2. 外语
  3. Unemployment-insurance (UI) benefits first passed in 2008 and extended several times. America’s government has enacted such meas

Unemployment-insurance (UI) benefits first passed in 2008 and extended several times. America’s government has enacted such meas

admin2017-11-08  49
问题    Unemployment-insurance (UI) benefits first passed in 2008 and extended several times. America’s government has enacted such measures in every recession since 1957. The most recent extension expired on December 28th, leaving roughly 1. 3m Americans suddenly cut off and setting the stage for a huge political battle early in 2014.
   Republicans principally object to the extension’s cost—around $25 billion over the next two years. Some point out that supplemental UI benefits have been in place longer and paid out more than in past recessions. Of course, one reason for this is that a far larger share of Americans remains out of work now than when the recession began. In November 2013 America’s unemployment rate was 7. 0% , still a full two points higher than its 5% level when the recession began in December 2007. There remain roughly three applicants for every open job. Even so, Rand Paul, a Republican senator from Kentucky, says that extending UI benefits causes workers "to become part of this perpetual unemployed group in our economy" and "actually does a disservice to the people you’re trying to help." Not extending benefits will probably cause the unemployment rate to drop.
   Unlike some other economic stimuli, these benefits tend to get spent quickly on consumer goods. Mr. Obama has proposed several policies aimed at helping the long-term unemployed. One would set up a National Infrastructure Bank and spend $ 40 billion on deferred-maintenance repairs. Another, the Community College to Career Fund Act, would award grants to educational institutions and state and local governments for better job-training programmes. Congress has not approved them. In 2010 it passed a payroll-tax exemption for employers who hire the unemployed; this has since expired.
   Yet there is not much hope for improvement in America’s polarized atmosphere. Instead, Congress will begin the new year by once again debating UI benefits. House Democrats have introduced legislation to extend benefits for three months, paid for by trimming farm subsidies.
What does the passage mainly talk about?
选项 A、Economic recession in America.
B、The challenge of long-term joblessness in America.
C、American labor policies.
D、A huge political battle in America.
答案B
解析 文章主要是在讨论延长失业救济金政策的影响，讨论它是否有利于解决失业问题，同时也介绍了其他一些旨在解决长期失业问题的政策。所以B选项更能表达文章的中心思想。
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