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  3. The American economy is growing, according to the most recent statistics, at the high rate of 7% , and is in the middle of the l

The American economy is growing, according to the most recent statistics, at the high rate of 7% , and is in the middle of the l

admin2013-12-10  78
问题     The American economy is growing, according to the most recent statistics, at the high rate of 7% , and is in the middle of the largest peacetime expansion in American history. We read in the newspapers that practically everyone who wants a job can get one. Microsoft is running advertisements in the New York Times practically begging Congress to issue more visas for foreign computer and information technology workers.
    In this environment, it is shocking that one group of Americans, people with disabilities, have such a high level of unemployment: 30% are not employed—the same percentage as when the Americans with Disabilities Act became law. Not only did their employment and labor earnings fall during the recession of the early 1990s, but employment and earnings continued to fall during the long economic expansion that followed. Many of these people are skilled professionals who are highly marketable in today’s economy.     Part of the problem is discrimination, and part recent court rulings favoring employers in ADA lawsuits. Discrimination against people with disabilities is, unfortunately, alive and well, despite the legal prohibitions against discrimination in hiring people with disabilities. 79% of disabled people who are unemployed cite discrimination in the workplace and lack of transportation as major factors that prevent them from working; studies have also shown that people with disabilities who find jobs earn less than their co-workers, and are less likely to be promoted.
    Unfavorable court rulings have not been helpful, either. Research by law professor Ruth Colker of Ohio State University has shown that in the eight years after the ADA went into effect, employer-defendants prevailed in more than 93% of the cases decided by trial. Of the cases appealed, employers prevailed 84% of the time. Robert Burgdorf, Jr. , who helped draft the ADA, has written, " legal analysis has proceeded quite a way down the wrong road. " Disability activists and other legal scholars point out that Congress intended the ADA as a national mandate for the ending of discrimination against people with disabilities. Instead, what has occurred, in the words of one writer, is that the courts "have narrowed the scope of the law, redefined ’disability’ , raised the price of access to justice and generally deemed disability discrimination as not worthy of serious remedy. "
    But perhaps the greatest single problem is the federal government itself, where laws and regulations designed to help disabled people actually provide an economic disincentive to work. As Sen. Edward Kennedy wrote, "the high unemployment rate among people receiving federal disability benefits is not because their federal benefits programs have ’ front doors that are too big’ , but because they have ’ back doors that are too small’. "
What underlies the courts rulings seems to be that______.
选项 A、the courts have been bribed heavily by the rich employers
B、the courts think that the disabled should not go to work
C、the courts underestimate discrimination against the disabled
D、the courts are too busy with other lawsuits to care enough
答案C
解析 根据题干信号词the courts rulings可初步回文定位到第四段首句，但根据题干信号词underlies和seems可进一步定位到第四段的第五句和第六句，但Instead前面的第五句是法律的初衷或者说表面目的，而Instead之后的第六句才是背后(underlies)的真正原因，故此句是本题目的“题眼”：Instead，what has occurred，…，is that the courts“have narrowed the scope of the law，redefined‘disability，’raised the price of access to justice and generally deemed disability discrimination as not worthy of serious remedy”．相反，所发生一切(的真正原因)是法庭“缩小了法律的应用范围，重新定义了‘残疾’的概念，提高了获得公正的代价，并通常认为对残疾人的歧视不值得严重对待”。根据本句的画线表达(法庭认为对残疾人的歧视不值得严重对待)可“推知”法庭裁决背后的原因似乎是“法庭低估了针对残疾人的歧视”，因此C项正确。请考生注意彼此的信息对应：C项中的underestimate(低估)对应原文中not worthy of serious remedy(认为不值得认真对待)。
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