公共英语四级

单选题根据下面资料,回答题
Now the politics of US health reform is in a mess but the odds on a bill passing in the end are improving. It will not be a tidy thing, but if it moves the country close to universal health insur-ance the administration will call it a success.
At this moment, that pointof view may seem too optimistic. Last Friday, the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives had hoped to produce a finished bill. But they failed,because the party´ s fiscal conservatives demanded further savings. House Democrats are also divid-ed on revenue-raising measures.
The Senate is dealing with the same problems : how to contain the cost of expanded insurance coverage, and how to pay for what remains, so that the reform adds nothing to the budget deficit o-ver the course of 10 years.
Where the money comes from remains the crucial problem. Apparently, the answer is straight-forward: tax employer-provided health benefits. At present, an employer in the U. S. is free from paying tax if he pays the health insurance while an individual purchaser has to buy it with after-tax dollars. This anomaly costs nearly $ 250bn a year inevenue--enough to pay for universal cover-age, and then some. Yet many Democrats in both the House and the Senate oppose to ending it.
Will there be a breakthrough in terms of that aspect?
However, to get employers out of health insurance should be an aim, not something to be feared. Many us workers have complained that if they lose their job, their health insurance will go with it and tying insurance to employment will undoubtedly worsen the insecurity.
What about high-risk workers who are thrown on to the individual market? If the tax break were abolished as part of a larger reform which obliges insurers to offer affordable coverage to all people regardless of pre-existing conditions, it will not be a problem. It´ s tree this change needs to increase tax, and many people in Congress are reluctant to contemplate in any form. But some kind of increase is inescapable. This one makes more sense than most.
The President should say so. His Republican opponent John McCain called for this change during the election campaign and Mr Obama and other Democrats assailed the idea. So what? Mr.
Obama has changed his ideas on Other aspects of health reform. For example, it seems that he now prefers an individual mandate to buy insurance. Let us see a similar flexibility on taxing employer-provided insurance.
According to the author,__________.

A.the politics of U.S.health reform is a total failure
B.there is no possibility of passing a bill
C.it’s difficult to pass a bill
D.U.S.will achieve universal health insurance

参考答案:C进入在线模考
参考译文
现在,围绕美国医疗改革的党派之争看上去是一团乱。但最终通过一项法案的可能性正在上升。法案不会一步到位,但如果它能使美国向全民医疗保险迈进,政府就会称其是成功的。
就目前而言.上述观点可能显得过于乐观。众议院民主党领导人曾希望在上周五拟出法案的最终版本。但由于党内的财政保守人士要求进一步节省开支,该计划终未实现。民主党众议员在如何提高财政收入方面也存在分歧。
参议院正在努力解决同样的问题:如何控制医保覆盖面扩大所增加的成本,以及如何支付剩余开支,以确保改革不会对未来10年的财政赤字构成额外压力。
如何负担改革计划所需资金,仍然是个关键性难题。从表面上看,答案一目了然:对雇主提供的医疗保险征税。目前在美国,由雇主提供的医疗保险可以免税,而个人购买医疗保险则无法抵税。这种反常现象导致了每年近2,500亿美元的税收损失——用来支付全民医保还绰绰有余。
但众、参两院的许多民主党人反对叫停免税政策。这方面会有所突破吗?但是,让雇主脱离医疗保险应该是个目标,而非值得畏惧的事情。美国许多员工都在抱怨;将保险与失业捆绑在一起,毫无疑问会加剧这种不安全感。
那么,被迫进入零售市场的高风险员工该怎么办呢?如果在取消税收减免的同时进行更广泛的改革,要求保险公司向所有人——无论其是否已经存在健康问题——提供负担得起的保险,那么上述问题就不存在了。诚然,要进行这项改革必然要增加税收,而许多国会议员对此不愿予以任何考虑。但某种形式的增税是不可避免的。这种形式比其他大多数形式都更有意义。
美国总统应该说出这种观点。他的共和党对手约翰·麦凯恩(John McCain)在竞选时曾经呼吁进行这种改变,当时奥巴马及其他民主党人对麦凯恩的观点进行了抨击。但那又怎样呢?在医疗改革的其他方面,奥巴马已经改变立场。比如,他目前似乎更倾向于要求个人购买保险。让我们期待他在对雇主提供的医疗保险征税方面,表现出类似的灵活姿态。
答案及解析
由第一段“…the odds on abill passing in the end are impro-ving(最终通过一项法案的可能性正在上升)”可知,选项A和B不正确。由第一段最后一句“It will not be a tidy thin9,but if it moves the country close to universal health insurance the administra-tion will call it a success.(法案不会一步到位,但如果它能使美国向全民医疗保险迈进,政府就会称其是成功的。)”可知,作者并不认为美国最后一定能实现全民医疗保险,作者只是认为虽然法案很难通过,但倘若它能使美国向全民医疗保险迈进,对于奥巴马政府而言,就是成功。所以,本题选择c。

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1In the author’s opinion.which of the following is“revenue-raising measures”?

A.Tax employer-provided health benefits.
B.Tax individual-purchased health insurance.
C.Ending taxing employer-provided health benefits.
D.Ending taxing individual-purchased health insurance.

2Why did the author say that to get employers out of health insurance should be an aim?

A.Because employers evaded paying taxes.
B.Because tying insurance to employment was bad to workers.
C.Because it’s illegal for employers to provide health insurance.
D.Because the administration needed to raise revenue.

3What does the author feel about President’s preference to an individual’s buying insur-ance?

A.Going back on his word.
B.Stubborn.
C.Flexible.
D.Short-sighted.