Question

【題目】 As Americans live longer and the job market stays competitive, fast-food chains are increasingly hiring from senior centers, churches and aging advocacy groups like AARP, Bloomberg reports. And it’s not just death rate and economic trends driving the change. Seniors have more polished social skills, but teens are stopped from growing up online with fewer real-world connections.

“I spend a lot of time with young kids. They can be very disrespectful,” 63-year-old Church’s Chicken manager Stevenson Williams tells Bloomberg of his teen co-workers. “You have to coach them and tell them this is your job, not the street,” Williams says. “Having ‘soft skills’ such as politeness often comes more easily to the seniors, who have had a lifetime of experience in the workforce to learn how to treat customers compared with young people.”

Employers thus get a more mature worker at no additional cost — but the reasons for seniors outpacing teen hires are many. The US Census Bureau reported this year that, by 2035, there will be more Americans over age 65 than there are children under age 18. Plus, fewer people in their prime (盛年) are working — thanks to the unaffordable child care that forces many parents to stay at home, according to a joint study by Princeton University.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) forecasts the number of American workers aged 65 to 74 will swell 4.5 percent by 2024, while the 16-to-24s will shrink 1.4 percent. By 2024, the BLS projects the labor force will grow to about 164 million people. That number includes about 41 million people aged 55 and older — about 13 million of those who are expected to be aged 65 and up.

So don’t be surprised to see even more service with a smile and silver hair in that drive-through lane.

【1】What does the underlined part “the change” in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A.Americans live longer.

B.The job market gets competitive.

C.Senior centers are becoming more.

D.Fast-food chains hire more senior people.

【2】Why are seniors the hot new fast-food employees according to Williams?

A.Teens are easy to quit.

B.They demand less pay.

C.Teens are hard to control and manage.

D.They are good at socializing.

【3】Which of the following can be regarded as a “soft skill”?

A.Having high education.B.Knowing customers’ needs.

C.Being skillful at computer.D.Having lots of connections with real-world

【4】Why do many parents stay at home according to Paragraph 3?

A.They find it hard to find a job.

B.They prefer to look after children.

C.They find it hard to pay for child care.

D.They are unwilling to work with senior citizens.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】D

【3】B

【4】C

【解析】

這是一篇說明文。文章主要介紹了在美國將有越來越多的老年人進(jìn)入快餐連鎖店工作，分析了其中的原因。

【1】

詞句猜測題。由第一段As Americans live longer and the job market stays competitive, fast-food chains are increasingly hiring from senior centers, churches and aging advocacy groups like AARP, Bloomberg reports. And it's not just death rate and economic trends driving the change.可知，彭博社報(bào)道，由于美國人壽命延長，就業(yè)市場競爭激烈，快餐連鎖店越來越多地從老年中心、教堂和美國退休人員協(xié)會等老齡倡導(dǎo)組織招聘員工。不僅僅是死亡率和經(jīng)濟(jì)趨勢推動(dòng)了這一變化。結(jié)合上文，the change指的是快餐店雇傭更多的老年員工。故選D項(xiàng)。

【2】

細(xì)節(jié)理解題。由第二段“You have to coach them and tell them this is your job, not the street,” Williams says. “Having ‘soft skills’ such as politeness often comes more easily to the seniors, who have had a lifetime of experience in the workforce to learn how to treat customers compared with young people.”可知，威廉姆斯說：“你必須指導(dǎo)他們，告訴他們這是你的工作，不是街頭�！薄芭c年輕人相比，年長的人更容易擁有禮貌等‘軟技能’。他們有一輩子的工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)，學(xué)會了如何對待客戶。”根據(jù)這個(gè)所說，老年人有禮貌，有經(jīng)驗(yàn)，知道如何跟顧客相處，跟選項(xiàng)D中的socialize是類似的意思。故選D項(xiàng)。

【3】

推理判斷題。由第二段“Having ‘soft skills’ such as politeness often comes more easily to the seniors, who have had a lifetime of experience in the workforce to learn how to treat customers compared with young people.”可知，與年輕人相比，年長的人更容易掌握禮貌等“軟技能”，他們有一輩子的工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)，學(xué)會了如何對待客戶�？梢娺@里的“軟技能”指的跟人相處的，類似禮貌的這方面的技能，B項(xiàng)指的是了解顧客的需要，即善解人意，屬于這種技能之一。故選B項(xiàng)。

【4】

細(xì)節(jié)理解題。由第三段Plus, fewer people in their prime (盛年) are working — thanks to the unaffordable child care that forces many parents to stay at home, according to a joint study by Princeton University.可知，此外，據(jù)普林斯頓大學(xué)的一項(xiàng)聯(lián)合研究顯示，由于負(fù)擔(dān)不起兒童保育費(fèi)用，許多父母不得不呆在家里，青壯年工作的人越來越少。由此可知，許多家長待在家里的原因是難以支付兒童照管費(fèi)用。故選C項(xiàng)。

解細(xì)節(jié)理解題，不要求讀者對客觀的事實(shí)作解釋或判斷，只需要從閱讀材料中直接獲取信息。如第四題，題目問為什么許多家長待在家里，由第三段Plus, fewer people in their prime (盛年) are working — thanks to the unaffordable child care that forces many parents to stay at home, according to a joint study by Princeton University.”可知，此外，據(jù)普林斯頓大學(xué)的一項(xiàng)聯(lián)合研究顯示，由于負(fù)擔(dān)不起兒童保育費(fèi)用，許多父母不得不呆在家里，青壯年工作的人越來越少。由此可知，許多家長待在家里的原因是難以支付兒童照管費(fèi)用。故選C項(xiàng)。