单选题 For an increasing number of students at American universities, Old is suddenly in. The reason is obvious; the graying of America means jobs, coupled with the aging of the baby-boom (生育高峰) generation, a longer life span means that the nation"s elderly population is bound to expand significantly over the next 50 years. By 2050, 25 percent of all Americans will be older than 65, up from 14 percent in 1995. The change poses profound questions for government and society, of course. But it also creates career opportunities in medicine and health professions, and in law and business as well. "In addition to the doctors, we"re going to need more sociologists, biologists, urban planners and specialized lawyers," says Professor Edward Schneider of the University of Southern California"s (USC) School of Gerontology (老年学). Lawyers can specialize in "elder law", which covers everything from trusts and estates to nursing-home abuse and age discrimination (歧视). Businessmen see huge opportunities in the elder market because the baby boomers, 74 million strong, are likely to be the wealthiest group of retirees in human history. "Any student who combines an expert knowledge in gerontology with, say, an MBA or law degree will have a license to print money. " one professor says. Margarite Santos is a 21-year-old senior at USC. She began college as a biology major but found she was "really bored with bacteria". So she took a class in gerontology and discovered that she liked it. She says, "I did volunteer work in retirement homes and it was very satisfying. " (266 words)
单选题 "…Old is suddenly in" (Line 1, Para. 1) most probably means "______".
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析：本题属于句意理解题。题干定位于原文第一段第一句，其大意是对越来越多的美国大学生而言，“老”突然变得受欢迎了，原因很显然：美国的老年化意味着工作机会。另外，联系第一段第二句话中的“the graying”及末段提到的Margarite改修gerontology(老年学)课程的例子可知，引文中“Old”指的就是老年学，由此可推断，“in”有popular(受欢迎)之意。故选B“老年学突然变得受欢迎了”。A“美国变成了老人国”；C“在美国校园里老教授增多”和D“美国高校意识到有必要招收老年学生”与文章内容衔接不上，均应排除。
单选题 With the aging of America, lawyers can benefit______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析：本题属于细节题。根据第二段第一句话“Lawyers can…age discrimination”可以概括出，律师可为老年人提供多种服务，故选B“从为老人提供各种特殊服务中受益”。A“从老年人法律中受益”文中未提及；C“丰富他们的专业知识”不够精确，应该是相关老年学的知识；D“赢得老人的信任以谋取利益”与原文不符，原文中的“trust”是信托，而不是信任的意思，故排除。
单选题 Why can businessmen make money in the emerging elder market?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析：本题属于细节推断题。文章第二段第二句提出，商人看出老年人市场存在着无限商机，因为“baby-boom”那代人有740多万人，且他们可能是人类历史上最富有的一群退休者，暗示其消费能力，因此选项C“老年人有巨大购买力”符合文章内容，为正确答案。A“退休者在花钱上更大方”；B“他们可以雇用更多的老年学专家”和D“将有更多的老年人工作”在文中未提及，均是错误的。
单选题 Who can make big money in the new century according to the passage?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】解析：本题属于推理题。由题干“make big money”定位到末段的“an expert knowledge in gerontology with， say， an MBA or law degree will have a license to print money”(=make big money)，意思是MBA和法学专业的学生如果拥有老年学知识，将获得“印钞许可证”。这是一个夸张幽默的说法，意指要源源不断地挣到大钱的必备条件是：专业精通、对老年学具有相当知识，而D“拥有大量老年学知识的专家”，就是这句话的同义表达。A“有商业头脑的退休者”和B“在退休者之家工作的志愿者”在文中未提，均错。C“有MBA或律师学位的高校毕业生”只符合了其中一个条件，不准确。
单选题 It can be seen from the passage that the expansion of America"s elderly population
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析：本题属于主旨题。根据第一段中的“the graying of American means jobs”和“it also creates career opportunities in medicine and health professions and in law and business as well”(这也在医药、卫生行业以及法律、商业方面创造了工作机会)可见原文指出了许多人将受益于美国社会的老龄化，所以选A“将给许多领域带来好的工作机会”。B“给社会带来沉重负担”，文中只讲益处，故排除。C“会导致养老院的虐待事件和年龄歧视”，根据文意，老年扩大化与虐待和年龄歧视之间没因果关系，故排除。D“在大学里创造新的学习领域”，文章没提到老年学以及相关的知识是否是新的研究，也应排除。