PETS

Section III Reading Comprehension (50 minutes) 其中，第66-70题，每题2分。

51、回答51-80题：

Text 1

Opinion polls are now beginning to show that, whoever is to blame and whatever happens from now on, high unemployment is probably here to stay. This means we shall have to make ways of sharing the available employment more widely.

But we need to go further. We must ask some primary questions about the future of work. Would we continue to treat employment as the norm? Would we not rather encourage many other ways for self-respecting people to work? Should we not create conditions in which many of us can work for ourselves, rather than for an employer?

Should we not aim to revive the household and the neighborhood, as well as the factory and the office, as centers of production and work?

The industrial age has been the only period of human history in which most people's work has taken the form of jobs. The industrial age may now be coming to an end, and some of the changes in work patterns which it brought may have to be reversed. This seems a daunting thought. But, in fact, it could provide the prospect of a better fu-ture for work. Universal employment, as its history shows, has not meant economic freedom.

Employment became widespread when the enclosures of the ]7th and 18th centuries made many people depend-ent on paid work by depriving them of the use of the land, and thus of the means to provide a living for themselves.

Then the factory system destroyed the cottage industries and removed work from people's homes. Later, as transpor-tation improved, first by rail and then by road, people commuted longer distances to their places of employment un-til, eventually, many people's work lost all connection with their home lives and the place in which they lived.

Meanwhile, employment put women at a disadvantage. In pre-industrial time, men and women had shared the productive work of the household and village community. Now it became customary for the husband to go out to paid employment, leaving the unpaid work of the home and family to his wife. Tax and benefit regulations still as-sume this norm today and restrict more flexible sharing of work roles between the sexes.

It was not only women whose work status suffered. As employment became the dominant form of work, young people and old people were excluded--a problem now, as more teenagers become frustrated at school and more retired people want to live active lives.

All this may now have to change. The lime has certainly come to switch some effort and resources away from the idealist goal of creating jobs for all, to the urgent practical task of helping many people to manage without full time jobs.

Research carried out in the recent opinion polls shows that__________________

A.available employment should be restricted to a small percentage of the population

B.new jobs must be created in order to rectify high unemployment figures

C.available employment must be more widely distributed among the unemployed

D.the nowaday high unemployment figures are a truth of life

52、 The arrival of the industrial age in our historical evolution meant that__________________

A.universal employment virtually guaranteed prosperity

B.economic freedom came within everyone's control

C.patterns of work were fundamentally changed

D.people's attitudes to work had to be reversed

53、 The enclosures of the ]7th and 18th centuries meant that__________________

A.people were no longer legally entitled to own land

B.people were driven to look elsewhere for means of supporting themselves

C.people were not adequately compensated for the loss of their land

D.people were badly paid for the work they managed to find

54、 The effects of almost universal employment were overwhelming in that__________________

A.the household and village community disappeared completely

B.men now travelled enormous distances to their places of work

C.young and old people became superfluous components of society

D.the work status of those not in paid employment suffered

55、 The article concludes that__________________

A.the creation of jobs for all is an impossibility

B.our efforts and resources in terms of tackling unemployment are insufficient

C.people should begin supporting themselves by learning a practical skill

D.we should help those whose jobs are only part-time

56、回答56-85题：

Text 2

Throughout history there have been many unusual taxes levied on such things as hats, Beds, Baths, marriages,and funerals. At one time England levied a tax on sunlight by collection from every household with six or more win-dows. And according to legend, there was a Turkish ruler who collected a tax each time he dined with one of his subjects. Why? To pay for the wear and tear on his teeth!

Different kinds of taxes help to spread the tax burden. Anyone who pays a tax is said to "bear the burden" of the tax. The burden of a tax may fall more heavily on some persons than on others. That is why the three levels of government in this country use several kinds of taxes. This spreads the burden of taxes among more people. From the standpoint of their use, the most important taxes are income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, and estate, inher-itance, and gift taxes. Some are used by only one level of government; others by two or even all three levels.

Together these different taxes make up what is called our tax system.

Income taxes are the main source of federal revenues. The federal government gets more than three-fourths of its revenue from income taxes. As its name indicated, an income tax is a tax on earnings. Both individuals and busi-ness corporations pay a federal income tax.

The oldest tax in the United States today is the property tax. It provides most of the income for.local govern-ments. It provides at least a part of the income for all but a few states. It is not used by the federal government.

A sales tax is a tax levied on purchases. Most people living in the United States know about sales taxes since they are used in all but four states. Actually there are several kinds of sales taxes, But only three of them are impor-tant. They are general sales taxes, excise taxes, and import taxes.

Other three closely related taxes are estate, inheritance, and gift taxes. Everything a person owns, including both real and personal property, makes up his or her estate. When someone dies, ownership of his or her property or estate passes on to one or more individuals or organizations. Before the property is transferred, however, it is subject to an estate tax if its value exceeds a certain amount.

The reason that the Turkish ruler collected a dining tax is to pay for__________________

A.the inconvenience for him to put on and take off clothes

B.the damage that eating did to his teeth

C.his efforts to cut the food into pieces

D.the decay of his teeth because of sugar

57、 The government levies different kinds of taxes so that__________________

A.the rich have to pay more and the poor less

B.a wider range of taxpayers can he included

C.each of three levels of government could get tax money

D.the burden of taxes falls evenly on everybody

58、 The federal government gets most of theft income from__________________

A.property tax

B.income tax

C.sales tax

D.estate tax

59、 How many states levy import taxes in the U. S. A. ?

A.4.

B.50.

C.46

D.54.

60、 Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A.Any form of property is subject to an estate tax when transferred.

B.Property tax provides a part of income for local government.

C.There are a few kinds of sales taxes.

D.Individuals and corporations both pay income taxes.

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