听写练习答案.doc

Passage 1 Why Some People Are Poor The poverty line is the minimum income that people need for an acceptable standard of living. / People with incomes below the poverty line are considered poor. / As the general standard of living rises, / the poverty line does, too. / Therefore, even with today’s relatively high standard of living, / about 10 percent of the people in the United States are below the poverty line. /Economists suggest several reasons. / For one thing, more than half of the poor people are qualified to work. / By law, children less than 16 years old can not work in many industries; / many companies do not hire people over 65 years old, / which is considered the normal retirement age. / Some poor adults do not look for jobs for a variety of personal reasons. / Other poor people look for a job but can’t find one. / Many poor adults never went to high school. / Therefore, when they look for jobs, they have few skills that they can offer. Passage 3 Old Age Many people mistakenly believe that old age is a time of increased illness and loneliness. / In fact, people do not suddenly change / when they reach the age of 60 or 65. / Consequently, we should not expect more mental illness / among the 60 to 70 age group than among the 50 to 60. / Furthermore, although more parents and their married children live in separate households than ever before, / this is usually by choice. / It is not because children now tend to neglect their parents / when they become old. / It is also wrong to believe that old age seriously affects a person’s mental abilities. / There is clear proof that people who were eager to learn and who welcomed new experiences in their middle age, / continue to do so in old age. / It is true that older people tend to take longer to learn something new than young people. / Nevertheless, if they are given sufficient time, / they learn as well as young people do. Passage 4 Cars in the Future As big cars cause many problems, such as pollution, shor