Passage 5
Questions21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
People in the developed countries are living longer. In 2005 in the U.S. theaverage lifespan was 77.6 years, as against 54 years in 1920 and just 34 yearsin 1780. By 2050 it is estimated that the average lifespan will be in the mid80's. By 2025 in the developed countries the share of the population over 60will be 26 percent.
This increasing longevity is starting to impact on public finances,economic growth and general living standards. This impact is greater incountries with low employment rates, such as countries in the European Union,of which Italy is a good example. In addition, as baby boomers (those bom from1946 to 1960) reach retirement age, there is increasing pressure on socialsecurity systems and public funds for retirement and health care expenses.Economists are increasingly questioning the sustainability of the Europeansocial model with its current high welfare standards.
“Active aging” is now beingadvanced by policy experts. The current division of life into threecycles—education, employment and retirement—should be changed. According tothese experts, governments need to remove barriers that prevent older peoplefrom continuing to work and should extend the average working life. Schemes forlifelong learning need to be established to keep the aging workforce equippedwith up-to-date job skills.
The U.S. agricultural firm Monsanto is encouraging the government toallow it to introduce “phased retirement” for its workforce. Back in 1991 thecompany set up a Resource Re-entry Centre (RRC). Monsanto found it difficult tohire qualified temporary administrative assistants. Through the RRC it began tooffer this work to retired administrative workers. The centre now sources humanresources amongst its retired workforce for a diverse range of projects. In sodoing, the company retains the skills, knowledge and social networks of itsworkers. Much of the work is project-based and highly flexible. Over 60 percentof the projects are given to workers over 60. A key feature of the scheme is workers'access to cost-effective computer-based training to maintain and update jobskills. The centre strives to educate company managers regarding the costefficiency and quality of the work achieved by the service.
From 1780 to 2005, the average lifespan in the U.S. ____.
A.had more than doubled B.had more than tripled C.increased by 26 percent D.increased to 80 years正确答案A
