下周即将迎来2026年四六级的首次考试啦~ 我们也在考前凑下热闹趴！
2025年12月第一套题 Section C
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.
Katharine Abraham, an economics professor, was chatting with her hairdresser（理发师）about retirement plans. The economist said she plans to continue working because she wants to. / The hairdresser agreed but for a different reason: She needs the money.// 51(根据红色的关键词可以定位到第一段即为51题的答案所在)
Bothscenarios（情况）are contributing to a big increase in the number of people in the US working into their 70s. Over the past 20 years, the share of Americans working in their 70s has risen from less than 10% to nearly 15%.
In addition to people being healthier and living much longer, economists say that a combination of financial considerations such as years of C slow rise in real wages and a shift away fromD traditional pensions/B in the private sector are some of the reasons people delay retirement. The decline of manufacturing and the increase in the number of people working inAless labor-intensive occupations also has contributed to the trend, says Abraham,who researches work and retirement decisions of older Americans.// 52(根据红色的关键词可以定位到第一段即为51题的答案所在)
“Which matters more depends on what your history up until that point has been in the type of work you're doing,”Abraham says.
The overall (= general) trend is hitting Americans of all different levels of educational attainment,although the percentages vary by category. The share of Americans with bachelor's degrees who were working into their 70s reached nearly 20% in 2018. For those with a high school degree or less, the proportion of those working in their 70s had risen to around 10%, while those with some college education were in the middle at around 15%.// 53(根据红色的关键词可以定位到第一段即为51题的答案所在)
Martin Neil Baily, an economist who is leading a research project on retirement security, notes that quitting a career can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness, particularly for men. He suggests that many college-educated workers are choosing to stay in the labor force more for social benefits than for financial
reasons. (尤其注意than后面的内容是不要的，千万不要理解错，要than前不要than后的内容！)They're also more likely to be in professional occupations where they tend to enjoy their work more.// 54 (根据红色的关键词可以定位到第一段即为51题的答案所在)
Workers in more physical jobs(=manual work体力劳动), meanwhile, may be more likely to look forward to retiring,Baily says,suggesting those who stay on are more likely doing so for financial reasons.
51.What do we learn from the passage about the economics professor and her hairdresser?
A) They differ in their reasons for continuing to work.
B) They are both committed to working into their 70s.
C)They are happy about their current financial situation.
D) They hold different views about postponing retirement.
52.What is one of the reasons for people to delay retirement?
A) More and more people have switched to lessintellectually challenging jobs.
B) The number of jobs suitable for older people has increased in the private sector.
C)The rate of wage increase in terms of purchasing power has slowed down for years.
D) More and more people in the workplace find it hard to rely ontraditional pensions.
53.What is the general trend in people delaying retirement?
A) The higher their earnings, the more likely they are tempted to delay retirement.
B) Those who have more job satisfaction tend to retire later than those who have less.
C) More men than women are likely to stay in the labor force until their late seventies.
D) The higher their educational level, the more likely they are to delay retirement.
54.What is the chief reason for college-educated workers delaying retirement according to an economist?
A)Enjoying financial security.C) Contributing more professionally.
B) Staying connected socially.D) Increasing social security payments.
55.What does the passage say about people doing manual work?
A) They are eager to enjoy life after retiring.C) They generally don't enjoy doing it.
B) They are likely to have financial troubles.D) They tend to anticipate retirement.
【如何做】
1.先读题干信息，提取关键词；
2.根据关键词去原文中定位段落、句子，并且标号每一题的题号（方便后面检查和回过头看）；
3.再去读每一个选项的题干抓关键词；
4.把选项中的关键词和原文定位的段落、句子进行比较，看是否是同一个意思；若是则对，若不是，则排除。
【真题演练】
51.根据文章的颜色标记，可以看到economist 和 hairdresser 他们两个人是出于不同的原因才选择继续工作的，前者是自身想要而后者是需要钱。所以通过这种同义替换的方式，可以等同于选项中的differ一词，所以答案为A. (different adj.不同的 -ent是形容词的后缀，那么我把其后缀去掉即可成为动词，意义不变，那么differ v.使不同)
52.A选项中的绿色关键词没办法直接从文中定位的段落中找到，那么就只能是 -- 同义替换了。intellectually challenging指的是“对智力/脑力具有挑战性的”（即为“费脑子的工作”），我们所知道的脑力工作对应的是体力活，所以我们可以反向来找 less labor-intensive occupations“劳动力密集型岗位”，这两者的关系应该是方向增长，即有更少的脑力活则有更多的体力活，而不可能是一种同时减少或增长，所以A错；B & D选项中的private sector在定位的段落中虽然能找到，但是选项中其他关键词和文中关键词所在的句子描述的不是一个内容，排除B\D; C选择中的关键词在文中已经找到，看颜色标记即可,所以答案为C.
53.D选择中的educational level是定位段落中的三个绿色关键词的替换，分别用三种不同的学历阶段和背景表明“学历水平”，直接讲明了教育和延迟退休这件事情之间的关系，学历越高，越会延迟退休（百分比逐渐增多），所以答案为D.
54.根据关键词定位到文中的for social benefits 后，要注意区分选项B & D, 应为其中都有一个关键词 social, 那么区别在于 D选项中有一个security payments “安全/保障支付，报酬”,并未提及。
55.题干中的manual work并没有办法在文中找到，但是一般题目的顺序是注意往下的，那么答案很有可能在54段落定位的后面，即最后一个段落，其中的 physical job = manual work.文中的more likely to look forward to retiring= tend to anticipate 更有可能期待......,所以答案为D.
【单词短语】
1.retirement n. 退休；退役
2.scenariosn. 情节；剧本；方案
3.Increasev/n. 增加
4.combination n.结合, 组合
5.financial considerations 财务考量/财务考虑
6.labor-intensive occupation劳动密集型岗位
7.bachelor's degrees 学士学位
8.attainmentn.成就，达到
9.securityn. 保护（措施）；安全（保障）
10.labor force劳动力（Labor’s Day 劳动节）
11.postpone v. 使…延期；把…放在次要地位
12.intellectually adv.智力上
13.switch v.交换，转换
14.pensionsn.退休金，养老金
15.trend n.趋势, 倾向
16.satisfaction n.. 满意, 满足 (satisfy v.使满意, 满足)
17.rely on = depend on 依赖，依靠，取决于
18.anticipate v.期望
19.contribute to有助于，促成，导致，归因于......
20.be eager to 渴望......
【与君共勉】
“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll
“生活中10%是你将经历的事，而剩下的90%是你应对它的过程。”
——查尔斯·斯温德尔
