London, England—Virtually every country in Europe is in an immigration mess. Governments are trying to balance the concerns of t

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问题
    London, England—Virtually every country in Europe is in an immigration mess. Governments are trying to balance the concerns of their citizens, their country’s economic problems, and the humanitarian needs of immigrants. Native-born Europeans are worrying that their cultures and economies are being harmed by immigrants. Meanwhile, the immigrants keep coming. Some come looking for asylum because of racial, religious, or political oppression in their native lands. Others are trying to escape grinding poverty or war at home.
    With fifteen million people unemployed in the European Union(EU)alone, outsiders are often resented. Some people fear that asylum seekers are too expensive for the EU’s social welfare systems. Others are worried that economic migrants may take their jobs. Still others worry about the weakening of traditional local cultures in places where there are large numbers of immigrants.
    Right-wing parties in Austria, Denmark and Belgium have successfully campaigned against immigration , using fear of the loss of national identity. Meanwhile, criminals are making money on the desperation of would-be immigrants. People-smuggling has become a highly organized and profitable business. Because smugglers care little for the people they are transporting, tragedies sometimes result.
    Even if they survive the trip, illegals are often mistreated in sweatshops, where they work for much less than normal wages in terrible conditions. Some of them spend decades paying back the transportation fees. Women and children are sometimes forced into sex slavery and prostitution.
    To make matters even more confusing, there is another side to immigration. Many European countries have a shortage of skilled workers in areas like information technology. "We need immigration," declared German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder recently. Barbara Roche, the UK’s immigration minister, has made it easier for non-British students to stay. "In the past we have thought purely about immigration control," she said. "Now we need to think about immigration management. "
    High-tech workers are not the only ones who are needed. Some countries are short of cheap manual labor, too. In Spain, whose population is decreasing, North Africans work on the farms, while Poles and Romanians do construction work.
    Retirement programs need immigrants, too. In most European nations, people are living longer and having fewer children. Governments will not be able to pay retirees without large-scale immigration. Jean-Pierre Chevenement, the former French interior minister, said Europe will need 50 million to 75 million immigrants during the next 50 years. In Italy there were eight workers to every retiree in the 1950s. There are fewer than four today and, without immigration, the figure will drop to 1. 5 by 2050. Likewise, Germany will need three million immigrants a year to maintain the current ratio of workers to retirees.
    Faced with these facts, it is not surprising that the European Union has said zero-immigration policies are inappropriate. One official states, "Our aim is to open as large a debate as possible on immigration and asylum. "
Questions 56 to 60
Mark each statement as either true(T)or false(F)according to the passage.
The aging of the population aggravates the need for immigrant workers.

选项 A、TRUE
B、FALSE

答案A

解析 倒数第二段第一句和第二句提到“退休计划需要移民。在大多数欧洲国家,人们的寿命更长久,孩子却越来越少。没有大规模的移民,政府将没有能力付钱给退休人员。”从这里可以推测,欧盟国家人口老龄化加重了对移民工人的需求。因此题干表述正确。
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