Lloyd Slocum was unemployed for 18 months, but like hundreds of thousands of Americans, he’s working part time this holiday shop

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问题     Lloyd Slocum was unemployed for 18 months, but like hundreds of thousands of Americans, he’s working part time this holiday shopping season, unloading trucks and stocking shelves for a Bealls store in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
    "It gives you something to look forward to," says Slocum, 29.
    He plans to use cash to buy his father a Christmas present and hopes to move on to a full-time position with Bealls/Burke’s stores, a Sunbelt chain.
    Black Friday, the official start of holiday shopping heat, also kicks off the less-celebrated season of the part-time worker. Retailers(零售商)alone are hiring about 5000,000 seasonal employees this year, most of whom are part time, according to the National Retail Federation. Retailers’ recent shift to opening on Thanksgiving or midnight on Black Friday has intensified the need for part-time workers.
    Holiday jobs offer financial and emotional lifeline for many of thenation’s jobless. They also point up a troubling reality: A near-record number of Americans are working part time throughout the year, even though they would prefer full-time jobs. It’s not just because of the sluggish economy(萧条的经济). Economists cite a broader, longer-term shift toward part-time work as employers cut expenses and more precisely match staffing with the ebbs and flows of customer demand.
    The number of part-timers who really want full-time positions—so-called involuntary part-time employees—has risen from 8.4 million in January to 8.9 million last month, according to theBureau of Labor Statistics. The total has hovered at 8. 5 million to 9 million since early 2009—double the pre-recession level.
    By contrast, the tally of unemployed Americans has stayed flat at about 13.9 million this year and is down from about 15 million in late 2009 as employers have added a modest 2 million or so jobs. The disparity underscores how the nation’s official 9% jobless rate doesn’t fully reflect the toll inflicted by a half-speed economic recovery.
Why does thewriter say "holiday jobs offer financial and emotional lifeline"?

选项 A、They are a steady staff supply for employers
B、They give hope and support to the jobless
C、They help cut the expenses for retailers
D、They point to a troubling reality

答案B

解析 推断题。题目问,为何作者说“节假日的工作给兼职者提供了经济上和精神上的救生索”?根据常识,我们都知道长期失业者不仅失去了物质上的收入,也遭受精神上的打击,而即便是一份短期的兼职的活,也能给他们以希望和支持,因此选B。
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