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 years 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 is not until they are 30 that they can afford their own home. Increasingly, it is not until that age that they can afford to get married and start a new life in a new home. It’s only after this age that many young people start thinking about having a child.
So a British person manages to get a job, get a home and get married. Why isn’t he or she then having at least two children on average? The main reason is that it is quite expensive to bring up a child in the UK. Why is it expensive? Well, these days, both parents need to work just to pay for their home and living expenses. Because both parents are at work, that means they then need to pay someone to look after their child during the day. Paying for this childcare is nearly always expensive.
The recent financial crisis is making things even harder for families, since unemployment is rising and even fewer people can afford to have children. 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 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.
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. 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 find jobs to support themselves

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】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

【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】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

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。文章中分析了具體的原因，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】C 細節題。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】B 細節題。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】D 細節題。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。
【小題4】A 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】D 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了。故該詞是指D項。
考點：考查社會現象列短文閱讀
點評：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。文章中分析了具體的原因，也提及了英國政府為了解決這個問題做出了很多的努力。本文要求考生在閱讀理解整體語篇的基礎上，把握文章的真正內涵。要吃透文章的字面意思，從字里行間捕捉有用的提示和線索，這是推理的前提和基礎;要對文字的表面信息進行挖掘加工，由表入里，由淺入深，從具體到抽象，從非凡到一般，通過分析、綜合、判定等，進行深層處理，符合邏輯地推理。不能就是論事，斷章取義，以偏概全。要忠實于原文，以文章提供的事實和線索為依據。