【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[听力原文] Today's crisis in care for older people in England has two main causes. First, people are living longer with a lot more complex needs. Second, they rely on a system that has long been marked by a poor relation between national health and social care services. Current services originated in two key measures. They are the National Health Service and the 1948 National Assistance Act. This required local government to provide residential accommodation for older people and supervise care homes run by independent organizations. They also provided home and community services including meals, day centers and home helpers and other subsidized services. The National Health Service was free and wholly publicly provided. It delivered the best health care for all. No such vision guided residential and community care though. The care was substantially provided by voluntary services which work together with local authorities as they long had with eligibility based on income. Today, life expectancy has risen from 66 for a male at birth in 1948 to around 80 now. In addition, there is better overall health and improved medical knowledge in care. This means an unprecedented number of people are surviving longer in conditions requiring expert support. Families provide at least as much of care as they ever did. Even so, they can rarely without subsidized support address serious personal needs. Care for older people faced persistent criticism as these trends became apparent. From the early 1960s, local authorities were required to plan health and welfare services. The aim was to enable older people to remain in their own homes for as long as possible. But this increased concern about the lack of coordination between free health and paid-for social care. Through the 1970s, a number of measures sought to improve matters. However, at a time of financial crisis, funding diminished and little changed. In the 1980s, the government cut spending. Meanwhile, preference for private over public services made management even more difficult. Simultaneously, the number of sick, older people grew. Governments emphasized the need to improve services. They did so though, while doing little to stop the erosion of available aid. Services were irregular across authorities unless you were prepared to pay. They were increasingly difficult to obtain for any but the most severely disabled. Why has sixty years of criticism produce so little change? Discrimination against older people has a long history. Additionally, those affected by inadequate health and social care are too vulnerable to launch the protests that have addressed other forms of discrimination. What is one cause of the current crisis in care for the elderly in England? 录音开头提到今天英国养老危机有两个主要原因。第二个就是他们依靠的是长期以国家卫生和社会护理服务之间关系不佳为特征的制度(a poor relation between national health and social care services)。D项复现录音信息，为答案。 录音没说到缺乏国家和地方政府的监督，以及当前经济危机对国内外的影响，故排除A项和B项。录音中提到了day centers and home helpers，但并末提到管理不善，故排除C项。
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[听力原文] What does the speaker say about residential and community care? 录音说到没有这样的愿景指导住宅和社区护理(residential and community care)，这些护理基本上由志愿服务机构提供(provided by voluntary services)，故A项为答案。 录音未提到privileged和volunteer，故排除B项“它主要迎合特权阶层的需要”和C项“它要求有足够数量的志愿人员”。D项“在过去的六十年里它已经恶化了”利用录音中的sixty years作干扰，录音说的是为什么六十年的批评没有产生什么变化。