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  3. Warren Buffett, who on May 3rd hosts the folksy extravaganza that is Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders’ meeting, is an ic

Warren Buffett, who on May 3rd hosts the folksy extravaganza that is Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders’ meeting, is an ic

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问题     Warren Buffett, who on May 3rd hosts the folksy extravaganza that is Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders’ meeting, is an icon of American capitalism. At 83, he also embodies a striking demographic trend: for highly skilled people to go on working well into what was once thought to be old age. Across the rich world, well-educated people increasingly work longer than the less-skilled. Some 65% of American men aged 62-74 with a professional degree are in the workforce, compared with 32% of men with only a high-school certificate.
    This gap is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated well-off and the unskilled poor that is slicing through all age groups. Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while squeezing those of the unskilled. Those at the top are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom. And the well-qualified are extending their working lives, compared with those of less-educated people. The consequences, for individuals and society, are profound.
    But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the idle old misses a new trend, the growing gap between the skilled and the unskilled. Employment rates are falling among younger unskilled people, whereas older skilled folk are working longer. The divide is most extreme in America, where well-educated baby-boomers are putting off retirement while many less-skilled younger people have dropped out of the workforce.
    Policy is partly responsible. Many European governments have abandoned policies that used to encourage people to retire early. Rising life expectancy, combined with the replacement of generous defined-benefit pension plans with stingier defined-contribution ones, means that even the better-off must work longer to have a comfortable retirement. But the changing nature of work also plays a big role. Pay has risen sharply for the highly educated, and those people continue to reap rich rewards into old age because these days the educated elderly are more productive than their predecessors. Technological change may well reinforce that shift: the skills that complement computers, from management expertise to creativity, do not necessarily decline with age.
    This trend will benefit not just fortunate oldies but also, in some ways, society as a whole. Government budgets will be in better shape, as high earners pay taxes for longer. Rich countries with lots of well-educated older people will find the burden of ageing easier to bear than other places. At the other end of the social scale, however, things look grim. Nor are all the effects on the economy beneficial. Wealthy old people will accumulate more savings, which will weaken demand. Inequality will increase and a growing share of wealth will eventually be transferred to the next generation via inheritance, entrenching the division between winners and losers still further.
In the following part immediately after this text, the author will most probably focus on_____.
选项 A、a vivid account of global ageing
B、a detailed description of positive impact
C、other possible reasons for the deepening divide in U.S.
D、one likely solution such as imposing higher inheritance taxes
答案D
解析 结构题。根据题干关键词after this text定位到全文。文章第一段通过巴菲特的例子指出一种现象，即高技术人才在步入老年之后仍然继续工作。第二段阐述受过高等教育的富裕阶层和缺乏技能的穷人阶层之间日益加剧的社会分化的体现。第三、四段说明差异的原因。第五段主要讲差异的影响，既有有利的一面，但也并不全是有利的，并在结尾指出“富裕的老年人会以遗产的形式把很大一部分财富转移给下一代，使得成功者与失败者之间的贫富差距日益加大”，所以可推断出，接下来可能讲解决这种差异的一些措施、方法，D项“一个可行的措施，例如施行高额遗产税”最符合，故D项为正确答案。
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