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$\quad$$\quad$In order to “change lives for the better” and reduce “dependency”, George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the “upfront work search” scheme. Only if the jobless arrive at the job centre with a CV, register for the online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly. What could be more reasonable?
$\quad$$\quad$为了“让生活变得更美好”并减少“对国家的依赖”，英国财务大臣George Osborne推出了“提前找工作”的计划。只有当失业者带着简历来到就业中心，注册网上求职，且并开始寻找工作时，他们才有资格领取失业救济金，并且他们需要每周而不是每两周报告一次。还有什么能比这更合理的呢？
$\quad$$\quad$More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseeker’s allowance. “Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on.” he claimed, “We’re doing these things because we know they help people stay off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster.” Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with “reforms” to an obviously indulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsidises laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for “fundamental fairness”—protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits.
$\quad$$\quad$接下来是一些更为明显的合理示例。现在，求职者的津贴需求将需等待七天。“开始的数天应当被用来寻找工作，而不是瞎晃悠”。他宣称道，“我们做这些事是为了帮助人们离开津贴的帮助，同时帮助那些有津贴的人尽快找到工作”。帮助？真的吗？刚听到这些，会觉得是一个关心社会的大臣试图去让生活变得更美好，并对一个明显纵容的体系进行“改革”，这个体系对新事业者找工作的要求太少，并为懒人提供补助。据我们所知，激励他的是他对“基本公平”的热情-----保护纳税人，控制支出，确保只有最需要的人才能获得他们的补助。
$\quad$$\quad$Losing a job is hurting: you don’t skip down to the job centre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state. It is financially terrifying, psychologically embarrassing and you know that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life. Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself and your family and pay the bills has disappeared. Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job.
$\quad$$\quad$失业是一件非常痛苦的事情：你不会哼着曲去就业中心，很高兴能从慷慨的政府那拿到双倍的收入。这在经济上是可怕的，心理上是尴尬的，你知道支持是最小的，而且格外难以获得。现在不需要你了;你现在被排除在为你的生活提供目标和结构的工作环境之外。更糟糕的是，养活自己和家人、支付账单的关键收入消失了。问任何一个刚失业的人他们想要什么，答案总是:一份工作。
$\quad$$\quad$But in Osborneland, your first instinct is to fall into dependency—permanent dependency if you can get it—supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood. It is as though 20 years of ever –tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened. The principle of British welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens. Even the very phrase “jobseeker’s allowance” invented in 1996 is about redefining the unemployed as a “jobseeker” who had no mandatory right to a benefit he or she has earned through making national insurance contributions. Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited “allowance”, conditional on actively seeking a job: no entitlement and no insurance, at £71.70 a week ,one of the least generous in the EU.
$\quad$$\quad$但在Osborne land，你的第一直觉是陷入依赖----如果你能得到的话，将是永久的依赖，支持你的是一个只会纵容你谎言的国家，这就好像20年来对求职和福利管理体系进行的更加严厉的改革从未发生过。英国福利的原则不再是，如果灾难发生，你可以为自己的失业风险投保，并获得无条件的赔偿。即使是在1996年发明的“求职者津贴”一词，也将失业者重新定义为“求职者”，他们没有强制性权利获得通过缴纳国民保险而获得的福利。相反，申请人将获得一份有时限的“津贴”，条件是积极寻找一份工作:没有福利，也没有保险，每周71.70英镑，是欧盟最不慷慨的国家之一。
21 George Osborne’s scheme was intended to
[A] provide the unemployed with easier access to benefits.
给失业者提供了更容易得到的津贴机会
[B] encourage jobseeker’ s active engagement in job seeking.
鼓舞了找工作的人在找工作方面的激情 正确
[C] motivate the unemployed to report voluntarily.
促进了失业人员自愿报告
[D] guarantee jobseekers’ legitimate right to benefits
保障求职者的合法权益
答案定位：{Only if the jobless arrive at the job centre with a CV, register for the online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly.}
22 The phase “to sign on”(Line 23,Para.2)most probably means
[A] to check on the availability of jobs at the job centre.
查询就业中心的就业情况。
[B] to accept the government’s restrictions on the allowance.
接受政府对限额的限制。
[C] to register for an allowance from the government.
登记从政府领取津贴。 正确
[D] to attend a governmental job-training program
参加政府的职业培训计划
符合上下文
23 What prompted the chancellor to develop his scheme?
[A] A desire to secure a better life for all.
为所有人争取更美好生活的愿望。
[B] An eagerness to protect the unemployed.
保护失业者的渴望
[C] An urge to be generous to the claimants.
对索赔人慷慨解囊的冲动
[D] A passion to ensure fairness for taxpayers.
一种确保纳税人公平权利的激情 正确
答案定位：{What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for “fundamental fairness”—protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits.}
24 According to Paragraph 3, being unemployed makes one feel
[A] uneasy.
不容易、忧虑的 正确
[B] enraged.
生气
[C] insulted.
无礼
[D] guilty.
自责
25 To which of the following would the author most probably agree?
[A] The British welfare system indulges jobseekers’ laziness.
英国的福利制度纵容求职者的懒惰。
[B] Osborne’s reform will reduce the risk of unemployment.
奥斯本的改革将降低失业风险。
[C] The jobseekers’ allowance has met their actual needs.
求职者津贴满足了他们的实际需要。
[D] Unemployment benefits should not be made conditional.
失业救济不应该有条件。 正确
答案定位：{Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited “allowance”, conditional on actively seeking a job: no entitlement and no insurance, at ￡71.70 a week, one of the least generous in the EU.}
