Question

The British aren’t having as many children as they used to , One reason is that people are having children much older than before, meaning they have fewer year in which they can have them,  After years at university ,they need a few years of work experience before they can get the job they want, They might then get married, but it’s incredibly expensive to buy a house in the UK.
The above explains why young British people now don’t move out of their parents’ home until they are around 30 years old on average, It’s only after this age that many young people start thinking about having a child , However , it is quite expensive to bring up a child in the UK, Both parents need to work just to pay for their child during the day, Paying for this childcare is always expensive, What’s more ,financial crisis and unemployment are making things even harder for families, With so much pressure on families, is it any surprise that the divorce rate is so high?
So what is Britain doing to try and save the British family ? The government is trying to make it cheaper to have children , For example ,there are increasing government subsidies for nursery schools, so that parents do not need to bay so much for child care.
The government is also trying to reduce the number of hours British parents have to work to earn enough money to pay their bills, If parents didn’t have to work so many hours, they’d have moue time to spend with their children and wouldn’t need to spend so much on childcare, On average, a Briton works 49 hours a week ,which is the most in Europe, The state is now considering introducing laws to encourage companies to improve their employees’ work –life balance, Let’s hope they’re not too late to save the British family , Otherwise, the British will always be too tired ,and won’t have enough time and money, to have children.
【小題1】Young British people live in their parents’ home until around 30 because       

A．They are allowed to get married at 30

B．they can’t allowed to get married at 30

C．they can’t afford a house of their own until then

D．they enjoy family life with their parents

【小題2】The British are now having fewer children than before for all the following reasons EXCEPT that       

A．they have fewer years to have children

B．they live much shorter lives than before

C．it is more expensive to bring up a child

D．people are losing their jobs because of the recent financial crisis

【小題3】The underlined word “subsidies” in Paragraph 5 means       

A．food paid by the government

B．school buildings for poor students

C．free transportation

D．money from the government to benefit the public

【小題4】It can be inferred from the text that       

A．with long work hours, it is hard for British parents to balance life and work

B．more and more families in Britain are breaking up because they are having fewer children

C．among Europeans, British people work hardest and earn the least

D．childcare takes up too much energy and time for the British

【小題5】To make it cheaper to have children , the British government is         

A．bringing down prices

B．raising the salaries of parents

C．reducing family income tax

D．increasing subsidies for families and nursery schools

Answer 1

【小題1】C
【小題2】B
【小題3】D
【小題4】A
【小題5】D

解析試題分析：本文介紹了英國人的孩子越來越少，生孩子的年齡越來越大。分析了具體的原因，也提及了英國政府為了解決這個問題做出了很多的努力。
【小題1】 細節(jié)題。根據第二段3，4行Increasingly, it is not until that age that they can afford to get married and start a new life in a new home可知直到30歲左右，英國人才買得起房子，才能搬出去住，故C正確。
【小題2】 細節(jié)題。根據1,3,4段meaning they have fewer years in which they can have them.和The recent financial crisis is making things even harder for families,以及The main reason is that it is quite expensive to bring up a child in the UK.可知ACD三項都是原因。B項文章沒有提及。
【小題3】猜詞題。推理題。根據本句there are increasing government subsidies for nursery schools, so that parents do not need to pay so much for child care.說明有越來越多的政府補貼，讓父母親在照顧孩子方面不要付太多的錢。故該詞是指D項。
【小題4】推斷題。根據文章最后一段前3行The government is also trying to reduce the number of hours British parents have to work to earn enough money to pay their bills. If parents didn’t have to work so many hours, they’d have more time to spend with their children and wouldn’t need to spend so much on childcare.說明工作時間太長，英國人很難能夠照顧孩子。所以英國政府就減少人們的工作時間，讓人們有更多的時間來照顧孩子。故A正確。
【小題5】 細節(jié)題：根據文章倒數第二段The government is trying to make it cheaper to have children. For example, there have been increases in money families can claim from the state each month. Also, there are increasing government subsidies for nursery schools, so that parents do not need to pay so much for child care. 說明D項是英國政府所采取的措施。了。
考點：考查社會現(xiàn)象類短文閱讀