雅思阅读例题解析

小编要分享的是雅思阅读备考类：雅思阅读例题解析

The Problems of Mature Job Hunters

By the year 2000 nearly half the workforce will be over 40 and yet throughout Europe there is a deep ambivalence-if not outright suspicion--towards the capabilities of older workers.

Those over the age of 40 generally take longer to find new employment,but European governments have done little to protect their employment rights.Only Germany,with incen tives to business to encourage the employment of older people,and France,with the introduc.tion of legislation making it illegal to use age barriers in recruitment-or to make employees redundant because of their age-have done anything substantive to combat age discrimination.

Yet even in these two countries,there has been no noticeable improvement in the lot of the older worker;indeed in France job advertisements flout the law openly by asking for appli cants of a certain age.So,should France and Germany be tightening up their laws and should the rest of Europe follow suit?

Bill Robbins,a careers consultant with outplacement specialist DBM,believes not.He said,“legislation against age discrimination has been in existence for well over ten years in the US and Canada,but has had no effect per se."

Employers will always be able to find some reason for turning down an older applicantwithout appearing to break the law.Age laws merely act as a symbol of a commitment to change societal attitudes,and it is these that must be changed if we are to make progress.

Ironically,it was governments which played a leading role in hardening business culture against older workers in the first place.In the late 1970s many European countries were ex tremely concerned about the levels of youth unemployment,and France,Germany and Belgium even initiated incentive schemes for business to encourage older employees to take early retire- ment provided that younger trainees were taken on in their place.As more and more employees took early retirement,often willingly,a new,youth-oriented culture permeated business throughout most of Europe-even in those countries that had taken no active measures to pro-mote it.

Demographic trends mean that governments are now anxious to slow down the policy of early retirement as they realize that they simply do not have the funds to meet their pension promises.But reversing business attitudes is no easy matter.Dianah Wornan,a policy adviser for the Institute of Personnel and Development,said:"There is a widely held belief that older people are less adaptable and trainable.This is just not true:research has shown that differences in capability are as wide within age groups as they are between them."

So what can older job-seekers do?On a practical level it is often recommended that appli- cants either omit their age from a CV or leave it to the end,to ensure that at least it gets read.

Yet Tony Milne,an independent careers consultant,believes that the way forward is for older people themselves to adopt a positive attitude to their age when applying for work.You can't

expect someone else to give you a job if you think you might be too old for it.Many older appli-cants are extremely aggressive or defensive about their age in interviews.They are immediately labeled by potential employers as difficult characters who would have problems fitting into a new organisation and it is for these reasons rather than their age that they are rejec-ted.If older workers can learn to become relaxed and confident about their age,then I am surethat a change in business attitudes will follow.

Questions 1-3

Answer the following questions by writing the appropriate letter A-D in spaces num-

bered on the answer sheet.

1.Which of the following words best characterizes the European attitude to older workers?

A.Disapproval.

B.Dismay.

C.Distrust.

D.Dislike.

2.France,US and Canada have all taken which of the following steps to discourage age discri-

mination?

A.Encourage business to employ older people by offering rewards.

B.Make age discrimination in respect of employment illegal.

C.Refuse to employ younger workers.

D.Enforce age discrimination laws strictly.

3.What did governments do to discourage the employment of older workers in the 1970s?

A.Offer early retirement to all employees.

B.Offer incentives to businesses to take on younger employees.

C.Only employ young trainees.

D.Set specific age limits for employment.

题解

1.C.题目问欧洲国家对于老年劳动力持怎样的态度,文章第一段一开始就对这一问题做了明确回答,“throughout Europe there is a deep ambivalence-if not outright suspicion-towards the capabilities of older workers",由此可知欧洲各国对老年劳动力的能力持怀疑态度,拿不定主意(ambivalence),选项C符合此意,故C为正确答案,选项A(不同意)、B

(灰心)与D(不喜欢)均与文中观点不符.

2.A.题目问法国、美国和加拿大采取了怎样的措施来消除年龄歧视,从题句中关键词“France""US"“Canada"我们可在第二段及第四段找到相关信息"France,with the introduction of legislation making it illegal to use age barriers,have done anything,substan-tive to combat age discrimination"和"Legislation against age discrimination has been in existence for well over ten years in the US and Canada”,由此可知三国均有相关法律规定年

岭歧视是不合法的,可惜的是虽有立法,却未贯彻实施(has had no effect per se),文中这

一观点与选项B观点一致,故B为正确答案,而干扰项D因此排除.选项A,C本身均与

文中内容不符.

3.B.题目问20世纪70年代政府采取了怎样的措施促使企业不再雇佣老年劳动力,旬中

“1970s”使我们不难在第四段找到相关信息“In the late 1970s many European countries

were extremely concerned about the level of youth unemployment..,even initiated incen-

tive schemes for business to encourage elder employees to take early retirement provided

that younger trainees were taken on in their place",由此可知,政府为了提高年轻人的就

业率,甚至采用刺激措施使企业让老年劳动者提早退休,选项B的观点正好与这一观点

一致,故B为正确答案.