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  3. The Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, was supposed to transform American health insurance. Critics have long feare

The Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, was supposed to transform American health insurance. Critics have long feare

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问题     The Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, was supposed to transform American health insurance. Critics have long feared that it would do much more. Republicans have cast Obamacare as a job-killing, economy-crushing villain. On February 4th they appeared to get more ammunition from the Congressional Budget Office(CBO).
    The CBO, as part of its projection of economic growth over the next decade, estimates that Obamacare will lower full-time employment by 2. 3m in 2021, compared with what might have been without reform, and by 2. 5m in 2025. The main reason is not that firms are already slashing jobs to avoid the burden the law imposes, as Republicans have complained, but that Americans will choose to work less.
    The insight that Obamacare would lower the supply of labour is not new, but the magnitude of the CBO’s estimate is—the 2. 3m drop in 2021 is nearly three times larger than the CBO’s earlier projection. Many factors account for the decline. Chief among them is the effect of subsidies for health insurance. To help Americans buy coverage on new health "exchanges" , Obamacare offers tax credits to those earning between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty line(about $ 11,500 to $ 46,000 for a single adult). Those tax credits are offered on a sliding scale, by income, so workers in effect pay a higher tax rate as their wages rise. This may dissuade them from trying to earn more.
    The White House, mining the report for good news, argued that Obamacare liberates American workers. "At the beginning of this year, we noted that as part of this new day in health care, Americans would no longer be trapped in a job just to provide coverage for their families, and would have the opportunity to pursue their dreams," the White House press secretary said in a statement. "This CBO report bears that out. "
    The supply-side effects are not all bad. Some Americans, no longer tied to their employer-provided insurance, may feel freer to take better jobs or start their own businesses. But this effect is unlikely to offset the ranks of people who choose to work less, or not at all. And although leisure is often agreeable, does America really want to encourage its citizens to put their feet up?
The CBO predicts that______.
选项 A、financial crisis may soon be coming
B、companies will cut staff to avoid burden
C、economic growth will be around the corner
D、unemployment rate may be higher in the next decade
答案D
解析 根据CBO定位到第一段结尾，再根据predicts定位到第二段开头：The CBO，aspart of its projection of economic growth over the next decade，estimates that Obamacare will lowerfull—time employment by 2．3 m in 2021…其中，predicts对应estimates，故本题答案来自estimates后面的内容，其中lower full-time employment(减少全职就业人员)对应[D]unemployment ratemay be higher in the next decade(在未来十年，失业率有可能更高)。故选项[D]为答案。
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