The country"s biggest challenge now is the plight of lower-income Americans, who are under severe and sustained economic pressure. Today, America resembles a tale of two cities. Those who own homes or stocks have benefited from the recovery in these asset classes and are moving up again. But 40% of working-age families earn $ 40,000 a year or less. Generally they live within 250% of the official poverty level, which is the eligibility threshold for food stamps. Indeed, judging from current trends, half of today"s 20-year-olds will receive food stamps during their adult lives. More broadly, median household income is still 8% below the precrisis level, and those who have not completed college are seeing declines in anticipated lifetime earnings compared with their peers with college degrees. This is the primary economic challenge. If a third of the population has little purchasing power, it will be hard to achieve the desired rate of long-term growth. The US needs to improve the work skills of this group, strengthen the social safety net and increase the number of young Americans receiving a full college education. Although doing more to relieve the financial burdens of working Americans is good economics, it is also, and perhaps more important, a matter of values. For much of the 20th century Americans strove, with much success, to build a fairer and more inclusive society. But today, too many working families are living paycheck to paycheck or even in outright poverty, while the toeholds(克服困难的办法)to economic stability become fewer and farther between. With the economy"s near and medium term economic outlook strong, now is the time to remove the barriers that are keeping hardworking Americans walking a far too thin financial line.

单选题 The biggest challenge that America faces is______.

单选题 We know from the first paragraph that______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：选项[A]对应原文：Indeed，judging from current trends，half of today’s 20一year—oldswill receive food stamps during their adult lives．原文说的是按照当前趋势预计未来会怎么样，但本身这件事并未发生，故选项[A]是错误的。选项[B]对应原文：The country’s biggest challengenow is the plight of lower-income Americans，who are under severe and sustained economic pres—sure．文章说的是低收入美国人长期面临经济压力，而非大多数美国人。文章并未说低收入美国人有多少，即使后文提到了40％，也未达到大多数。故该项错误。[C]项对应原文:．．．thosewho have not completed college are seeing declines in anticipated lifetime earnings compared withtheir peers with college degrees．文章说的是未完成大学学业的群体收入更低，与该项表述完全相反，故该项错误。选项[D]对应原文:．．．median household income is still 8％ below the precrisis level．大意为：中等家庭收人比经济危机前水平要低。而该项意为：在经济危机前，中等家庭收入比今天的要高。该项是对原文这句话的改写，故选项[D]是正话反说，是正确的。

单选题 In order to achieve long-term growth, the U. S. needs to do all EXCEPT______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解析：根据long—term growth定位到第二段第二句，答案出现在第三句：The U．S．needs toimprove the work skills of this group，strengthen the social safety net and increase the number ofyoung Americans receiving a full college education．其中improve the work skills对应选项[A]；strengthen the social safety net对应选项[B]；increase the number of young Americans receiving afull college education对应选项[D]。故答案为选项[C]。

单选题 The last two paragraphs tell us that______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：答案出现在第三段but之后：But today，too many working families are living pay-check to paycheck or even in outright poverty．其中提到许多工作家庭面临贫困，故[A]是正确的。选项[B]对应原文:．．．while the toeholds to economic stability become fewer and farther between．其中提到使经济稳定的办法越来越少，可见选项[B]表述的“美国经济情况如今已经持续稳定”是错误的。选项[C]对应原文：For much of the 20th century Americans strove，withmuch success，to build a fairer and more inclusive society．文章提到美国致力于建设平等包容的社会，并没有与其他国家进行对比，因此该项的than other countries是错误的。选项[D]中的the economic outlook is bad与原文最后一段首句的economic outlook strong截然相反，故错误。

单选题 The underlined phrase "living paycheck to paycheck"(Para 3, line 4)probably means______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：语义题要从上下文寻找同义替换，原文提到：But today，too many working familiesare living paycheck to paycheck or even in outright poverty．其中or一词提示并列，后面出现poverty一词，故我们知道living paycheck to paycheck是接近贫困的意思。而选项[A]“过着富裕的生活”明显错误。[B]项“获得太多的工资”也明显与之不符。选项[C]“过着远远超过贫困线的生活”也是在强调不贫困，故只有选项[D]“生活在巨大的经济压力下”是对的。