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Everyone, it seems, has a health problem. After pouring billions into the National Health Service, British people moan about dir

admin2022-07-19  95
问题     Everyone, it seems, has a health problem. After pouring billions into the National Health Service, British people moan about dirty hospitals, long waits and wasted money. In Germany, the chancellor, Angela Merkel, is under fire for suggesting changing the financing of its health system. Canada’s Conservative Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, made a big fuss during the election about reducing the country’s lengthy medical queues. Across the rich world, affluence, ageing and advancing technology are driving up health spending faster than income.
    But nowhere has a bigger health problem than America. Soaring medical bills are squeezing wages, swelling the ranks of the uninsured and pushing huge firms and perhaps even the government towards bankruptcy. Ford’s announcement that it would cut up to 30,000 jobs was as much a sign of its "legacy" health-care costs as of the ills of the car industry. Pushed by polls that show health care is one of his main domestic problems and by forecasts showing that the baby boomers will crush the government’s finances, President of the United Stares is to unveil a reform plan in next week’s state-of-the-union address.
    America’s health system is unlike any other. The United States spends 16％ of its GDP on health, around twice the rich-country average, equivalent to $6,280 for every American each year. Yet it is the only rich country that does not guarantee universal health coverage. Thanks to an accident of history, most Americans receive health insurance through their employer, with the government picking up the bill for the poor and the elderly.
    This curious hybrid certainly has its strengths. Americans have more choice than anybody else, and their health-care system is much more innovative. Europeans’ bills could be much higher if American medicine were not doing much of their Research and Development (R&D) for them. But there are also huge weaknesses. The one most often cited—especially by foreigners—is the army of uninsured. Some 46 million Americans do not have cover. In many cases that is out of choice and, if they fall seriously ill, hospitals have to treat them. But it is still deeply unequal. And there are also shocking inefficiencies: by some measures, 30％ of American health spending is wasted.
    Then there is the question of state support. Many Americans disapprove of the "socialized medicine" of Canada and Europe. In fact, even if much of the administration is done privately, around 60％ of America’s health-care bill ends up being met by the government. Proportionately, the American state already spends as much on health as the OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) average and that share is set to grow as the baby boomers run up their Medicare bills and ever more employers avoid providing health-care coverage. America is, in effect, heading towards a version of socialized medicine by default.
Ford’s announcement of cutting up to 30,000 jobs indicates that Ford________.
选项 A、has the biggest health problem of the car industry
B、has made profits from its health-care legacy
C、has accumulated too heavy a health-care burden
D、owes a great deal of debt to its employees
答案C
解析 本题关键词为Ford’s announcement，问题是：福特公司的裁员公告表明什么问题?可以定位到第二段。根据第二段第二句，猛涨的医疗费榨取着人们的工资，使不少大公司(huge firms)乃至政府走向破产的边缘(towards bankruptcy)。紧接着第三句给出具体事例，福特公司宣布(Ford’s announcement)裁减30000个工作岗位，这不光表明汽车行业的弊病(ills of the car industry)，还表明医疗花费方面的“遗留问题”，即福特公司承担巨大的医疗负担，因此选项C与原文是相同含义，是正确选项。选项A属于主观推导，原文指出福特公司裁员不仅是汽车行业的弊病，而且是医疗花费的遗留问题，但是并没有说福特在汽车行业中的医疗问题最严重，因此排除选项A。选项B属于正反混淆，福特公司由于医疗负担不得不裁员，而不是从中获利。选项D属于无中生有，文中并没有提到福特公司拖欠员工债务，只提到福特公司承担了巨大的医疗负担，所以选项D是错误的。第二段：美国的医疗问题干分严峻。
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