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  3. Global Economy at Low Ebb Causes American Rate of Unemployment Upswing For many years, unemployment in the United States was

Global Economy at Low Ebb Causes American Rate of Unemployment Upswing For many years, unemployment in the United States was

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问题       Global Economy at Low Ebb Causes American Rate of Unemployment Upswing
    For many years, unemployment in the United States was lower than in Western Europe, a fact often cited by people who argued that the flexibility inherent in the American system—it is easier to both hire and fire workers than in many European countries—produced more jobs.
    That is no longer the case. The current economic crisis has turned the case for the US model almost entirely on its head.
    In March, the American unemployment rate stood at 8. 5 percent, the same as the average rate for the first 15 members of the European Union. In April, the rate in the United States rose to 8. 9 percent. When the European figures are compiled, it seems likely that the American rate will be higher for the first time since Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical agency, began publishing unemployment rates in 1993 for the entire European Union and for three countries outside the union, the United States, Japan and Turkey.
    For men, the unemployment rate in the United States surpassed that of the 15 original European union countries in December. By March, it was 9. 5 percent in the United States, compared with just 7. 5 percent for women. The figures for men and women in the 15 European countries, however, are close together, at 8.4 percent and 8.5 percent.
    The March rate for the United States was higher than the rates of 11 of the 15. The exceptions were Portugal, which has the same rate, and Spain, Ireland and France. Eight of the 15 European countries have rates that are lower than three years ago.
    How did that happen during a worldwide recession? First, it appears that the safety nets in many Western European economies made it easier for people to keep their jobs as the economy declined. In Germany, programs allow companies to get government help in paying workers and keeping them employed. If the recession becomes severe enough and long enough, of course, it could turn out that those programs do not so much to avoid the pain as defer it.
    Another factor may be the lack of an economic boom in many European countries, which has left them less vulnerable to recession-related cutbacks.
    There is, and always has been, a large variation in economic performance among Western European countries. Even though workers generally have the right to move between countries in the European Union, doing so presents language and cultural hurdles for many.
    In the United States, there has been more movement of workers from depressed areas to places where the employment outlook is brighter. But the housing crisis appears to be hampering such movement because some workers own homes that are worth far less than the amount they owe on their mortgages.
The large difference in economic performance among Western European countries is the result of______.
选项 A、housing crisis
B、less movement of workers
C、language barriers
D、cultural obstacles
答案B
解析 推理判断题。由题干中的large difference in economic performance among Western European countries定位到第八段。由第八段第二句可知，尽管欧盟成员国的劳动者有权在国与国之间自由流动，但问题是自由流动造成了他们语言和文化上的障碍。由此可以推断劳动力的流动性受到影响，参照第九段第一句“在美国，劳动力流动性更大”，可以推出[B]“劳动力流动性较小”符合文意。[A]“住房危机”是在谈到美国时提到，与西欧国家的经济绩效差异无关，故排除；[C]“语言障碍”和[D]“文化障碍”是影响欧盟国劳动力流动性的因素，但不是严重经济差异存在的直接原因，故排除。
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