单选题     Across the rich world, well-educated people increasingly work longer than the less-skilled. Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional degree are in the workforce, compared with 32% of men with only a high-school certificate. This gap is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated well-off and the unskilled poor. Rapid technological advance has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while squeezing those of the unskilled. The consequences, for individuals and society, are profound.
    The world is facing an astonishing rise in the number of old people, and they will live longer than ever before. Over the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double, from 600 million to 1.1 billion. The experience of the 20th century, when greater longevity (长寿) translated into more years in retirement rather than more years at work, has persuaded many observers that this shift will lead to slower economic growth, while the swelling ranks of pensioners will create government budget problems.
    But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the idle old misses a new trend, the growing gap between the skilled and the unskilled. Employment rates are falling among younger unskilled people, whereas older skilled folk are working longer. The divide is most extreme in America, where well-educated baby-boomers(二战后生育高峰期出生的美国人)are putting off retirement while many less-skilled younger people have dropped out of the workforce.
    Policy is partly responsible. Many European governments have abandoned policies that used to encourage people to retire early. Rising life expectancy (预期寿命), combined with the replacement of generous defined-benefit pension plans with less generous defined-contribution ones, means that even the better-off must work longer to have a comfortable retirement. But the changing nature of work also plays a big role. Pay has risen sharply for the highly educated, and those people continue to reap rich rewards into old age because these days the educated elderly are more productive than the preceding generation.Technological change may well reinforce that shift: the skills that complement computers, from management know how to creativity, do not necessarily decline with age.
单选题     What is happening in the workforce in rich countries? ______
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】细节辨认题。定位句指出，在富裕国家，与技术水平较低的人相比，受教育程度较高的人工作年限越来越长。由此可见，目前正出现在富裕国家劳动力大军中的现象是：学历较高的人工作时间往往相对较长，故答案为B。
单选题     What has helped deepen the divide between the well-off and the poor? ______
 
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推理判断题。定位句承接上文指出，这一差距是不断加剧的高学历高收入人群与低技术低收人人群之间分化的表现之一。第四句进一步分析了原因，即技术的迅速发展使掌握高级技术的人群收入增加，同时也给那些技术水平较低的人群造成很大压力。由此可见，技术的迅速发展加大了贫富差距，故答案为B。
单选题     What do many observers predict in view of the experience of the 20th century? ______
 
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】细节辨认题。定位句指出，在20世纪，长寿已经变成退休后多生活的年限而不是多工作的年限，这一经历已使得众多观察家们相信，这一变化将导致经济增长的减缓，同时，退休金申领人数量的激增还将带来政府预算问题。由此可见，根据20世纪的经历，观察家们预测到的问题之一是经济增长将受到影响而逐渐减缓，故答案为A。
单选题     What is the result of policy changes in European countries? ______
 
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推理判断题。定位句提到，许多欧洲国家政府已经摒弃了曾经鼓励人们尽早退休的政策。第三句则对本句内容进行进一步解释，指出预期寿命的延长，再加上慷慨的养老金固定收益计划被不再慷慨的养老金固定缴费计划所替代，这些都意味着即使那些有钱人也必须工作更长的年限以获得舒适的退休生活。由此可见，政策的变化带来的后果便是有钱人也不得不为了在退休后过上舒适的生活而工作更长的年限，故答案为C。
单选题     What is characteristic of work in the 21st century? ______
 
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】推理判断题。文章第四段第四句提到，工作性质的变化也起到了很大作用。第五句进而对工作性质的变化进行了分析，指出对那些高学历人士而言，工作报酬已经急剧增加，这些人还将继续获得较高的收入，直到老年，因为当今的老龄高学历人群远比上一代人工作更高效。第六句进行了总结，得出结论：技术革新很可能会增强这一转变，作为计算机补充的技术，从经营管理技巧到创新能力，都不会随着年龄的增加而衰退。由此可见，21世纪工作的特点是，比起年龄问题，经营管理技巧、创新能力等更加被看重，故答案为D。