Question

9．Happy birthday!Do birthday really make people happy？Of course they do．Birthdays celebrate the day when we were born．Besides，that extra candle on the cake suggests another year of growth and maturity（成熟）-or so we hope．We all like to imagine that we are getting wiser and not just older．Most of us enjoy seeing the wonder of growth in others，as well．For instance，seeing our children develop and learn new things makes us feel proud．For Americans，like people in most cultures，growing up is a wonderful process．But growing old？That is a different story．
Growing old is not exactly for people in youth-oriented （以年輕人為中心）American culture．Most Americans like to look young，act young and feel young．As the old saying goes，"You're young as you feel．"Older people joke about how many years young they are，rather than how many years old．People in some countries value the aged as a source of experience and wisdom．But Americans seem to favor those who are young，or at least"young at heart"．
Many older Americans find the"golden years"to be anything but golden．Economically，"senior citizens"often try just to get by．Retirement at the age of 65 brings a sharp decrease in personal income．Social security benefits usually cannot make up the difference．Older people may suffer from poor nutrition （營養(yǎng)），medical care，and housing．Some even have the experience of age discrimination（歧視）．American sociologist（社會學(xué)家） Pat Moore once dressed up like an older person and wandered city streets．She was often treated rudely--even cheated and robbed．However，dressed as a young person，she received much more respect．
Unfortunately，the elderly population in America is increasing fast．Why？People are living longer．Fewer babies are being born．And middle-aged"baby boom ers"（嬰兒潮） are rapidly entering the group of the elderly．America may soon be a place where wrinkles（皺紋）are"in"．Marketing experts are already noticing this growing group of consumers．
37．Growing up is a wonderful thing becauseB．
A．people can celebrate their birthdays．
B．people can become more and mature and wiser．
C．people can receive many presents．
D．people will feel younger at heart．
38．We can infer from the second paragraph thatD．
A．young people lack experience and wisdom．
B．American older people often joke about their old age．
C．American culture is very young．
D．different countries have different opinions on the old age．
39．The underlined sentence （i n Paragraph 3）means"B．"
A．the golden years can make the old earn lots of money and receive good medical care
B．the old people in America are probably leading a hard life without good nutrition，medical care or housing．
C．the old in America have to retire at the age of 65．
D．American social security benefits are not good．
40．From the last paragraph we know that the underlined word"in"can be replaced byD．
A．serious    B．bad     C．disappearing slowly      D．growing fast．

Answer 1

分析 文章講述的是，在美國人們更喜歡年輕的感覺以及行為，而美國的老年人正在越來越多．

解答 37．B．細(xì)節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)第一段Birthdays celebrate the day when we were born．Besides，that extra candle on the cake suggests another year of growth and maturity（成熟）-or so we hope．We all like to imagine that we are getting wiser and not just older．可知長大意味著更加的成熟和明智，故選B．
38．D．段落理解題．根據(jù)第二段內(nèi)容，描述的是有些國家的人認(rèn)為老年人是經(jīng)驗和智慧的源泉，但美國人似乎喜歡年輕人，至少是"心理上年輕人"．故選D．
39．B．細(xì)節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)后文描述Social security benefits usually cannot make up the difference．Older people may suffer from poor nutrition （營養(yǎng)），medical care，and housing．Some even have the experience of age discrimination（歧視），這些是美國的老年人可能會遭遇的．故選B．
40．D．細(xì)節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)前面的一句And middle-aged"baby boom ers"（嬰兒潮） are rapidly entering the group of the elderly．可知，美國正在迅速的進(jìn)入老齡化社會，所以這里的in應(yīng)該指的是迅速的增加；故選D．

點評 本文是社會文化類閱讀理解．做這類題材閱讀理解時要求考生對文章通讀一遍，做題時結(jié)合原文和題目有針對性的找出相關(guān)語句進(jìn)行仔細(xì)分析，結(jié)合選項選出正確答案．推理判斷題也是要在抓住關(guān)鍵句子的基礎(chǔ)上合理的分析才能得出正確答案，切忌胡亂猜測，一定要做到有理有據(jù)．