the year of 2000^②. Millions more have insurance only part of the year.
Many of those without health insurance tend to postpone medical care for chronic problems, though they may go to hospital emergency facilities in a crisis.
Thus, a better predicator of life expectancy than GDP may be the average GDP for the bottom 40 per cent of the population, notes the Boston College study. Here the US falls in the middle of the pack of rich countries, rather than at the top.

单选题 According to the author, people in which country are expected to live longer?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】事实细节题。根据文章第一段最后一句话“Americans，once on a par with countries such as Italy and New Zealand—in the middle of the pack—now rank below Spain and Greece，near the end”美国人的预期寿命曾经在众多发达工业国家中位居中游，与意大利和新西兰处于同一个档次，而如今排名已经跌落到几近末位，排在西班牙和希腊后面。可以看出，西班牙和希腊也排在靠后的位置，但是比美国靠前一点，而新西兰在中游。所以在四个选项中新西兰人的寿命可能会更长，选项[D]为正确答案。

单选题 Which of the following is NOT the reason for the US less progress in longevity than other countries?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】细节推断题。第七段说美国的饮食是一个因素，最后一句话“Americans have been getting fatter， and physicians maintain that obesity often shrinks a person's lifespan”研究表明美国人正变得越来越胖，而医生说这会降低人的预期寿命，所以排除[A]。选项[B]可以根据倒数第五段第一句话排除：另一个因素是贫穷。选项[D]可以根据文章倒数第三、第四段的第一句话予以排除，“第三个因素是不平等现象使问题进一步恶化”，“医疗卫生保健也在为不平等、不均衡现象挣扎”；选项[C]与文章事实相反，第八段说美国人抽烟和饮酒方面低于其他经合组织国家的平均水平，所以为正确答案。

单选题 If it is true that healthier nations are usually wealthier nations, in which position will the United States most likely to rank.'?

单选题 Why does the author say inequality makes the problems worse?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】推理判断题。文章倒数第二段“Many of those without health insurance tend to postpone medical care for chronic problems，though they may go to hospital emergency facilities in a crisis”说大部分没有健康保险的人在患慢性病时会推迟医疗，只在危急时候才去医院救治，但并未说他们一点不关注自己的身体健康，所以排除[B]；倒数第三段第二句话“...45 million in the US did not have health insurance last year，...a rise of 5.2 million since the year of 2000”只是说美国不是全民都有医疗保险，去年有520万人没有医保，有的只有部分医保，而并不是说所有穷人都没有医疗保险，所以排除选项[A]。而选项[C]文章没有提及；根据文章倒数第二段“they may go to hospital emergency facilities in a crisis”确定答案为选项[D]。

单选题 What is the passage mainly concerned about?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】主旨题。文章主要分析了与其他发达工业国家相比，美国在提高预期寿命方面为什么未能取得重大进步。从饮食、医疗经费、贫困、不公等方面进行论述。选项[A]只是文章中论述美国落后的一个因素，而不是全文重心；选项[C]文章提及了与其他国家相比美国的健康状况，但重心是在探讨产生这种情况的原因；选项[B]也只是在谈论贫富差距作为一个原因，并提到了没有医保的人会推迟治疗慢性病，一带而过；只有选项[D]为正确答案。