slices英语专业四级阅读理解模拟题---工作中的年龄歧视

2021年1月21日发(作者：忍耐力)
英语专业四级阅读理解模拟题
---
工作中的年龄歧视


Recently,
Congressional
Democrats
introduced
legislation
to
make
it
easier
for
older
workers
to
win
age
discrimination
lawsuits.
Age
discrimination
remains
a
significant
workplace
issue.

In recent ten years, 15.79 percent of cases brought to the Equal
Employment
Opportunity
Commission,
were
described
as
successful claims. While this number is small given the number
of
workers
covered
by
the
Age
Discrimination
in
Employment
Act, many, if not most, instances of age discrimination are never
sued, and cases hiring discrimination often go undetected.

Most
of
those
who
do
sue
are
white,
male
middle-managers
who are likely to have lost a sizeable salary and pension. For the
most
part,
other
groups
do
not
sue
because
the
costs
of
a
lawsuit
outweigh
the
potential
benefits.
Age
discrimination
remains a significant workplace issue.

There is strong experimental evidence for age discrimination in
hiring, at least for entry-level jobs. Recently, I performed a labor
market experiment in Boston in which I sent out thousands of
resumes
for
fictitious
(
虚构的
)
entry-level
female
candidates
and
measured
response
rate
based
on
date
of
high
school
graduation. Among this group, younger applicants, whose date
of high school graduation indicated that they were less than 50
years old, were 40 percent more likely to be called back for an
interview than were older applicants.

It
is
difficult
to
tell
whether
employment
problems
are
worse
for older workers than for other workers when times are bad.
The number of discrimination lawsuits increases during times of
high unemployment, but this finding by itself does not indicate
an
increased
level
of
age
discrimination.
In
times
of
higher
unemployment, the opportunity cost to a lawsuit is lower than
it is when times are good.

From the employer's perspective, mass layoffs may seem like a
good chance to remove a higher proportion of generally more
expensive
older
workers
without
the
worry
of
being
sued.
On
the
other
hand,
employers
may
be
less
likely
to
remove
protected
older
workers
because'
they
still
fear
lawsuits.
One
thing we do know is that once an older worker loses a job, he or
she is much less likely to find a new job than a younger worker
is.

Unfortunately,
the
effect
of
legislation
prohibiting
age
discrimination is not easy to see and may actually be part of the
reason it is so difficult for older workers to find employment. If
it is more difficult to fire an older worker than a younger worker,
a firm will be less likely to want to hire older workers. Indeed,
my research finds that in states where workers have longer time
to bring a lawsuit claim, older men work fewer weeks per year,
are less likely to be hired, and less likely to be fired than men in
states where they do not have as much.

Not
many
people
would
suggest
that
we
go
back
to
a
world
prior
to
the
Age
Discrimination
in
Employment
Act,
in
which
advertisements
specify
the
specific
ages
of
people
they
are
willing to hire. However, legislation prohibiting discrimination is
no
panacea
(
万
灵药
).
The
recent
proposed
congressional
legislation
could
have
both
positive
and
negative
effects
on
potential older workers.

1. A lot of cases of age discrimination are not found because

A. age discrimination law was just introduced recently.

B. other discriminated groups don't sue except the whites.

C. age discrimination cases are in large quantity and it is difficult
to detect all of them.

D. many discriminated people don't sue and costs of a lawsuit
outweigh potential benefits.

2. The labor market experiment in Boston shows that

A.
younger
male
applicants
are
more
likely
to
be
hired
than
their female counterparts.

B. age discrimination is quite common in hiring process.

C.
the
author
collected
information
by
interviewing
female
applicants.

D.
female
applicants
who
are
50
years
old
will
never
have
a