PASSAGE ONE
(1) Life can be tough for immigrants in America. As a Romanian bank clerk in Atlanta puts it, to find a good job “you have to be like a wolf in the forest—able to smell out the best meat.”And if you can‘t find work, don’t expect the taxpayer to bail you out. Unlike in some European countries, it is extremely hard for an able-bodied immigrant to live off the state. A law passed in 1996 explicitly bars most immigrants, even those with legal status, from receiving almost any federal benefits.
(2) That is one reason why America absorbs immigrants better than many other rich countries, according to a new study by the University of California. The researchers sought to measure the effect of immigration on the native-born in 20 rich countries, taking into account differences in skills between immigrants and natives, imperfect labor markets and the size of the welfare state in each country.
(3) Their results offer ammunition for fans of more open borders. In 19 out of 20 countries, the authors calculated that shutting the doors entirely to foreign workers would make the native-born worse off. Never mind what it would do to the immigrants themselves, who benefit far more than anyone else from being allowed to cross borders to find work.
(4) The study also suggests that most countries could handle more immigration than they currently allow. In America, a one-percentage point increase in the proportion of immigrants in the population made the native-born 0.05% better off. The opposite was true in some countries with generous or ill-designed welfare states, however. A one-point rise in immigration made the native-born slightly worse off in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. In Belgium, immigrants who lose jobs can receive almost two-thirds of their most recent wage in state benefits, which must make the hunt for a new job less urgent.
(5) None of these effects was large, but the study undermines the claim that immigrants steal jobs from natives or drag down their wages. Many immigrants take jobs that Americans do not want, the study finds. This “smooths” the labor market and ultimately creates more jobs for locals. Native-owned grocery stores do better business because there are immigrants to pick the fruit they sell. Indian computer scientists help American software firms expand. A previous study found that because immigrants typically earn less than locals with similar skills, they boost corporate profits, prompting companies to grow and hire more locals.
Increase in immigration in Austria fails to improve locals‘ life mainly because of ________.
文章第四段第三句提到“The opposite was true in some countries with generous or ill-designed welfare states, however”， 在福利丰厚或者体系不合理的一些国家中， 情况则与此相反。 接下来又举了奥地利、 比利时、德国、 卢森堡、 荷兰、 瑞典和瑞士这些国家为例。 由此可知， 奥地利移民人数的增加未能改善当地人生活主要是因为其福利体系不合理。 故 C 为答案。
Who will favor the study results by researchers from the University of California?
文章最后一句提到“A previous study found that because immigrants typically earn less than locals with similar skills, they boost corporate profits, prompting companies to grow and hire more locals”， 由于移民通常比其他拥有类似技能的当地人挣得少， 使企业利润提高了， 促进了企业发展。 由此可知， 美国的企业家们会喜欢研究结果。 故 B 为答案。
It can be inferred from the passage that the author‘s attitude is ________ towards immigration.
文章介绍了加利福尼亚大学两项研究的发现， 阐述了外来移民给移民国家带来的好处。 可以推断， 作者对移民持赞同的态度。 故 A 为答案。
【全文翻译】
（1） 对于在美国， 移民的生活可能会很艰难。 正如亚特兰大一位罗马尼亚银行职员所言， 要找到一份好工作，“你必须像森林里的狼一样——能够嗅出最好的肉。” 如果你找不到工作， 别指望纳税人来救你脱离苦海。 这里与一些欧洲国家不同的是， 四肢健全的移民想靠政府的救助生活是非常困难的。 1996 年通过的一项法案明确禁止大部分移民， 甚至包括那些拥有合法身份的移民， 享受任何联邦福利。
（2） 根据加利福尼亚大学的一项新研究， 这就是美国比许多其他发达国家更能吸收移民的原因之一。 研究人员试图评估 20 个发达国家中外来移民对本地居民的影响， 该研究将移民与本地人的技能差异、 不完善的劳动力市场以及各国福利系统的规模等因素考虑在内。
（3） 他们的研究结果为边境开放的支持者提供了论据。 研究人员得出结论， 对外国工人完全关闭大门将使本地人的状况更糟糕， 在 20 个国家中有 19 个国家都是这种情况。 无论这对移民本身会造成什么影响， 允许他们跨境找工作， 对移民的好处远比其他人多。
（4） 研究还表明， 大多数国家可以处理移民人数， 比目前所容纳的移民人数更多。 在美国， 移民所占的人口比例每增加一个百分点， 就会使本地人的生活水平提高 0.05%。 然而， 在福利丰厚或者不合理的一些国家， 情况却恰恰相反。 在奥地利、 比利时、 德国、 卢森堡、 荷兰、 瑞典和瑞士， 移民人数每增加 1%， 本地人的生活水平就会下降一些。 在比利时， 失业的移民可以获得最近工资三分之二的国家补助， 这就使人们不再那么急着找新工作。
（5） 这些影响都不是很大， 但这项研究推翻了移民抢走当地人工作或压低他们工资的说法。 研究发现， 很多移民从事着美国人不想干的工作。 这不仅扫清了劳动力市场的障碍， 最终还为本地人创造了更多就业机会。 当地的杂货店生意更好了， 就是因为有移民采摘他们售卖的水果。 还有印度计算机科学家帮助美国的软件公司扩大规模。 之前的一项研究还发现， 由于移民通常比其他拥有类似技能的当地人挣得少， 这使得企业的利润提高了，促进企业发展并雇佣更多的本地人。