单选题

Modern industrial society grants little status to old people. In fact, such a society has a system of built-in obsolescence. There is no formal system for continuing our education throughout our life in order to keep up with rapidly changing knowledge. When our education and job skills have grown obsolete, we are treated exactly like those who have never gained an education or job skills and are not encouraged or given the opportunity to begin anew.
As a society becomes more highly developed, the overall status of older people diminishes. Improved health technology creates a large pool of old people, who compete for jobs with the young. However, economic technology lowers the demand for workers and creates new jobs for which the skills of the aged are obsolete, forcing older people into retirement. At the same time, young people are being educated in the new technology and are keeping pace with rapid changes in knowledge. Finally, urbanization creates age-segregated neighborhoods. Because the old live on fixed incomes, they must often live in inferior housing. All these factors -- retirement, obsolete knowledge and skills, inferior standards of living -- lower the status of the aged in society.
A century ago, when one could expect to live only to 50 or so, the life span more or less coincided with the occupation and family cycle. But today the average life span allows for fifteen to twenty years of life after these cycles. It appears that our life span is outpacing our usefulness in society.

单选题 By "a system of built-in obsolescence" the author means______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 推断题型。根据开篇的第二、三句In fact, such a society has a system ofbuilt-in obsolescence. There is no formal system for continuing our education throughout our life in order to keep up with rapidly changing knowledge．(社会有其体系的内在弊端。没有终生继续教育的正规体系以使老年人跟上知识的更新。)

单选题 According to the first paragraph, which of the following is true?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 是非题型。根据第一段第四句When our education and job skills have grown obsolete, we are treated exactly like those who have never gained an education or job skills and are not encouraged or given the opportunity to begin anew．一旦我们的教育和技能落后了，就没有受教育、学技能的机会了，也就没有重新再来的机会了。

单选题 The more highly developed a society is,______.

单选题 The high development of economic technology______.

单选题 Which of the following statements is NOT true?

单选题 According to this passage, the status of the aged is lowered by their______.

单选题 The sentence "our life span outpaces our usefulness" means we can live longer______.

单选题 The author's attitude toward the aged is______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 态度题型。从文章头两句Modem industrial society grants little status to old people．In fact, such a society has a system of built-in obsolescence．以及全文看，作者一直对老年人因受不到继续教育而落伍导致退休，从而在社会中失去地位而感到同情。realistic现实的；optimistic乐观的；pessimistic悲观的；sympathetic同情的。