【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] Everyone knows about unemployment. But millions of working Americans are now facing a less familiar and perhaps more troubling problem: shrinking wages. It's a phenomenon that takes many forms. Some workers have had to swallow outright pay cuts. Others have lost their jobs and, in the tough labor market of today, have had to settle for new ones at less pay. Still others — including employees at such giants as AT&T, Boise Cascade and Starwood Hotels — have had to accept pay freezes that, when rising prices are factored in, amount to reduced compensation. To add insult to injury, companies everywhere are reducing bonuses and over- time and eroding health and pension benefits. The numbers are grim. For the 500,000 workers laid off since January, the average job search has stretched to a 19-year high of nearly five months — about twice the duration of the typical severance package. According to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, 17% of those who do fred work — nearly double the historical percentage — are settling for less pay. The net result of the various pressures on pay is in the first three months of 2003, median weekly earnings adjusted for inflation fell 1.5%, according to the U.S. Labor Department. That's the biggest drop since 1991, according to Jared Bernstein, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a research group based in Washington. Wage erosion partly explains why the Federal Reserve Board openly frets about the threat of deflation, a downward spiral in prices that can cripple an economy by making debt repayment more difficult and encouraging consum- ers to wait for even lower prices. Adding fuel to the deflation debate, the cost of goods to both consumers and manufacturers fell in April, officials reported last week. [分析] 事实细节的找寻和判断。 全文开篇就点明要讨论的中心话题是美国人所面临的工资缩水问题，并指出这一问题有各种表现方式，并在第一段中一一指出。将各选项内容与之对照，可发现只有选项D的说法与原文不符。因此，选项D的说法是答案。 [解题关键] 将选项与原文相关信息处相比照，可得出正确答案。

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 特定信息的找寻和判断。 根据题干中提到的几家大公司名找寻到原文相关处即第一段第六句，可发现这几家公司的雇员“have had to accept pay freezes...”。由此可知，选项B的说法符合原文内容，是正确答案。 [解题关键] 掌握词性变化，原文中使用了名词性词组pay freezes，而选项中却是动宾结构froze pays，但二者含义相同。

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 数字信息的推理。根据题干中关键词“离职再工作期”找寻到原文相关信息处，即第二段第二句“...the average job search has stretched to a 19-year high of nearly five month—about twice the duration of the typical severance package”即“找工作的平均时间为5个月，这创了19年来的新高，是典型的离职再工作期的两倍”，进行简单除法计算可推断，典型的离职再工作期为2.5个月。因此，选项D的内容与原文意思相符，是正确答案。 [解题关键] 正确利用数字信息做简单的推断。

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 数字信息的找寻和推断。 根据选项中出现的各个数字信息，分别与原文对照，发现选项a和d的内容可与原文第二段第三句“17% of those who do find work—nearly double the historical percentage—are settling for less pay”相对应，即“下岗再就业的人中17%工资较以前有所减少，这一数字是历史水平的两倍”，由此可推断，历史记录中有8.5%的再就业者工资比以前有减少；选项B的内容可与第二段第四句“median weekly earnings...fell 1.5%”相对应；选项C的内容可找寻到原文第二段第二句“For the 500,000 workers laid off since January...”将选项数字与原文对照，可知该选项内容与原文不符。因此，选项C是正确答案。 [解题关键] 正确识别数字信息并对之做简单的推断。

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 因果关系判断。 题干要求判断与通货紧缩有必然关系的内容。文章第二段最后两句谈到通货紧缩将带来什么结果时，在倒数第二句提到选项B和C的内容，即“...cripple an economy by making debt repayment more difficult and encouraging consumers to wait for even lower prices”，在最后一句提到选项D的内容，即“...the cost of goods to both consumers and manufacturers fell in April...”。由此可见，只有选项A的内容与通货紧缩的结果无关，因此为答案项。 [解题关键] 通过信号词可判断上下文的逻辑关系。本文最后“Wage erosion partly explain why...”中why的使用，表明了前后的因果关系。