题文
Among rich countries, people in the United States work the longest hours. They work much longer than in Europe. This difference is quite surprising because productivity(生产力) per hour worked is the same in the United States as it is in France, Spain and Germany, and it is growing at a similar speed.
In most countries and at most times in history, as people have become richer they have chosen to work less. In other words they have decided to “spend” a part of their extra income on a fuller personal life. Over the last fifty years Europeans have continued this pattern, and hours of work have fallen sharply. But not in the United States. We do not fully know why this is. One reason may be greatly lower taxes in America, which increase the rewards to work. Another may be more satisfying work, or less satisfying personal lives.
Longer hours do of course increase the GDP(国内生产总值). So the United States has produced more per worker than, say, France. The United States also has more of its people at work, while in France many more mothers and older workers have decided to stay at home. The overall result is that American GDP per head is 40% higher than in France, even though productivity per hour worked is the same.
It is not clear which of the two situations is better. As we have seen, work has to be compared with other values like family life, which often get lost in its interest. It is too early to explain the different trends（趋势）in happiness over time in different countries. But it is a disappointing idea that in the United States happiness has made no progress since 1975, while it has risen in Europe. Could this have anything to do with trends in the work-life balance?
小题1:Which of the following countries has more of its people at work?A．Spain.B．France.C．Germany.D．America.小题2:What message can we get from the text?A．The GDP of Europe is higher than that of America.B．Two possible reasons are given for working longer hours in the US.C．People all over the world choose to work less when they are richer.D．Americans are happier than Europeans.小题3:Which of the following would be the best title for the text?A．Americans and EuropeansB．Staying at HomeC．Work and ProductivityD．Work and Happiness 题型：未知难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:D
小题2:B
小题3:D 解析
试题分析: 尽管美国人工作时间长但是每小时的生产效率却和其他一些富裕的欧洲国家相同，作者认为美国人喜欢工作时间长是因为工作会给人带来一种满足感，因此美国也成为了工作人数最多的国家。在本文中作者通过对比的方法对此现象进行了剖析。
小题1:D细节理解题。根据文章第三段The United States also has more of its people at work,可知美国工作的人数比别的国家要多，故答案选D。
小题2:B细节理解题。文章第二段介绍了为什么在美国人们的工作时间要更长一些，给出了两种可能的原因，由此判断B选项内容正确。
小题3:D主旨大意题。在文中作者对比了美国和其他富裕国家人们的不同工作时间和工作效率，分析认为工作带来的满足感可能是美国人喜欢工作的原因，但是最后提出尽管美国人喜欢长时间工作，但是人们的幸福感却没有像其他国家一样增长，由此可知文中中心内容是讲述工作和幸福的关系，故D选项内容更能反应文章中心，答案选D。 考点
据考高分专家说，试题“Among rich countries.....”主要考查你对 [日常生活类阅读 ]考点的理解。
日常生活类阅读
日常生活类阅读的概念：
日常生活这一话题主要涉及人们衣食住行等方面的活动。这一话题的选材主要针对人们日常的工作，生活以及学习情况。做这一类题时，最主要的是要把握好人物的活动内容，时间和地点。
日常生活类阅读题答题技巧：
【题型说明】
该类文章内容涉及到人们的言谈举止、生活习惯、饮食起居、服饰仪表、恋爱婚姻、消遣娱乐、节日起源、家庭生活等。文章篇幅短小，追根溯源，探索各项风俗的历史渊源，内容有趣。命题也以送分题为主，如事实细节题、语义转换题、词义猜测题和简单推理判断题等。虽然这类文章读起来感觉轻松，试题做起来比较顺手，但绝不能掉以轻心。因为稍不留神，就会丢分。
【备考提醒】
为了保证较高准确率，建议同学们做好以下几点：
1、保持正常的考试心态。笔者在教学中发现，越是容易的试题，同学们越是容易失分。为什么呢？因为在这种情况下，同学们极易产生麻痹思想，认为题目好做，就不引起高度重视，于是思维不发散、不周密。而命题人就是利用同学们的这一弱点，设计陷阱题。所以，无论试题难易与否，我们都要保持正常的考试心态。试题容易，不欣喜；试题难，不悲观。
2、根据前面讲到的方法，认认真真、细细心心做好事实细节题。
3、做好语义转换题。这类题是根据英语中一词多义和某些词语在文中能表达一定的修辞意义的原则而设计的。要求同学们解释某生词的含义，确定多义词或短语在文中的意思，确认文中的某个代词所指代的对象，或者对英语中特有的表达、格言、谚语进行解释。这种题要求同学们一定要根据上下文猜测词义或理解句子，切不可望文生义。
4、做好简单推理判断题。简单推理判断题要以表面文字为前提，以具体事实为依据进行推理，做出判断。这种推理方式比较直接，只要弄清事实，即可结合常识推断出合理的结论。
