While still in its early stages, welfare reform has already been judged a great success in many states—at least in getting peopl

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问题     While still in its early stages, welfare reform has already been judged a great success in many states—at least in getting people off welfare. It’s estimated that more than two million people have left the rolls since 1994.
    In the past four years, welfare rolls in Athens County have been cut in half. But 70 percent of the people who left in the past two years took jobs that paid less than $ 6 an hour. The result: The Athens County poverty rate still remains at more than 30 percent— twice the national average.
    For advocates (代言人) for the poor, that’s an indication that much more needs to be done.
    "More people are getting jobs, but it’s not making their lives any better," says Kathy Lairn, a policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.
    A center analysis of U.S. Census data nationwide found that between 1995 and 1996, a greater percentage of single, female-headed households were earning money on their own, but that average income for these households actually went down.
    But for many, the fact that poor people are able to support themselves almost as well without government aid as they did with it is in itself a huge victory.
    "Welfare was a poison. It was a toxin (毒素) that was poisoning the family," says Robert Rector, a welfare-reform policy analyst. "The reform is changing the moral climate in low-income communities. It’s beginning to rebuild the work ethic (工作道德), which is much more important. "
    Mr. Rector and others argued that once "the habit of dependency is cracked," then the country can make other policy changes aimed at improving living standards. (286 words)
According to the passage, before the welfare reform was carried out, ______.

选项 A、the poverty rate was lower
B、average living standards were higher
C、the average worker was paid higher wages
D、the poor used to rely on government aid

答案D

解析 本题属于推断题。由福利改革的成功(getting people off welfare)、改革的结果(more people take jobs)和改革的目的(rebuild work ethic,crack the habit of dependency),推测改革前的情况是更多的人不工作,被动依赖政府福利资助。
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