There is no question that the poor are sicker. Unfortunately, there are no nationwide mortality（死亡率）statistics by income. One of the best studies has been a recent comparison of poverty and nonpoverty areas in Chicago. (This does not permit really fine analysis, because of the limitations of area comparisons. )Crude mortality in poverty areas was only three per cent higher than in nonpoverty areas;but the people in poverty areas are younger, and if it had been possible to compute age-specific rates, the differences would be much greater. Differentials（差异）in infant mortality were very large —75 per cent higher in poverty than in nonpoverty areas. In both cases, the differences between white and nonwhite were even more substantial than between poverty and nonpoverty areas.

The clearest and best evidence of poorer health among the poor is to be found in studies of days of disability per person per year, where differences of the order of two-to-one are found. Those in families with income of under $ 2,000 a year have 29 restricted activity days a year, while those with family income over $4,000 a year have less than half that, 13 restricted activity days a year.

But while the poor are sicker, the differences in the utilization of health care are not as marked as one might expect. The same study which reported twice as many disability days for those under $2,000 a year as for those over $40,000 a year showed lesser differences with respect to the use of doctors. Fifty-nine per cent of the poorer group have consulted a doctor in the previous year, 13 per cent a specialist, compared with 73 per cent and 28 per cent of better-off income groups. These differences in health care utilization by poor and nonpoor, which were once extreme, are now declining. Indeed, in some settings they are now reversed. In 1928-1931, families with an income of more than $ 5,000 spent 11 times as much on medical care as families with incomes under $ 1,200. In 1962, families with incomes of more than $ 7,000 spent only 37 per cent more on medical care than families with incomes under $ 2,000.

1. Compared with that in nonpoverty areas, crude mortality of young people in poverty areas is ________.

A. slightly lower

B. more or less the same

C. slightly higher

D. much higher

Best Answer:D

详解：答案D。从第一段第四句…if it had been possible to compute agespecific rates, the differences would be much greater 可知：从年轻人的死亡率来看，贫困地区高得多。

2. The most striking contrast in mortality can be found between ________.

A. different areas

B. different races

C. different families

D. different income groups

Best Answer:B

详解：从第一段更后一句可以看出B项为正确答案。

3.“Restricted activity days” are days when ________.

A. sick people have to stay in hospital for further treatment

B. one takes a long holiday away from work

C. sick people have to keep from their normal activities

D. one is restricted in his freedom of action

Best Answer:C

详解：答案C。…restricted activity days即指前一句中的days of disability,表明C项为正确答案。

4.The difference that is diminishing between the poor and the nonpoor is that in _________.

A. the utilization of health care

B. the opportunities of employment

C. their living conditions

D. their state of health

Best Answer:A

详解：答案A。从第三段中第四句These differences in health care utilization by poor and nonpoor,which were once extreme，are now declining可知答案为A。

5.From the passage (as the beginning paragraphs of a long article), it is very likely that the writer will go on to discuss______.

A. how to eliminate poverty in the U. S. A.

B. how to gather nationwide mortality statistics by income

C. how to help those poor people who are sick

D. how to train more qualified doctors for the rich people

Best Answer:C

详解：答案C。第一段讲了穷人的死亡率，第二段讲了病人生病的情况，第三段谈了越李越多的穷人无法得到医疗保健，因此，接下来更可能谈的就是如何帮助生病的穷人了。