While still in its early stages, welfare reform has already been judged a great success in many states—at least in getting peopl

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问题     While still in its early stages, welfare reform has already been judged a great success in many states—at least in getting people off welfare. It’s estimated that more than two million people have left the rolls since 1994.
    In the past four years, welfare rolls in Athens County have been cut in half. But 70 percent of the people who left in the past two years took jobs that paid less than $ 6 an hour. The result: The Athens County poverty rate still remains at more than 30 percent— twice the national average.
    For advocates (代言人) for the poor, that’s an indication that much more needs to be done.
    "More people are getting jobs, but it’s not making their lives any better," says Kathy Lairn, a policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.
    A center analysis of U.S. Census data nationwide found that between 1995 and 1996, a greater percentage of single, female-headed households were earning money on their own, but that average income for these households actually went down.
    But for many, the fact that poor people are able to support themselves almost as well without government aid as they did with it is in itself a huge victory.
    "Welfare was a poison. It was a toxin (毒素) that was poisoning the family," says Robert Rector, a welfare-reform policy analyst. "The reform is changing the moral climate in low-income communities. It’s beginning to rebuild the work ethic (工作道德), which is much more important. "
    Mr. Rector and others argued that once "the habit of dependency is cracked," then the country can make other policy changes aimed at improving living standards. (286 words)
What is worth noting from the example of Athens County is that______.

选项 A、greater efforts should be made to improve people’s living standards
B、70 percent of the people there have been employed for two years
C、50 percent of the population no longer relies on welfare
D、the living standards of most people are going down

答案D

解析 本题属于细节判断题。从Athens县的例子我们可以看出,享受福利待遇的人在过去的四年中已减了一半。但近两年才没享受福利待遇的人中,70%的人所挣的工钱一小时不到六美元。结果Athens县的贫困率仍高达30%以上,是全国贫困线的两倍。因此D“大多数大生活水平下降”是正确答案。
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