【正文】 the Michigan House plans to consider the bill this week.26. We learn from the passage that schools in Kalkaska, Michigan, are funded ______. A) by both the local and state governments B) exclusively by the local government C) mainly by the state government D) by the National Education Association27. One of the purposes for which school officials closed classes was _______. A) to avoid paying retirement benefits to teachers and staff B) to draw the attention of local taxpayers to political issues C) to make the financial difficulties of their teachers and staff known to the public D) to pressure Michigan lawmakers into increasing state funds for local schools28. The author seems to disapprove of _______. A) the Michigan lawmakers’ endless debating B) the shutting of schools in Kalkaska C) the involvement of the mass media D) delaying the passage of the school funding legislation29. We learn from the passage that school authorities in Kalkaska are more concerned about _______. A) a raise in the propertytax rate in Michigan B) reopening the schools there immediately C) the attitude of the MEA’s parent organization D) making a political issue of the closing of the schools30. According to the passage, the closing of the schools developed into a crisis because of ______. A) the plexity of the problem B) the political motives on the part of the educators C) the weak response of the state officials D) the strong protest on the part of the students’ parentsPassage ThreeQuestions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage. German Chancellor (首相) Otto Von Bismarck may be most famous for his military and diplomatic talent, but his legacy (遺產(chǎn)) includes many of today’s social insurance programs. During the middle of the 19th century, Germany, along with other European nations, experienced an unprecedented rash of workplace deaths and accidents as a result of growing industrialization. Motivated in part by Christian passion (憐憫) for the helpless as well as a practical political impulse to undercut the support of the socialist labor movement, Chancellor Bismarck created the world’s first workers’ pensation law in 1884. By 1908, the United States was the only industrial nation in the world that lacked workers’ pensation insurance. America’s injured workers could sue for damages in a court of law, but they still faced a number of tough legal barriers. For example, employees had to prove that their injuries directly resulted from employer negligence and that they themselves were ignorant about potential hazards in the workplace. The first state workers’ pensation law in this country passed in 1911, and the program soon spread throughout the nation. After World War II, benefit payments to American workers did not keep up with the cost of living. In fact, real benefit levels were lower in the 1970s than they were in the 1940s, and in most states the maximum benefit was below the poverty level for a family of four. In 1970, President Richard Nixon set up a national mission to study the problems of workers’ pensation. Two years later, the mission issued 19 key remendations, including one that called for increasing pensation benefit levels to 100 percent of the states’ average weekly wages. In fact, the average pensation benefit in America has climbed from 55 percent of the states’ average weekly wages in 1972 to 97 percent today. But, as most studies show, every 10 percent increase in pensation benefits results in a 5 percent increase in the numbers of workers who file for claims. And with so much more money floating in the workers’ pensation system, it’s not surprising that doctors and lawyers have helped themselves to a large slice of the growing pie.31. The world’s first workers’ pensation law was introduced by Bismarck _______. A) to make industrial production safer B) to speed up the pace of industrialization C) out of religious and political considerations D) for fear of losing the support of the socialist labor movement32. We learn from the passage that the process of industrialization in Europe _______. A) was acpanied by an increased number of workshop accidents B) resulted in the development of popular social insurance programs C) required workers to be aware of the potential dangers at the workplace D) met growing resistance from laborers working at machines33. One of the problems the American injured workers faced in getting pensation in the early 19th century was that ______. A) they had to have the courage to sue for damages in a court of law B) different sums in the . had totally different pensation programs C) America’s average pensation benefit was much lower than the cost of livingD) they had to produce evidence that their employers were responsible for the accident34. After 1972 workers’ pensation insurance in the . became more favorable to workers so that _______. A) the poverty level for a family of four went up drastically B) there were fewer legal barriers when they filed for claims C) the number of workers suing for damages increased D) more money was allocated to their pensation system35. The author ends the passage with the implication that ______. A) pensation benefits in America are soaring to new heights B) the workers are not the only ones to benefit from the pensation system C) people from all walks of life can benefit from the pensation system D) money floating in the pensation system is a huge drain on the . economyPassage FourQuestions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage. Early in the age of affluence (富裕) that followed World War II, an American retailing analyst named Victor Lebow proclaimed, “Our enormously productive economy ... demands that we make consumption