Many critics of the current welfare system argue that existing welfare regulations lead to family instability.They believe that those regulations，which exclude most poor husband-and-wife families from Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) assistance grants，contribute to the problem of family dissolution.Thus，they conclude that expanding the set of families that can eligibly get such grants would result in a marked strengthening of the low-income family structure.

If all poor families could receive welfare，would the incidence of instability change markedly? The answer to this question depends on the relative importance of three types of potential welfare recipients.The first is the“cheater”—the husband who is reported to have abandoned his family，but in fact disappears only when the social worker is in the neighborhood.The second consists of a loving husband and devoted father who，sensing his own inadequacy as a family supporter，leaves so that his wife and children may enjoy the relative benefit provided by public assistance.There is very little evidence that these two types are significant.

The third type is the unhappily married couple，who remain together out of a sense of economic responsibility for their children，because of the high costs of separation，or because of the consumption benefits of marriage.This group is large.The formation，maintenance，and dissolution of the family is in large part a function of the relative balance between the benefits and costs of marriage as seen by the individual members of the marriage.Since the family performs certain functions society regards as vital，a complex network of social and legal process has evolved to reinforce marriage.Much of the variation in marital stability across income classes can be explained by the variation in costs of dissolution imposed by society，such as division of property，and child support.

Marital stability is related to the costs of achieving an acceptable agreement on family consumption and production and to the prevailing social price of instability in the marriage partners‘social-economic group.Expected income exerts pressures on family instability by reducing the cost of dissolution.To the extent that welfare is a form of government-subsidized AFDC payments，it reduces the costs of separation and guarantees a minimal standard of living for wife and children.So welfare opportunities are a significant determinant of family instability in poor neighborhoods，but this is not the result of AFDC regulations that exclude most intact families from coverage.Rather，welfare-related instability occurs because public assistance lowers both the benefits of marriage and the costs of its breach by providing a system of government-subsidized payments.

1.Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

[A] Welfare restrictions do not contribute to low-income family instability.

[B] The most significant kind of welfare recipients is not the“cheating”father.

[C] The divorce rate is bound to fall when welfare benefits are cut.

[D] Government welfare payments lead directly to growing divorce rate.

2.The tone of the passage can best be described as____.

[A] confident and optimistic

[B] scientific and detached

[C] discouraged and alarmed

[D] polite and sensitive

3.All of the following are mentioned by the author as factors tending to sustain a marriage EXCEPT____.

[A] the social class of the married couple

[B] the cost involved in divorce

[C] the loss of property upon divorce

[D] the greater consumption possibilities of married people

4.With which of the following statements about marriage would the author most likely agree?

[A] Marriage is largely shaped by powerful but impersonal economic and social forces.

[B] Marriage has a greater value to higher income groups.

[C] Society has no interest in encouraging people to remain married to one another.

[D] Marriage will gradually give way to other forms of social organization.

5.The passage would most likely be found in a____.

[A] basic economics text

[B] book on the history of welfare

[C] religious literature on the importance of marriage

[D] scholarly journal devoted to public policy questions

参考答案：

1.[A] 文章第一段先引出对现行福利政策持批评态度的人的观点，他们认为现行政策引起了家庭的分裂。第二、三段对这一问题进行了具体分析。第四段是全文的结论，全文旨在说明的观点最清楚地阐述在本段最后两句。

2.[B] 意为：科学与客观的。作者对福利政策与家庭的稳定性的关系做了具体的分析，认为福利政策不是造成低收人家庭关系破裂的直接原因。分析有理有据，有说服力。

3.[A] 第三段提到第三类人，这些人虽然婚姻生活不幸福，但因为考虑到对孩子的经济责任而不离婚，因为离婚代价太高(选择项[B]表达的内容)，而生活在一起消费上可以有很多好处(选择项[D]表达的内容)。本段最后一句提到了(离婚时)分财产的问题。

4.[A] 参阅第三段第三、四、五句，尤其是第四段第一句。第四段第一句提到决定婚姻稳定与否的两个方面：经济和社会因素。[D]中give way to意为：让位于。

5.[D] 意为：用于探讨政府政策问题的学术杂志。本文探讨了政府的福利政策对婚姻稳定性的影响，分析有理有据，文章的措辞很富有学术味道。