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  3. The nation’s economic collapse jolted many New Yorkers into financial distress, driving some into poverty and dependence on food

The nation’s economic collapse jolted many New Yorkers into financial distress, driving some into poverty and dependence on food

admin2014-04-20  48
问题     The nation’s economic collapse jolted many New Yorkers into financial distress, driving some into poverty and dependence on food stamps and unemployment benefits and even altering their living arrangements between 2007 and 2009, according to census data released Tuesday that offered the first extensive measure of how the city weathered the recession.
    Although New York City has fared better than the country as a whole, recording smaller increases in poverty and smaller declines in household income, more subtle indicators, like the rise in the number of New Yorkers living in homes without kitchens, underscore the struggles confronting many.
    The Census Bureau’s 2009 American Community Survey also found that from 2007 to 2009, the income of single people in the city shrank the most among New Yorkers; the poverty rate edged up among people 15 to 64 years old; both parents were in the work force more often; home values dipped; the share of renters increased compared with owners; more renters were paying over 35 percent of their income on housing; and a smaller share said they owned two vehicles. The proportion of very rich and very poor New Yorkers rose slightly, and the gap between them remained higher in New York than in any other state, and, in Manhattan, higher than in any other county in the country.
    Earlier this year, the city said its own more sophisticated measure of poverty classified 22 percent of New Yorkers as poor in 2008, when the Census Bureau put the official figure at 17. 6 percent. Officials would not speculate on what the 2009 rate would be by the more complex measure that takes account of costs like commuting and day care and benefits like tax credits.
    "The official measure does not include much of what has been done to cushion the blow of the recession on low-income families," said Mark K. Levitan, poverty research director for the city’s Center for Economic Opportunity. " The new and expanded tax credits and the large increase in food stamp participation don’t get counted in the official measure; they will get counted in ours. "
    Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, said the rising raw numbers and percentages of city residents living below the federal poverty line($ 17,600 for a family of three)and the shrinking income of many New Yorkers were "the latest proof that low-income, hungry and even middle-class New Yorkers are suffering mightily in this recession, even as the ultrarich become even wealthier. "  
The word "cushion"(Line 1, Paragraph 5)is closest in meaning to______.
选项 A、relieve
B、reinforce
C、reveal
D、remove
答案A
解析 语义题。根据该词所在段的内容，政府在经济衰退期间扩大了税收抵免和食品券发放的范围，这些显然都是缓解市民经济压力的举措。名词cushion意为“垫子”，此处作动词，意义为“缓冲”，可见与[A]意义最为接近。[B]reinforce“强化”和[C]reveal“揭示”，不符合原文语义，排除。[D]remove，意为“消除”，政府的救济措施只能缓解压力，完全消除显然是不可能的，故[D]也错误。
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