复合题

While still in its early stages, welfare reform has already been judged a great success in many states—at least in getting people off welfare. It’s estimated that more than 2 million people have left the rolls since 1994. In the past four years, welfare rolls in Athens County have been cut in half. But 70 percent of the people who left in the past two years took jobs that paid less than $6 an hour. The result: The Athens County poverty rate still remains at more than 30 percent-twice the national average.

For advocates（代言人） for the poor, that’s an indication much more needs to be done. “More people are getting jobs, but it’s not making their lives any better,” says Kathy Lain, a policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.

A center analysis of US Census data nationwide found that between 1995 and 1996, a greater percentage of single, female households were earning money on their own, but that average income for these households actually went down.

But for many, the fact that poor people are able to support themselves almost as well without government aid as they did with it is in itself a huge victory. “Welfare was a poison. It was a toxin（毒素） that was poisoning the family,” says Robert Rector, a welfare-reform policy analyst. “The reform is changing the moral climate in low income communities. It’s beginning to rebuild the work ethic（道德观） , which is much more important.”

Mr. Rector and others argued that once “the habit of dependency is cracked,” then the country can make other policy changes aimed at improving living standards.

单选题 From the passage, it can be seen that the author _____.

A、 believes the reform has reduced the government’s burden
B、 insists that welfare reform is doing little good for the poor
C、 is overenthusiastic about the success of welfare reform
D、 considers welfare reform to be fundamentally successful

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】文章第一段第一句提到“While still in its early stages, welfare reform has already been judged a great success in many states—at least in getting people off welfare.”。可知，作者认为福利制度改革使很多人不再单纯依赖福利，从根本上取得了胜利。

单选题 Why aren’t people enjoying better lives when they have jobs?

A、 Because many families are divorced.
B、 Because government aid is now rare.
C、 Because their wages are low.
D、 Because the cost of living is rising.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】文章第一段第四句提到“But 70 percent of the people who left in the past two years took jobs that paid less than $6 an hour.”。由此可知，这些人虽然有工作，但工资只有每个小时6美元，工资水平太低，因此生活水平并没有提高。

单选题 What is worth noting from the example of Athens County is that _____.

A、 greater efforts should be made to improve people’s living standards
B、 70 percent of the people there have been employed for two years
C、 50 percent of the population no longer relies on welfare
D、 the living standards of most people are going down

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】文章第一段最后一句提到“The result: The Athens County poverty rate still remains at more than 30 percent—twice the national average.”。由此可知，该地区贫困率仍保持在较高水平，说明提高人们生活水平仍然任重道远。

单选题 From the passage we know that welfare reform aims at _____.

A、 saving welfare funds
B、 rebuilding the work ethic
C、 providing more jobs
D、 cutting government expenses

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】文章倒数第二段提到“The reform is changing the moral climate in low income communities. It’s beginning to rebuild the work ethic which is much more important.”。由此可知，福利制度改革改变了低收入社会的道德风气，这是非常重要的，因此改革旨在重建职业道德。

单选题 According to the passage, before the welfare reform was carried out, _____.

A、 the poverty rate was lower
B、 average living standards were higher
C、 the average worker was paid higher wages
D、 the poor used to rely on government aid

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】文章第一段提到“While still in its early stages, welfare reform has already been judged a great success in many states—at least in getting people off welfare.”。由此可知，福利制度改革使人们不在单纯的依赖福利，因此可推测，在福利制度改革之前，有很多人依赖于政府补贴生活。