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  3. In order to “change lives for the better

In order to “change lives for the better

免费题库2022-08-02  20
问题 In order to “change lives for the better” and reduce “dependency,” George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the “upfront work search” scheme. Only if the jobless arrive at the job centre with a CV, register for online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit—and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly. What could be more reasonable?　More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseeker’s allowance. “Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on,” he claimed. “We’re doing these things because we know they help people stay off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster.” Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with “reforms” to an obviously indulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsidises laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for “fundamental fairness”—protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits.　Losing a job is hurting: you don’t skip down to the jobcentre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state. It is financially terrifying, psychologically embarrassing and you know that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life. Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself and your family and pay the bills has disappeared. Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job.　But in Osborneland, your first instinct is to fall into dependency—permanent dependency if you can get it—supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood. It is as though 20 years of ever-tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened. The principle of British welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens. Even the very phrase “jobseeker’s allowance” is about redefining the unemployed as a “jobseeker” who had no fundamental right to a benefit he or she has earned through making national insurance contributions. Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited “allowance,” conditional on actively seeking a job; no entitlement and no insurance, at ￡71.70 a week, one of the least generous in the EU.The phase “to sign on” (Line 2, Para.2) most probably means _____.A. to check on the availability of jobs at the jobcentreB. to accept the government’s restrictions on the allowanceC. to register for an allowance from the governmentD. to attend a governmental job-training program
选项 A. to check on the availability of jobs at the jobcentre
B. to accept the government’s restrictions on the allowance
C. to register for an allowance from the government
D. to attend a governmental job-training program
答案 C
解析 词义题。第二段阐述奥斯本制定新计划的详细原因以及人们对其举措的看法。第①句为过渡句，起到承上启下的作用，强调该计划的“合理性”；第②句介绍该计划中另一条措施即“现在失业者要经过7天后才能领取补贴”，接着又指出“最初几天应该先找工作，而不是想着去……”，由此推断 sign on应该是指“登记领取失业补贴”，C项符合题意。A项在工作中心考察工作的有效性与前半句Those first few days should be spent looking for work语义有重合，造成句子前后矛盾，因此排除；文中只提到新计划对领取失业救济金所设置的种种限制，但没有谈及人们是否接受这些限制，因此B项的accept没有根据；本段第三句讲到在刚失业的最初几天应该找工作，但由此并不能推断政府会提供就业培训，D项的“接受职业培训也没有根据。词义理解题考查的是根据上下文来推断所考单词或词组的意思，上下文中通常都暗含解题线索和语义关系，解题关键在于找出这种关系，切勿根据字面意思轻易下结论。
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