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  3. Summer’s unofficial end closed out a dark season for working teenagers. The unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds ticked

Summer’s unofficial end closed out a dark season for working teenagers. The unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds ticked

admin2012-07-05  56
问题     Summer’s unofficial end closed out a dark season for working teenagers.
    The unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds ticked up to 25.4% in August from 25% the previous month, the Labor Department said last week. For black teens, unemployment leaped to 46.5% from 39.2% in July. The nation’s jobless rate was unchanged at 9.1% .
    Equally worrisome: the jobless rate for teens of all races has hovered (徘徊) around 25% all summer each of the past three years, marking the worst such stretch on records back to 1948. Summer teenage unemployment averaged 13% in 2000 and 15.8% as recently as 2007.
    The prolonged recession has serious implications for America’s future adult workers. Summer jobs are critical for teaching youths "soft skills," such as how to deal with customers and managers, says Michael Saltsman, research fellow at the Employment Policies Institute.
    A 1995 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found high school seniors who worked 20 hours a week can expect to earn 21% more in annual salary and 11% higher hourly wages six to nine years later.
    Yet just 29.6% of all teens worked this summer, tying last year’s all time low. In 2000, more than half of teens worked.
    In a report last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics cites several reasons for the long-term trend, including many teens in summer school and more high school graduates enrolling in college.
    Also, jobs traditionally held by teens, such as grocery cashiers and retail sales associates have been replaced by technology, Saltsman says. The recession accelerated the trend, with many teens losing out to laid-off workers with more experience in the hunt for low-level jobs.
    To help working youths, Saltsman says the federal government should give employers more flexibility to pay them as much as $ 3 below the minimum wage of $ 7. 25 an hour. Now, such a " training wage" can only be paid for 90 days.
    Saltsman cites a study by Miami and Trinity universities showing the increase in the rninimum hourly wage to $ 7. 25 from $ 5.15 from 2007 to 2009 reduced teenage employment nationwide by 2.5% , or 114,000 workers.
    Dean Baker, co-director for the Center for Economic and Policy Research, says Washington should revive job programs for low-income youths as part of an economic stimulus (刺激).
Which of the following statements does Saltsman probably agree?
选项 A、The minimum hourly wage should be increased to a higher level.
B、Working teenagers’ training wage should be paid for a shorter time.
C、Workers with more experience should hunt for low-level jobs.
D、Employers can give working teenagers a much lower payment.
答案D
解析 推理判断题。根据原文“为了帮助青少年工作者，萨特曼提议联邦政府应该给予雇主更多的灵活性，支付比每小时7．25美元最低工资还低出3美元的工资”，可推出萨特曼支持雇主支付青少年较低的工资，D)含义与之吻合，故为答案。原文指出最低工资由5．15美元涨到7．26美元后，全国范围内青少年就业率减少了2．5％，因此萨特曼不可能支持上涨最低工资，故排除A)；原文指出现在这种“培圳薪资”只能支付90天，因此萨特曼有可能会支持雇主支付更长时间的“培训薪资”，故排除B)；原文指出许多青少年输给了经验丰富寻求低水平职业的下岗工人是导致青少年失业率高的一个原因，不能由此判断萨特曼是否支持经验丰富的工人寻求低水平的职业，故排除C)。
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