单选题   The report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was just as gloomy as anticipated. Unemployment in January lumped to a 16-year high of 7.6 percent, as 598 000 jobs were slashed from US payrolls in the worst single-month decline since December, 1974. With 1.8 million jobs lost in the last three months, there is urgent desire to boost the economy as quickly as possible. But Washington would do well to take a deep breath before reacting to the grim numbers.
    Collectively, we rely on the unemployment figures and other statistics to frame our sense of reality. They are a vital part of an array of data that we use to assess if we're doing well or doing badly, and that in turn shapes government policies and corporate budgets and personal spending decisions. The problem is that the statistics aren't an objective measure of reality; they are simply a best approximation. Directionally, they capture the trends, but the idea that we know precisely how many are unemployed is a myth. That makes finding a solution all the more difficult.
    First, there is the way the data is assembled. The official unemployment rate is the product of a telephone survey of about 60 000 homes. There is another survey, sometimes referred to as the 'payroll survey, ' that assesses 400 000 businesses based on their reported payrolls. Both surveys have problems. The payroll survey can easily double-count someone: if you are one person with two jobs, you show up as two workers. The payroll survey also doesn't capture the number of self-employed, and so says little about how many people are generating an independent income.
    The household survey has a larger problem. When asked straightforwardly, people tend to lie or shade the truth when the subject is sex, money or employment. If you get a call and are asked if you're employed, and you say yes, you're employed. If you say no, however, it may surprise you to learn that you are only unemployed if you've been actively looking for work in the past four weeks; otherwise, you are 'marginally attached to the labor force' and not actually unemployed.
    The urge to quantify is embedded in our society. But the idea that statisticians can then capture an objective reality isn't just impossible. It also leads to serious misjudgments. Democrats and Republicans can and will take sides on a number of issues, but a more crucial concern is that both are basing major policy decisions on guesstimates rather than looking at the vast wealth of raw data with a critical eye and an open mind.
单选题     What do we learn from the first paragraph?______
 
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】由题干中的the first paragraph直接定位到第一段。 推理判断题。文章开篇首句指出，来自劳工统计局的报告正如预料的那样糟糕：一月份的失业率达到了16年以来的最高水平。这说明美国经济状况恶化，政府需要尽快振兴经济，故答案为A。 [参考译文] 来自劳工统计局的报告正如预料的那样糟糕。一月份的失业率达到了16年以来的最高水平7.6%，有59.8万个就业机会被大幅削减，这是自从1974年12月以来单月减少最多的一个月。在过去的三个月里有180万人失业，因此，政府需尽快振兴经济。不过，美国政府在对这个残酷的数字采取行动之前最好还是深吸一口气。 总体来看，我们依靠失业率的数字和其他数据来对现实情况作出判断。它们是一大串数据的重要组成部分，我们利用一系列数据来评价我们究竟做得好还是不好，这些数据反过来也会影响政府决策、公司预算和个人支出决定。问题是这些数据并不是对现实的客观反映，它们只是最接近而已。有指导意义的是，这些数据能反映就业趋势，但是失业的精确人数还是个谜，而这使得寻找应对之策变得异常艰难。 首先，搜集数据用了这样一种方法：官方的失业率是通过电话调查了大约6万户家庭得出的结果。还有一种调查，有时候被称为“32资单调查”，通过40万家公司上报的工资总支出来估算失业率。这两种调查都存在问题。工资单调查很容易把某人“算重”：如果一个人有两份工作，但工资单上就会显示为两个人。工资单调查也无法获知个体经营者的数量，很少涉及创造独立收入的人数。 家庭调查还有一个更大的问题。当被直接询问的时候，如果话题涉及性、金钱和工作，人们通常会撒谎或者掩盖事实。如果你接到一个电话，问你是否有工作，然后你说是的，你有工作。然而，如果你说没有，那么你会惊奇地发现只是在过去积极地找工作的这四个星期里，你才算失业；否则，你就是“未就业人群”，不算真正失业。 量化需求在我们的社会中根深蒂固。但是统计学家们能获得客观事实这个想法不可能不存在。这个想法也会导致严重的误判。民主党人和共和党人在很多问题上都需要表明立场，但是一个更关键的问题在于两党的重大决策都是基于大致估计，而并非用批判的眼光和开放性的思维来审阅大量的原始数据资料。
单选题     What does the author think of the unemployment figures and other statistics?______
 
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】由题干中的unemployment figures和other statistics定位到第二段首句和第三句。 细节辨认题。文章第二段主要指出作者对失业率数字和其他数据的看法。文中提到，我们依靠失业率的数字和其他数据来作出评价，但问题是这些数据并不是对现实的客观反映，它们只是最接近而已，所以本题的答案为D。
单选题     One problem with the payroll survey is that _____ .
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】由题干中的problem和payroll survey定位到第三段四至六句。 细节辨认题。定位句指出，电话调查和工资单调查都存在问题。工资单调查的问题在于很容易把某人“算重”及无法获知个体经营者的数量，故B为答案。
单选题     The household survey can be faulty in that ____ .
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】由题干中的household survey定位到第四段，进而最终定位到第二句。 同义转述题。定位句指出，当人们被直接询问的时候，如果话题涉及性、金钱和工作，人们通常会撒谎或者掩盖事实。C中won't provide truthful information是对原文中tend to lie or shade the truth的同义转述，故C为答案。
单选题     At the end of the passage, the author suggests that ____ .
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】由题干中的At the end of the passage直接定位到末段，进而最终定位到末句。 推理判断题。文章末句指出，一个更关键的问题在于两党的重大决策都是基于大致估计，而并非用批判的眼光和开放性思维来审阅大量的原始数据资料。言下之意是指决策者应该用批判的眼光和开放性思维看待失业率数字，故B为答案。