题文
The British aren’t having as many children as they used to. One reason is that people are having children much older than before, meaning they have fewer years in which they can have them. After years at university, they need a few years of work experience before they can get the job they want. They might then get married, but it’s incredibly expensive to buy a house in the UK.The above explains why young British people now don’t move out of their parents’ home until they are around 30 years old on average. It is not until they are 30 that they can afford their own home. Increasingly, it is not until that age that they can afford to get married and start a new life in a new home. It’s only after this age that many young people start thinking about having a child.
So a British person manages to get a job, get a home and get married. Why isn’t he or she then having at least two children on average? The main reason is that it is quite expensive to bring up a child in the UK. Why is it expensive? Well, these days, both parents need to work just to pay for their home and living expenses. Because both parents are at work, that means they then need to pay someone to look after their child during the day. Paying for this childcare is nearly always expensive.
The recent financial crisis is making things even harder for families, since unemployment is rising and even fewer people can afford to have children. With so much pressure on families, is it any surprise that the divorce rate is so high?
So what is Britain doing to try and save the British family? The government is trying to make it cheaper to have children. For example, there have been increases in money families can claim from the state each month. Also, there are increasing government subsidies for nursery schools, so that parents do not need to pay so much for child care.
The government is also trying to reduce the number of hours British parents have to work to earn enough money to pay their bills. If parents didn’t have to work so many hours, they’d have more time to spend with their children and wouldn’t need to spend so much on childcare. On average, a Briton works 49 hours a week, which is the most in Europe. The state is now considering introducing laws to encourage companies to improve their employees’ work-life balance. Let’s hope they’re not too late to save the British family. Otherwise, the British will always be too tired, and won’t have enough time and money, to have children.
小题1:Young British people live in their parents’ home until around 30 because .A．They are allowed to get married at 30B．they can’t find jobs to support themselvesC．they can’t afford a house of their own until then D．they enjoy family life with their parents小题2:The British are now having fewer children than before for all the following reasons EXCEPT that .A．they have fewer years to have children B．they live much shorter lives than before C．it is more expensive to bring up a childD．people are losing their jobs because of the recent financial crisis小题3:To make it cheaper to have children, the British government is .A．bringing down pricesB．raising the salaries of parentsC．reducing family income tax D．increasing subsidies for families and nursery schools小题4:It can be inferred from the text that .A．with long work hours, it is hard for British parents to balance life and workB．more and more families in Britain are breaking up because they are having fewer childrenC．among Europeans, British people work hardest and earn the leastD．childcare takes up too much energy and time for the British小题5:The underlined word “subsidies” in Paragraph 5 means _________.A．food paid by the governmentB．school buildings for poor studentsC．free transportationD．money from the government to benefit the public 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:C
小题2:B
小题3:D
小题4:A
小题5:D
解析
本文介绍了英国人的孩子越来越少，生孩子的年龄越来越大。文章中分析了具体的原因，也提及了英国政府为了解决这个问题做出了很多的努力。
小题1:C 细节题。根据第二段3，4行Increasingly, it is not until that age that they can afford to get married and start a new life in a new home可知直到30岁左右，英国人才买得起房子，才能搬出去住，故C正确。
小题2:B 细节题。根据1,3,4段meaning they have fewer years in which they can have them.和The recent financial crisis is making things even harder for families,以及The main reason is that it is quite expensive to bring up a child in the UK.可知ACD三项都是原因。B项文章没有提及。
小题3:D 细节题。根据文章倒数第二段The government is trying to make it cheaper to have children. For example, there have been increases in money families can claim from the state each month. Also, there are increasing government subsidies for nursery schools, so that parents do not need to pay so much for child care. 说明D项是英国政府所采取的措施。
小题4:A 推断题。根据文章最后一段前3行The government is also trying to reduce the number of hours British parents have to work to earn enough money to pay their bills. If parents didn’t have to work so many hours, they’d have more time to spend with their children and wouldn’t need to spend so much on childcare.说明工作时间太长，英国人很难能够照顾孩子。所以英国政府就减少人们的工作时间，让人们有更多的时间来照顾孩子。故A正确。
小题5:D 推理题。根据本句there are increasing government subsidies for nursery schools, so that parents do not need to pay so much for child care.说明有越来越多的政府补贴，让父母亲在照顾孩子方面不要付太多的钱了。故该词是指D项。
点评：本文介绍了英国人的孩子越来越少，生孩子的年龄越来越大。文章中分析了具体的原因，也提及了英国政府为了解决这个问题做出了很多的努力。本文要求考生在阅读理解整体语篇的基础上，把握文章的真正内涵。要吃透文章的字面意思，从字里行间捕捉有用的提示和线索，这是推理的前提和基础;要对文字的表面信息进行挖掘加工，由表入里，由浅入深，从具体到抽象，从非凡到一般，通过分析、综合、判定等，进行深层处理，符合逻辑地推理。不能就是论事，断章取义，以偏概全。要忠实于原文，以文章提供的事实和线索为依据。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“The British aren’t h.....”主要考查你对 [社会现象类阅读 ]考点的理解。社会现象类阅读
社会现象类阅读概念：
这类文章通过写人记事来揭示文章的主题，显示其社会意义，一般采用顺序或倒叙来叙述。题目经常是一些细节问题。考查的方面可以是原因和其中引发的思考。
社会现象类阅读解题技巧：
这类文章通过写人记事来揭示文章的主题，显示其社会意义，一般采用顺序或倒叙来叙述。题目经常是一些细节问题。考查的方面可以是原因和其中引发的思考。阅读这类文章要理清思路。
1、浏览试题，明确要求。
在阅读文章前，最好先浏览一下文章后面的题干和选项。知道了问题后再去看文章，可使思路更敏捷，而且也便于阅读时留意文中出现的与选项有关的信息。
2、通读全文，抓住主要内容。
在不影响理解的前提下，尽可能地阅读以便在尽可能短的时间内理解文章或段落的内容。阅读时，如遇到不熟悉的单词、词组或一时看不懂的句子，不要停下来苦思冥想，继续读下去，通过上下文的词语和句子可能就理解了。
3、抓住中心思想和段落大意。
通读全文时，要特别注意主题句。每篇文章或每个段落都有与文章有关的句子，尤其是科技、政论性文章的主题句一般都在文章的开头或结尾，插在中间的很少。所以，文章的第一段或开头的第一、二个句子往往包含着文章的中心思想、作者的意图或全文的概述，因此要特别注意，彻底理解。
4、有针对性地仔细阅读，找寻所需信息。
在前面的基础上，可进行有针对性地阅读了。把与问题无关的内容一扫而过，而对于和问题有关的内容认真阅读，还可以用笔在下面做出记号。再把这些信息与问题的要求结合起来，逐条分析，综合判断，找出正确答案。
5、进行合理的推理判断。
对文章有了全面的了解之后，可以按照文章要求以及上下文之间的关系，做出推理判断。在进行推理判断的时候，需要综合考虑句型、语法、句子之间的逻辑关系、文化背景等方面的因素。
6、认真复读，验证答案。
要用全文的中心思想统帅各个题目，研究其内在联系和逻辑关系，并依次审核那些还未打上的题目，确保理解无误。
