There have been discussions about retire age limit recently. Does it make sense to make people retire at a particular age, say, 55? 60?
Some people work well into their 70s and 80s, running families, countries or corporations while other people, despite being fit and highly talented, are forced to retire in their fifties or even earlier. Here I will examine whether people should be allowed to continue working as long as they want or whether they should be encouraged to retire at a particular stage.
Some people think there are several reasons for allowing older people to continue working. Firstly, older employees are more experienced and their knowledge can be lost to his company or business if they are made to retire. Secondly, older employees are often extremely loyal and more willing to carry out company policies than younger staff. Another point is related to our society’s attitudes to the old. To force someone to retire at 50 or 60 indicates that the society does not value the contribution of these people, which may be regarded as age discrimination.
However, others believe that allowing older people to work indefinitely(无限期) is not a good policy. Age alone is no guarantee of ability. Old people are ambitious workaholics. Many young employees are more skillful than older staff, who may have been stuck in one area or unit for most of their working lives. Having compulsory retirement encourages new ideas in an organization. In addition, without age limits, many people would continue to work purely because they did not have any other plans. Another reason is that older people should be rewarded by society for their life’s labor by being given generous pensions and the freedom to enjoy their leisure. We now have youngsters who can’t find jobs because old people refuse to retire. This new generation of “old people” may think they will never die due to modern advances in medicine.
With many young people unemployed or frustrated in low-level positions, older workers are expected to retire. However, this can affect their right to work. I feel that giving workers more flexibility and choice over their retirement age will benefit both society and the individual.
小题1:All the following statements are reasons for allowing old people to continue working EXCEPT that _______.
A．their contributions should be valued
B．their experience should be appreciated
C．they can be ambitious workaholics
D．they are extremely loyal employees小题2:The underlined sentence in the fourth passage suggests that _______.
A．retired people support the young to be creative
B．more fresh employees mean more fresh ideas
C．retired people are unwilling to praise new ideas
D．young employees are forced to be creative小题3:The structure of the passage is arranged as __________
小题4:The author is likely to agree that ________’
A．it’s not wise to suggest lengthening the retirement age
B．it does make sense to set a particular retirement age
C．having different retirement age sounds unreasonable
D．when to retire should depend on the employees themselves
小题1:C
小题2:B
小题3:A
小题4:D
题目分析：本文主要讲述的人们对老工人是应该退休还是应该继续工作这一话题的讨论。分别从支持者和反对者两个方面进行了阐述，在文章最后一段还方便了作者自己的观点。
小题1:C 细节题。根据文章第三段Some people think there are several reasons for allowing older people to continue working. Firstly, older employees are more experienced and their knowledge can be lost to his company or business if they are made to retire. Secondly, older employees are often extremely loyal and more willing to carry out company policies than younger staff. Another point is related to our society’s attitudes to the old. To force someone to retire at 50 or 60 indicates that the society does not value the contribution of these people, which may be regarded as age discrimination.说明ABD三项都是原因。根据文章第四段Old people are ambitious workaholics.说明C项不是支持老人继续工作的的原因。故C项正确。
小题2:B 推理题。根据Many young employees are more skillful than older staff, who may have been stuck in one area or unit for most of their working lives. Having compulsory retirement encourages new ideas in an organization.说明很多的年轻人很有技巧，更能带领新的思想，故B正确。
小题3:A 篇章结构题。文章第一段引起话题，第二段进行解释说明。第三段和第四段分别从支持和反对的角度展开说明，最后一段进行总结。故A正确。
小题4:D 推理题。根据文章最后一句I feel that giving workers more flexibility and choice over their retirement age will benefit both society and the individual.说明作者认为应该给人们更多的自由和灵活性，让他们自己选择。故D正确。
点评：本文主要讲述的人们对老工人是应该退休还是应该继续工作这一话题的讨论。从题目设置的角度看，本题侧重对学生把握文章中心段落和各段落的中心句的能力的考查，所以遇到这类题后，要注意把握好文章结构，了解文章中心意思，找到各段落中心句。不要让文中的一些生词影响了注意力。