62 Questions 62-66 are based on the following passage.

　　A recent BBC documentary, The Town That Never Retired, sought to show the effects of increasing the state pension age by putting retirees back to work.

　　Although the results were entertaining, they need not have bothered. Away from the cameras, unprecedented numbers of older people are staying in work .Since the start of the recession that began in 2008, the number of 16-to 24-year-olds in work has fallen by 597,000. Over the same period the number of workers over the age of 65 has increased by 240 o000.

　　The greying of the British workforce dates back to around 2001, since when the proportion of older people working has nearly doubled. But it has accelerated since the start of the recession. There are several reasons why. Happily, people are living longer and healthier lives, which makes staying in work less daunting than it was. Less happily, low interest rates, a stagnant stock market and the end of many

　　defined-benefit ( 固定收益 ) pension schemes make it a financial necessity. And changing attitudes ,spurred by rules against age discrimination, are making it easier than ever.

　　Most older workers are simply hanging on at the office: 63% of workers over state pension age have been with their employer for more than ten years. Over two-thirds of them work part-time, mostly doing jobs that they once performed full-time. A big advantage is that they do not pay national insurance contributions effectively a second income tax on younger workers.

　　According to Stephen McNair, director of the Centre for Research into the Older Workforce, this flexibility explains why older workers have not suffered so much in the slump. Instead of slashing the workforce, as in previous recessions, many firms have halted recruitment and cut working hours. At small businesses in particular, keeping on older workers is cheaper and less risky than training replacements.Over half of workers over state pension age work for businesses with fewer than 25 employees.

　　Christopher Nieper, who owns David Nieper, a womenswear manufacturer based in Derbyshire,prizes his semi-retired workers, who can be employed at short notice and do not need to work full-time to survive. Retired machinists can fill in if there is a surge in orders; former sales advisers can work as part-time consultants. As his competitors have moved production abroad, depleting the pool of trained labour,

　　retaining older workers and their skills has become even more important.

　　There is scope for the older workforce to expand. Workers over the age of 50 who are made unemployed find it harder to pick up new jobs, which could mean that more oldsters want to work than are able to. That would be good. The Office for Budget Responsibility, the fiscal watchdog, reported on July 12th that an ageing, unproductive population is the biggest long-term threat to Britain's economic health.

　　Data from the OECD, a think-tank, shows that employment rates among workers approaching retirement age are split in Europe, with old workers hanging on best in the north. Government credit ratings follow a similar pattern. That Britain's ageing workforce more closely resembles Germany's than Italy's could prove the country's salvation(拯救).

　　Which of the following can be inferred from the BBC documentary The Town That Never Retired?

　　A.

　　What it intends to reveal is contrary to the reality.

　　B.

　　It has received good comments from audience.

　　C.

　　It aims to criticize the poor pension provision in the UK.

　　D.

　　It reflects the current phenomenon of retirees coming back to work.

　　本題共8.2分， 參考答案: A

　　A)。定位 由題干中的BBC documentary，The Town That Never Retired定位到第一段第一、二句：A recent BBC documentary，The Town That Never Retired，sought to show the effects of increasing the state pension age by putting retirees back to work.Although the results were entertaining，they need not have bothered.

　　詳解 推理判斷題。本題考查有關紀錄片《永不退休的城鎮》的理解。由定位句"英國廣播公司最近推出一部紀錄片《永不退休的城鎮》，該紀錄片旨在表現通過促使退休人員重回工作崗位來提高國家退休年齡這一政策所帶來的影響。片子雖然有趣，但影片制作者們真是杞人憂天了"可知，實際情況是人們到了退休年齡會主動要求繼續工作，與這部紀錄片所要表達的內容相反，故答案為A)。B)"這部紀錄片得到了觀眾的好評"為過度推斷，該段第二句僅指出"片子雖然有趣"，故排除;C)"這部紀錄片旨在批評英國糟糕的退休金條款"與D)"這部紀錄片反映出目前退休職工重返工作的現象"均未在原文中提及，故排除。

　　63According to the passage, "it" ( Line 6, Para. 2 ) refers to__________.

　　A.

　　age discrimination

　　B.

　　the changing attitude

　　C.

　　a financial necessity

　　D.

　　staying in work after retiring

　　本題共8.2分， 參考答案: D

　　D)。定位 由題干定位到第二段最后一句：And changing attitudes，spurred by rules against age discrimination，are making it easier than ever.

　　詳解 語義理解題。本題考查代詞…it 的指代。定位句提到，而且在禁止年齡歧視規定的驅動下，人們的態度在慢慢改變，這也使之較以往更容易。該段主題為英國勞動力老齡化及其原因，定位句為勞動力老齡化的最后一點原因，故it指代退休后重返工作崗位，故答案為D)。

　　64According to Paragraph 3, which of the following is TRUE about the older workers in the UK?

　　A.

　　Most of them are loyal to their former employers.

　　B.

　　Most of them rarely challenge themselves by seeking new types of jobs.

　　C.

　　They do not have to pay national income tax.

　　D.

　　63% of them continue to work over the retirement age.

　　本題共8.2分， 參考答案: B

　　B)。定位 根據題干定位到第三段第一、二句：Most older workers are simply hanging on at the office：63% of workers over state pension age have been with their employer for more than ten years.Over two—thirds of them work part-time，mostly doing jobs that they once performed full-time.

