资料：Thepovertylineistheminimumi-名校题库网

资料： The poverty line is the minimum income that people need for an acceptable standard of living. People with incomes below the poverty line are considered poor. Economists study the causes of poverty in order to find solutions to the problem.

As the general standard of living in the country rises, the poverty line does, too. Therefore, even with today’s relatively high standard of living, about 10 percent of the people in the United States are below the poverty line. However, if these people had stable jobs, they could have an acceptable standard of living. Economists suggest several reasons why poor people do not have jobs.

For one thing, more than half of the poor people in the United States are not qualified to work. Over 40 percent of the poor. People are children. By law, children less than 16 years old cannot work in many industries. A large number of poor people are Old. Many companies do not hire people over 65 years old, the normal retirement age.

Some poor adults do not look for jobs for a variety of personal reasons: they are sick, they do not have any motivation, they have family problems, or they do not believe that they can find a job.

Other poor people look for a job but cannot find one. Many poor adults never went to high school. Therefore, when they look for jobs, they have few skills that they can offer.

At the present time, the government thinks it can reduce poverty in the country in the following ways. First, if the national economy grows, businesses and industries hire more workers. Some of the poor who are qualified to look for jobs may find employment. Then they will no longer be below the poverty line. Second, if society invests in the poor, the poor will become more productive. If the government spends money on social programs, education, and training for poor people, the poor will have the skills to offer. Then it is more likely that they can find jobs.

Finally, if the government distributes society's income differently, it raises some poor people above the poverty line. The government collects taxes from the non－poor and gives money to the poor. These payments to the poor are called welfare. In 1975 over 18 million people in the United States received welfare.

Some economists are looking for better solutions to the poverty problem. However, at the present time, many people depend on welfare for a minimally acceptable standard of living.

For the time being, what is the last solution to guarantee the basic standard of living?

A.The growing national economy
B.The tax collections from the non-poor classes
C.More choices of selectable job vacancies
D.Goverrnment’s investments on the poor to improve their working skills

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答案： B

本题解析：

本题考查的是细节理解。

【关键词】last solution；guarantee；standard of living

【主题句】倒数第二段Finally, if the government distributes society's income differently, it raises some poor people above the poverty line. The government collects taxes from the non－poor and gives money to the poor. These payments to the poor are called welfare. （最后，如果政府分配社会收入不同，会将一些穷人提升到贫困线之上。政府从非贫困人口中征税，把钱分给穷人。我们把这些分给穷人的费用称为福利。）

【解析】第4题问“目前保证基本生活水平的最终办法是什么？”。根据问题里的“last solution”找到倒数第二段。该段说通过征税的方法，政府把收集上来的钱发给贫困人口，从而使他们摆脱贫困线以下的境遇，这种方法被称为福利。A选项“国民经济增长”，文章第六段出现“First, if the national economy grows”，属于第一个解决方法，和问题里的last不符，排除；B选项“来自非贫困阶级的税收”，和主题句当中的“The government collects taxes from the non－poor（政府从非贫困人口中征税）”信息一致，即为答案；C选项“更多可选择的职位”，文章第六段指出“First, if the national economy grows, businesses and industries hire more workers.（如果国民经济增长，工商业会雇佣更多的人）”，和C选项有更多的职位一致，但和题干里的last solution不一致；D选项“政府更多地投资穷人，提高其工作技能”，第六段“Second… If the government spends money on social programs, education, and training for poor people, the poor will have the skills to offer. （第二，如果政府投资更多的钱在社会项目，教育，贫困人口培训上，穷人就会有工作能力。）”该句话和D选项一致，但属于第二个解决方法，和last solution不一致。