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Passage10

Thepovertylineistheminimumincomethatpeopleneedforanacceptablestandardofliving.Peoplewithincomesbelowthepovertylineareconsideredpoor.Economistsstudythecausesofpovertyinordertofindsolutionstotheproblem.

Asthegeneralstandardoflivinginthecountryrises,thepovertylinedoes,too.Therefore,evenwithtoday'srelativelyhighstandardofliving,about10percentofthepeopleintheUnitedStatesarebelowthepovertyline.However,ifthesepeoplehadstablejobs,theycouldhaveanacceptablestandardofliving.Economistssuggestseveralreasonswhypoorpeopledonothavejobs.

Foronething,morethanhalfofthepoorpeopleintheUnitedStatesarenotqualifiedtowork.Over40percentofthepoorpeoplearechildren.Bylaw,childrenlessthan16yearsoldcannotworkinmanyindustries.Alargenumberofpoorpeopleareold.Manycompaniesdonothirepeopleover65yearsold,thenormalretirementage.

Somepooradultsdonotlookforjobsforavarietyofpersonalreasons:theyaresick,theydonothaveanymotivation（动力）.theyhavefamilyproblems,ortheydonotbelievethattheycanfindajob.

Otherpoorpeoplelookforajobbutcannotfindone.Manypooradultsneverwenttohighschool.Therefore,whentheylookforjobs,theyhavefewskillsthattheycanoffer.

Atthepresenttime,thegovernmentthinksitcanreducepovertyinthecountryinthefollowingways.

First,ifthenationaleconomygrows,businessesandindustrieshiremoreworkers.Someofthepoorwhoarequalifiedtolookforjobsmayfindemployment.Thentheywillnolongerbebelowthepovertyline.

Second,ifsocietyinvestsinthepoor,thepoorwillbecomemoreproductive.Ifthegovernmentspendsmoneyonsocialprograms,education,andtrainingforpoorpeople,thepoorwillhavetheskillstooffer.Thenitismorelikelythattheycanfindjobs.

Finally,ifthegovernmentdistributessociety'sincomedifferently,itraisessomepoorpeopleabovethepovertyline.Thegovernmentcollectstaxesfromthenon-poorandgivesmoneytothepoor.Thesepaymentstothepoorarecalledwelfare.In1975over18millionpeopleintheUnitedStatesreceivedwelfare.

Someeconomistsarelookingforbettersolutionstothepovertyproblem.However,atthepresenttime,manypeopledependonwelfareforaminimallyacceptablestandardofliving.

46.Theauthor'smainpurposetowritethisarticleis.

A）todefinewhatthepovertylineis

B）toexplainwhysomepeoplelivethepovertyline

C）tofindsolutionstotheproblemofpoverty

D）toshowsympathyforthosepoorpeople

47.WhichofthefollowingisNOTtrue?

A）TenpercentoftheAmericansliveapoorlife.

B）Poorpeoplearethosewholovebelowthepovertyline.

C）Thepovertylinerisesasthegeneralstandardoflivingrises.

D）Thepovertylinetendstobeatthesamelevel.

48.Morethan40percentofthepoorpeoplearechildren.Thisismainlybecause.

A）theydonothaveenoughmotivation

B）theyaresoyoungthattheyaredeprivedofchancestowork

C）theyfailtogetenougheducation

D）theyareverypoorinhealth

49.MostoftheAmericanpoorpeoplearenotqualifiedforemploymentbecause.

A）theytonothaveanymotivationtowork

B）theyarenotveryself-confident

C）theyaretooyoungortoooldtowork

D）theyhavephysicalandfamilyproblems

50.Wemayconcludefromthepassagethat.

A）bettersolutionstothepovertyproblemarenotyetfound

B）welfarewillenablepeopletoberich

C）poorpeopleareboundtogooutofthepovertylineiftheyhavechancestodobusiness

D）employmentisthebestsolutiontothepovertyproblem