Question

　America is growing older. Fifty - eight years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 65 or older. To day, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 65. The aging of the population will affect（影響）American society in many ways—education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the graying of America has made us a very different society—one in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior（行為） is suitable（合適）at various , ages.

　　A person s age no longer tells you anything about his/her social position, marriage or health. There’s no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school, get a job, or stop working isn’t as strong as it used to be. It doesn’t surprise us to hear of a 29 - year - old university president or a 35 - year -old grandmother, or a 70 year - old man who has become a father for the first time. Public ideas are changing.

　　Many people say, “I am much younger than my mother— or my father— was at my age. ”No one says“Act your age” any more. We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways.

It can be learnt from the text that the aging of the population in America ________ .

　　A. has made people feel younger

　　B. has changed people’s social position

　　C. has changed people’s understanding of age

　　D. has slowed down the country’s social development

The underlined word “one” refers to ________ .

　　A. a society　　　　　　　　　　　B. America

　　C. a place　　　　　　　　　　　　D. population

“Act your age” means people should ________ .

　　A. be active when they are old

　　B. do the right thing at the right age

　　C. show respect for their parents young or old

　　D. take more physical exercise suitable to their age

If a 25 - year - old man becomes general manager of a big firm, the writer of the text would most probably consider it ________ .

　　A. normal　　　　　　　　　　　　B. wonderful

C. unbelievable　　　　　　　　　　D. unreasonable

Answer 1

【小題1】C

【小題2】A

【小題3】B

【小題4】A

解析:

【小題1】短文將美國社會擬人化，把age和gray這兩個常用作名詞的詞當做動詞用時，比喻美國社會人口的老齡化，并說明了人口老齡化給整個社會，特別是給人們對年齡問題的理解帶來的變化。

　　【小題2】one用以代替上文中所提到過的一個名詞a （different）society，是泛指的用法，并不特指美國社會。

　【小題3】“Act your age”就是第一段最后一句話中所提到的idea of what kind of behavior is suitable at various ages．在不同的年齡什么樣的行為是合適的。

　　【小題4】此題為一主觀題，要求考生判斷作者態(tài)度。第二段的最后兩句話和最后一段的最后一句都反映了作者的態(tài)度，“It doesn’t surprise us to hear of…”和“We’ve stopped looking with surprise at…”。由于人們對年齡問題的觀點的變化，25歲的年輕人成為一家大公司的總經(jīng)理已不再令人驚訝。