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  3. As the costs of health care continue to rise, employers will ask their employees to pay more for their benefits by the year 2 00

As the costs of health care continue to rise, employers will ask their employees to pay more for their benefits by the year 2 00

admin2011-03-01  58
问题    As the costs of health care continue to rise, employers will ask their employees to pay more for their benefits by the year 2 000. This forecast comes from a recent survey of 400 executives conducted by the group Insurance Division of Northwestern National Life Insurance Company ( NWNL).
   A similar NWNL survey in 1986 found that two-thirds of the employers were planning to add benefits. Now, two-thirds are planning to offer fewer choices. Factors cited as driving up the cost of health care include hospital and doctor fees, new medical technology, and malpractice suits. Employers also face the expensive prospect of providing health care for the growing number of retirees. Says the employee benefit director of a Boston communication company, "With people living longer, and being sicker when older, we could be paying a big sum of money for 30 to 40 years after they retire."
   Compulsory benefits are also likely to increase health-care costs to employers. A majority of the respondents predict that the federal government will demand benefits for all employees.  More than one fourth of the employers surveyed think it is very likely that the government will establish a national plan by the year 2000, and a similar number foresee regulation of doctor and hospital fees. However, a large majority doubt such measures are very likely to be effective in controlling health-care costs.
   Besides holding employees, responsible for a larger share of their benefit costs, more employers will offer flexible benefit plans with limited employer contributions. Health-education programs will grow in the workplace, as employers try to lessen the need for expensive medical care. Other employers intent on cutting costs will design their benefit plans to allow their employees fewer choices in when and how they get medical care.
   Although the survey results reflect uncertainty about the future, they also offer reason for optimism, says U. S. Senator David Durenberger of Minnesota, "People are starting to come to grips with the question of how we can more effectively provide quality health care that is affordable and accessible," he asserts, "We no longer can write blank checks."  
Senator David Durenberger implies that ______.
选项 A、people cannot afford the medical fee
B、it is illegal to write blank cheeks
C、it’ s impossible to solve the problem of health-care
D、people don’ t take the problem of health-care seriously in the past
答案D
解析 考查对段落整体意义的理解。首先应明确说话人的基调：offer reason for optimism。这样，可以对四个选项逐一审视。人们开始关注这一问题不等于这一问题无法解决，A、C选项不正确；B选项只考虑字面意思，并没有考虑说话人imply的内在意思；“People are starting to come to grips with the question”这句话则是D选项所表达的意思。
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