英语读写译教师讲义 浙江农林.doc

英语读写译课程教师讲义 Reading comprehension Passage 1 Questions 1to 5 are based on the following passage. 　　A recent BBC documentary, The Town That Never Retired, sought to show the effects of increasing the state pension age by putting retirees back to work. 　　Although the results were entertaining, they need not have bothered. Away from the cameras, unprecedented numbers of older people are staying in work .Since the start of the recession that began in 2008, the number of 16-to 24-year-olds in work has fallen by 597,000. Over the same period the number of workers over the age of 65 has increased by 240 o000. 　　The graying of the British workforce dates back to around 2001, since when the proportion of older people working has nearly doubled. But it has accelerated since the start of the recession. There are several reasons why. Happily, people are living longer and healthier lives, which makes staying in work less daunting than it was. Less happily, low interest rates, a stagnant stock market and the end of many defined-benefit (固定收益) pension schemes make it a financial necessity. And changing attitudes ,spurred by rules against age discrimination, are making it easier than ever. 　　Most older workers are simply hanging on at the office: 63% of workers over state pension age have been with their employer for more than ten years. Over two-thirds of them work part-time, mostly doing jobs that they once performed full-time. A big advantage is that they do not pay national insurance contributions effectively a second income tax on younger workers. 　　According to Stephen McNair, director of the Center for Research into the Older Workforce, this flexibility explains why older workers have not suffered so much in the slump. Instead of slashing the workforce, as in previous recessions, many firms have halted recruitment and cut working hours. At small businesses in particular, keeping on older workers is cheaper and less risky than training replacements. Over half of w