閱讀理解：

　　Who takes care of the elderly in the United States today?The fact is that family members provide over 80% of the care that elderly people need. In most cases the elderly live in their own homes. A very small percentage of America's elderly live in nursing homes.

　　Samuel Preston, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, studied how the American family is changing. He reported that by the time the average American couple reaches about 40 years of age, their parents are usually still alive. The statistics show the change in lifestyles and responsibilities of aging(老齡化) Americans. The average middle-aged couple can look forward to caring for elderly parents some time after their own children have grown up.Moreover, because people today live longer after an illness than people did years ago, family members must provide long-term care. These facts also mean that after caregivers provide for their elderly parents, who will eventually die, they will be old and may require care too. When they do, their spouses(配偶) will probably take care of them because they have had fewer children than their parents did.

　　Because Americans are living longer than ever, more social workers have begun to study ways of caregiving to improve the care of the elderly. They have found that all caregivers share a common characteristic: they believe that they are the best people for the job. The social workers have also discovered three basic reasons why the caregivers take on the responsibility of caring for an elderly, dependent relative. Many caregivers believe they had an obligation(職責(zé)) to help their relatives. Some think that helping others makes them feel more useful. Others hope that by helping someone now, they will deserve care when they become old and dependent.

　　問題：

　　1.Samuel Preston's study shows that________.

　　A.lifestyles and responsibilities of the elderly are not changing

　　B.most American couples over 40 have no living parents

　　C.middle-aged Americans have to take care of their children and parents at the same time

　　D.elderly people may need care for a long time because they live longer after an illness

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　　【參考答案】D[考點]事實細節(jié)題【精析】D 題干的大意是：Samuel Preston的研究表明了。本題可用排除法。根據(jù)第二段第二、三、四句可知，選項A、B、C均與文章表達的意思相反，所以選D項。根據(jù)第二段倒數(shù)第三句也可選出正確答案。

　　2. Who will most probably take care of the middle-aged Americans when they need care themselves?

　　A.They themselves.

　　B.Their close friends.

　　C.Their children.

　　D.Their husbands or wives.

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　　【參考答案】D[考點]事實細節(jié)題【精析】D 題干的大意是：當中年美國人自己需要照顧的時候，誰是那個最可能照顧他們的人?因為Samuel Preston的研究表明美國的中年人能夠等到孩子成年再去照顧老人，但是作為中堅力量的他們將來又靠誰來照顧呢?根據(jù)第二段最后一句“…their spouses will probably take care of them because they have had fewer children than their parents did.”可知，跟他們的父母比起來他們的孩子很少，所以很可能是由他們的配偶來照顧他們，所以選D項。

　　3. All caregivers believe that they can________.

　　A.care for their elderly parents better than any other people

　　B.keep closer to their old parents by this means

　　C.do much better if they have a job as social workers

　　D.improve the care of the elderly with the help of the social workers

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　　【參考答案】A[考點]事實細節(jié)題【精析】A 題干的大意是：所有的照看者都相信他們能。根據(jù)第三段第二句“…they believe that they are the best people for the job.”可知，他們相信自己是照顧年邁父母的最合適人選，所以選A項。

　　4. Which of the following is NOT a reason why people look after their relatives?

　　A.They feel they are of use to other people.

　　B.They want to set an example to their children.

　　C.They think it is their duty to help their relatives.

　　D.They hope they deserve care when they need it.

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　　【參考答案】B[考點]事實細節(jié)題【精析】B 題干的大意是：下面哪一項不是人們照顧他們親戚的原因?根據(jù)第三段最后三句可知，有三個原因：認為自己有責(zé)任;照顧別人時覺得自己是個有用的人;希望自己老年的時候得到相同的對待。所以答案中的A、C、D三個選項與原文一一對照，只有B項不是其中的原因。

　　5. What is the main idea of the passage?

　　A.Most old people live longer today after an illness than people did years ago.

　　B.Many old people are put into nursing homes by their families, who do not visit them regularly.

　　C.Most elderly people are taken care of by their families, who assume the responsibility for different reasons.

　　D.Most elderly people are satisfied with the better ways of caregiving that social workers have come up with.

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　　【參考答案】C[考點]主旨大意題【精析】C 題干的大意是：這篇文章的主旨是什么?本文提出了老齡化社會誰來擔(dān)負起照顧老年人責(zé)任的問題，指出研究表明大部分的責(zé)任由家人來承擔(dān)，并且分析了這種現(xiàn)象和其中的原因，所以選C項。