Section A Directions:In this
section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements.
Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements
in the fewest possible words.
It has been the most equal attitude of all the 11 recessions since
World War II. In various ways, it has touched every social class through job
loss, pay cuts, depressed home values, shrunken stock investments, eroded
retirement savings, grown children returning home—and anxiety about all of the
above. The Great Recession (as it is widely called)has changed America
psychologically, politically, economically, and socially. A new
study from the Pew Research Center, based on an opinion survey in May of nearly
3,000 Americans and an exhaustive evaluation of economic data, provides a
preview. Not surprisingly, it confirms that Americans have become more frugal
(借鉴的); 71 percent say they’re buying less expensive brands, 57 percent say
they’ve cut down or eliminated vacations. Life plans have changed; 11 percent
say they’ve postponed marriage or children, while 9 percent have moved in with
parents. One interesting finding is that the elderly have been
relatively sheltered. According to the report, "Older adults (ages 65 and
older)are much less likely than younger age groups to have cut back on spending,
loaned or borrowed money, had trouble paying for medical bills or housing, or
had to increase their credit card debt." For example, 28 percent of Americans
under 65 borrowed money from family or friends; only 5 percent of those 65 and
older did. Confidence in retirement savings dropped sharply for younger
Americans (including those 50 to 64), not those 65 and over. But
other protections from the Great Recession have been scarce. Previous recessions
have focused their hurt on the young and unskilled. This remains tree. Almost
one fifth of workers 16 to 24 were unemployed at the end of 2009, a near
doubling since late 2007. Among those without a high-school diploma, joblessness
was 50 percent higher than the average. Still, the economic and spiritual damage
extends much further, for many reasons. First, the huge job
loss: by most measures, joblessness is the worst since World War II. (Though the
unemployment rate never reached the 10. 8 percent of late 1982, economists John
Schmitt and Dean Baker have shown this mostly reflected the 1980s’ younger labor
force; younger workers change jobs more often and have higher jobless rates.
)Second, pay cuts: these affected almost a quarter of workers, including nearly
a fifth of those with family incomes exceeding $ 75,000. Third, the loss of
housing and stock market wealth: that decline (more than 25 percent on an annual
basis)was concentrated among higher-income Americans, who own a too large share
of the wealth. Finally, children= all those jobless college graduates and
crashing kids must alarm their parents. The loss of housing and stock market wealth affected ______ most.