　　詳解 事實細節題。本題考查英國老年勞動者的情況。定位句提到，大多數老年就業者還是堅守在原來的崗位：在超過國家退休年齡的工作者中，63%的人和雇主共事的時間已超過十年。這些人中，超過三分之二的人現在從事兼職，主要從事他們全職時曾做過的工作。換言之，年長的工作者大都很少挑戰新類型的工作，故B)為答案。A)"大多數年長的工作者對之前的老板很衷心"為過度推斷，故排除;C)"年長的工作者不用繳納國家工資稅"，該段最后一句指出"不用再支付國民保險稅"，而非國家工資稅，故排除;D)"63%的年長工作者超過退休年齡后繼續工作"是對原文內容的曲解，故排除。

　　65According to Christopher Nieper, why are semi-retired workers favored in hiring?

　　A.

　　Because they can fill in the job vacancy in a brief time.

　　B.

　　Because the pool of labour in the UK is drained.

　　C.

　　Because they work harder than the yoking because of economic pressure.

　　D.

　　Because their working hours can be as flexible as they want.

　　本題共8.2分， 參考答案: A

　　A)。定位 由題干中的Christopher Nieper和semi-retired workers定位到第五段第一句：Christopher Nieper，who owns David Nieper，a womenswear manufacturer based in Derbyshire，prizes his semi—retired workers.who Can be employed at short notice and do not need to work full—time to survive.Retired machinists call fill in if there is a surge in orders.

　　詳解 事實細節題。本題考查Christopher Nieper珍視他的半退休員工們的原因。由定位句可知，克里斯多夫很珍視他的半退休員工們，這些人可在短時間內上工而且并不需要全職工作來謀生，A)中的fill in the job vacancy和in abrief time分別對應原文的be employed和at short notice，故為答案。B)"因為英國勞動力已耗盡"，該段最后一句指出"拋棄了熟練的工人"，而非耗盡了所有的勞動力，故排除;C)"由于經濟壓力，他們比年輕的勞動力更努力工作"，定位句指出"這些人可在短時間內上工而且并不需要全職工作來謀生"，說明他們經濟壓力不大，與原文不符，故排除;D)"因為他們的工作時間自由，可以隨意安排"為過度推斷，故排除。

　　66It can be concluded from the last paragraph that __________.

　　A.

　　Britain's ageing workforce is similar to Italy's

　　B.

　　Britain's credit ratings are higher than Italy's

　　C.

　　Britain's salvation is better than Germany's

　　D.

　　Britain's employment rates of ageing workforce are higher than Germany's

　　本題共8.2分， 參考答案: B

　　B)。定位 由題干提示定位到最后一段.：……shows that employment rates among workers approaching retirement age are split in Europe，with old workers hanging Oil best in the north.Government credit ratings follow a similar pattern.That Britain's ageing workforce more closely resembles Germany's than Italy's could prove the country's salvation.

　　詳解 推理判斷題。定位句指出，臨近退休工人的就業率在歐洲是不平衡的，在北部的老年員工就業情況最好。政府的信用級別也與此成正相關。英國的老年勞動力更類似于德國而非意大利，這一點可以證實這個國家的自救措施在起作用。由此可知，英國的老年勞動力的就業情況好于意大利，所以其政府的信用級別要高于意大利，故答案為B)。A)"英國老齡勞動力與意大利類似"與原文不符，故排除;C)"英國的解救措施好于德國"，定位句指出"英國的老齡化勞動力更類似于德國"，故無法判斷孰重孰輕，為過度推斷，故排除;D) "英國老齡勞動力的就業率高于德國"與原文不符，故排除。

　　Part VI Translation (30 minutes) Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.

　　67　　中國人使用筷子就餐的方式在世界上獨樹一幟，有史記載用筷子的歷史已有三千多年。筷子古時稱為箸(zhu)，它表面上看似簡單，卻有多種功能。竹子是制作筷子最常見的原材料，其他的原材料有木頭、骨頭，在古代富人家中，貴金屬(precious metals)做的筷子是很常見的。中國民間視筷子為吉祥之物(mascot)，如婚俗中將筷子隱喻為快生貴子的祝福。與使用刀叉以及手抓的方式不同，成雙結對的筷子含有"和為貴"的意蘊。西方人贊譽筷子是古老東方文明的標志。 本題共106.5分

　　The Chinese way of eating with chopsticks is unique in the world.The recorded history of chopsticks is more than three thousand years.Chopsticks are named zhu in ancient China.They look deceptively simple o se，but possess multi—various functions.Bamboo tends to be the most popular raw material to make chopsticks.Other

　　materials include wood and bone，and chopsticks made of precious metals are not uncommon among the wealthy in ancient times.Chopsticks are taken as a mascot by ordinary people in ancient China.For example，the partial tone of chopsticks is often used by people as a metaphor at weddings to indicate a blessing for the couple to have a baby soon.Unlike eating、with knives and forks or、with one's own hands.a pair of chopsticks implies the meaning of"Harmony is what matters".Chopsticks are highly praised by Westerners as a mark of ancient oriental civilization.

　　1.第一句中，"在世界上獨樹一幟"可以譯為be unique in the world;"有史記載"可以譯為the recorded history。

　　2.第二句中，"表面上"用副詞deceptively來表示。

　　3.第三句中，用一個雙重否定的結構are not uncommon來表達"在古代富人家中，貴金屬做的筷子是很常見的"這句話的含義。

　　4.第四旬中，"隱喻"在這里是指筷子的諧音，可以譯為the partial tone。

　　6.第五句中"和為貴"可以譯為Harmony is what matters。

　　6.第六句將中文的主動句譯為英語的被動句，這樣句子會顯得更具有連貫性。