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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  55
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    Also, jobs traditionally held by teens, such as grocery cashiers and retail sales associates have been replaced by technology, Saltsman says.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).
What does Dean Baker hope Washington to do?
选项 A、Increase the payment for the working teenagers.
B、Protect low-income youths from losing their jobs.
C、Create more job opportunities for low-income youths.
D、Provide job training programs to boost economy.
答案C
解析 事实细节题。根据原文“迪恩·贝克……，他认为，华盛顿应该把复兴低收入青少年的工作规划作为刺激经济的一个重要组成部分”，可知迪恩·贝克希望华盛顿能为青少年创造更多的工作机会，C)含义与之吻合，故为答案。因为青少年的就业率还很低，因此不太可能增加青少年工作者的工资，故排除A)；原文没有指出要保护低收入青少年防止其失去工作，故排除B)；原文未提及要提供职业培训项目以刺激经济发展，故排除D)。
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