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  3. How different would conditions be today economically and politically if unemployment were 7 percent instead of its current 8.2 p

How different would conditions be today economically and politically if unemployment were 7 percent instead of its current 8.2 p

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问题     How different would conditions be today economically and politically if unemployment were 7 percent instead of its current 8.2 percent? For one thing, some two million unemployed workers would have jobs, and the rate of economic growth would be comfortably above 2 percent, instead of below that pace. This conception could have been possible if federal aid to states had been supported, saving hundreds of thousands of public-sector jobs.
    A recent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute shows that the loss of public-sector jobs, largely because of state budget cuts, has been the biggest hit to job growth over the past three years. The direct jobs lost—627, 000 since June 2009—understates the drag because population growth alone suggests that the public sector should have added nearly 500,000 jobs over that time simply to restore government employment to its norm of the last 20 years. In all, the public sector is coming up short by 1. 1 million jobs, including positions for teachers, social workers, public health officials and other professions that would have been filled by many of today’s unemployed college graduates.
    Worse, the public-sector gap of 1. 1 million jobs has translated into some 750,000 lost jobs in the private sector, the result of contractors losing government business and less spending by laid-off government workers. In addition, another 400,000 or so jobs have been lost because of cutbacks in state aid to the poor and unemployed, which reduce consumer spending.
    The effects from a depressed public sector are profound because state and local spending on employees, contractors and beneficiaries sweeps swiftly over the economy. When that spending is depressed, the entire economy suffers.
    The bottom line of the institute’s report is that if it weren’t for state and local budget tightening, the economy would have 2.3 million more jobs today. The lesson is that the best and easiest way to reverse job losses would be for Congress to provide financial aid to states. Preventing such aid, as Republicans have done, is a way to keep unemployment raised and their hopes to win the White House alive. Jobless Americans, struggling businesses and hard-pressed communities are victims in the situation.
What is the main idea of the report by the Economic Policy Institute?
选项 A、To suggest ways to recover economic conditions.
B、To analyze the main reason for job losses.
C、To criticize the policy of the Republicans.
D、To show who are victims in the present situation.
答案B
解析 语义理解题。定位句中的bottom line意为“概要”，和题干中的main idea同义。由定位句可知，经济政策研究所的报告的概要是，如果不是州和地方政府紧缩财政预算，目前应当再增加230万个工作岗位，因此该报告实际上是在分析工作岗位紧缺的原因，故B)“分析工作岗位缺失的主因”为本题答案。A)“对恢复经济状况的方法提出建议”、C)“批评共和党的政策”和D)“说明谁是目前局势的受害者”均不符合文意，故排除。
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