2010年12月大学英语六级考试真题及答案,标签：英语六级考试真题,英语六级考试题型,http://www.dxs56.com
　　To tackle the problem of ageing populations at its root, “old” countries would have to rejuvenate (使年轻) themselves by having more of their own children. A number of them have tried, some more successfully than others. But it is not a simple matter of offering financial incentives or providing more child care. Modern urban life in rich countries is not well adapted to large families. Women find it hard to combine family and career. They often compromise by having just one child.
　　And if fertility in ageing countries does not pick up? It will not be the end of the world, at least not for quite a while yet, but the world will slowly become a different place. Older societies may be less innovative and more strongly disinclined to take risks than younger ones. By 2025 at the latest, about half the voters in America and most of those in western European countries will be over 50—and older people turn out to vote in much greater number than younger ones. Academic studies have found no evidence so far that older voters have used their power at the ballot box to push for policies that specifically benefit them, though if in future there are many more of them they might start doing so.
　　Nor is there any sign of the intergenerational warfare predicted in the 1990s. After all, older people themselves mostly have families. In a recent study of parents and grown-up children in 11 European countries, Karsten Hank of Mannheim University found that 85% of them lived within 25km of each other and the majority of them were in touch at least once a week.
　　Even so, the shift in the centre of gravity to older age groups is bound to have a profound effect on societies, not just economically and politically but in all sorts of other ways too. Richard Jackson and Neil Howe of America’s CSIS, in a thoughtful book called The Graying of the Great Powers, argue that, among other things, the ageing of the developed countries will have a number of serious security implications.
　　For example, the shortage of young adults is likely to make countries more reluctant to commit the few they have to military service. In the decades to 2050, America will find itself playing an ever-increasing role in the developed world’s defence effort. Because America’s population will still be growing when that of most other developed countries is shrinking, America will be the only developed country that still matters geopolitically (地缘政治上).
　　Ask me in 2020
　　There is little that can be done to stop population ageing, so the world will have to live with it. But some of the consequences can be alleviated. Many experts now believe that given the right policies, the effects, though grave, need not be catastrophic. Most countries have recognised the need to do something and are beginning to act.
　　But even then there is no guarantee that their efforts will work. What is happening now is historically unprecedented. Ronald Lee, director of the Centre on the Economics and Demography of Ageing at the University of California, Berkeley, puts it briefly and clearly: “We don’t really know what population ageing will be like, because nobody has done it yet. “
　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
　　1. In its 1994 report, the World Bank argued that the current pension system in most countries could ______.
　　[A] not be sustained in the long term
　　[B] further accelerate the ageing process
　　[C] hardly halt the growth of population
　　[D] help tide over the current ageing crisis
　　2. What message is conveyed in books like Young vs Old?
　　[A] The generation gap is bound to narrow.
　　[B] Intergenerational conflicts will intensify.
　　[C] The younger generation will beat the old.
　　[D] Old people should give way to the young.
　　3. One reason why pension and health care reforms are slow in coming is that ______.
　　[A] nobody is willing to sacrifice their own interests to tackle the problem
　　[B] most people are against measures that will not bear fruit immediately
　　[C] the proposed reforms will affect too many people’s interests
　　[D] politicians are afraid of losing votes in the next election
　　4. The author believes the most effective method to solve the pension crisis is to ______.
　　[A] allow people to work longer [C] cut back on health care provisions
　　[B] increase tax revenues [D] start reforms right away
　　5. The reason why employers are unwilling to keep older workers is that ______.
　　[A] they are generally difficult to manage
　　[B] the longer they work, the higher their pension
　　[C] their pay is higher than that of younger ones
　　[D] younger workers are readily available
　　6. To compensate for the fast-shrinking labour force, Japan would need ______.
　　[A] to revise its current population control policy
　　[B] large numbers of immigrants from overseas

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