Passage Three Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

Polls can provide important guidance for politicians, but there are times when it is foolish and dangerous to rely on a temporarily misinformed public for a political compass. The current debate over Social Security provides one of the most compelling examples in modern history of the pitfalls¹ of poll-driven political strategy.

Yesterday two leading Democratic strategists publicly took their party to task for their“just say no” approach to President Bush’s program. “To say there is no problem simply puts Democrats² out of the conversation for the great majority of the country that want political leaders to secure this very important retirement³ program,” they warned, “Voters are looking for reform, change, and new ideas, but Democrats seem stuck in concrete.”

Stuck, indeed. To be more exact, they are holding their ground and refusing to surrender to a president who is once again manufacturing a “crisis” for a political purpose. And  otherwise, when this strategy is clearly working?

Let’s start with the facts. According to President Bush, Social Security can pay all promised benefits for the next 37 years without any changes at all. Even if nothing were done by 2043, the program would still pay a higher real benefit than what people receive today.
And even looking into the future of the 75-year planning period, the shortfall is less than what we fixed⁴ in the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘80s. In other words, Social Security is financially stronger today than it has been throughout most of its history.

So this attack on Social Security has nothing to do with the solvency⁵ (偿付能力) of the program. Nonetheless last week, a Quinnipiac University poll found that respondents, by a 49 to 42 percent margin⁶, believed that Social  not be able to pay them a benefit when they retire. But this is a ridiculous idea, based completely on misinformation. It is even more far fetched（牵强的） than the notion, which also commanded a majority before the invasion of Iraq, that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the massacre⁷ of 9/11.

In the case of Social Security, there is no dispute about the facts. There are just a few cheap verbal and accounting⁸ tricks that have been used to convince the public that Social Security faces serious problems. These are easily refuted.

The same Quinnipiac poll showed that 59 percent of Americans disapprove⁹ of the way the president is handling Social Security, with only 28 percent approving. It makes no political sense to pretend that this attack on our nation’s most successful and popular government program is actually an attempt to insure its solvency. Even in politics, there are times when honesty is the best policy.

31. What can we know about the Democrats, according to the author?
A) They want to help secure the retirement program.
B) They refuse to admit that the Social Security program has been successful.
C) They are making efforts to solve the crisis of the Social Security program.
D) They organize polls in order to gain political interests.

32. The author raise the example of Saddam Hussein in order to show that .
A) the invasion of Iraq represented the wills of common people
B) no evidence had come up to prove the relationship between Saddam Hussein and the massacre of 9/11
C) sometimes the public without proper information will draw foolish conclusions
D) it was wrong for the government to rely on the public for important political decisions

33. According to the author, which of the following is correct?
A) There is no point in worrying about the solvency of the Social Security program.
B) The majority of the public will accept the Social Security program in the near future.
C) Only the baby boomers should worry about the future days when they grow old.
D) The Democrats attack the Social Security program in order to question its solvency.

34. By saying “honesty is the best policy”, the author seems to disapprove of .
A) the Quinnipiac University who organized the poll
B) the Bush administration who initiated¹⁰ the Social Security program
C) the ill-informed public who worried about their future
D) those Democrats who wanted to gain political interests through this incident

35. The best title for this passage should be.
A) Time to Reconsider Social Security
B) Let’s be Honest about Social Security
C) Social Security is an Illusion
D) Embrace the Bright Future of Social Security

31. B)推理题此题问作者对于民主党人的看法。作者认为，民主党人想通过民意调查来对布什总统的社会保障计划发起攻击，以达到政治目的，这在第三段写得很清楚，而不是为了保障其偿付能力。A）不对，这在第六段开头和最后一段均有明确说明。B）说他们拒绝承认总统的社会保障计划成功了，这个选项是正确的，请看第二和第三段。C）说他们努力解决社会保障体系所遇到的危机。作者在第三段中危机一词打了引号，因为他认为根本就没有什么危机。D）说他们组织民意调查来获得政治利益。文章中没有证据表明他们组织了民意调查，实际情况是他们利用了民意调查的结果。请研读第六段和第八段。

32. C)推理题此题问作者为何要举萨达姆的例子。例子都是用来澄清观点，说明道理，这样的题目每次考试都有，请大家关注。我们回到文章第六段，在包含萨达姆这个例子的前一句话是个表转折的句子：“但这是个可笑的想法，它完全基于错误的信息”。再看后一句即可知道，作者认为这一次比伊拉克战争前萨拉姆制造了 9·11更加牵强。A）说入侵伊拉克代表了普通大众的意志，这一点文章没有提及。B）说还没有证据证明萨达姆与9·11事件有关，这不是举例子的目的。 C）说有时公众会在没有确切消息时得出愚蠢的结论，这个正是正确答案。D）“政府信赖大众来做出重要的政治决定是错误的”，这与当前的例子说明的问题无关，而且说得也太绝对了。

33. A)推理题此题问就作者而言，哪项是正确的。A）说不用担心社会保障计划的偿付能力。细看文章的第二部分即第四、五、六段，可以看出，该项是正确的。B）说大部分民众将在不久的将来接受该项社会保障计划，这点文中没有涉及。C）说只有生育高峰出生的人才该担心自己未来变老的日子，这个选项也没有出现。D） “民主党人攻击该计划是为了怀疑其偿付能力”，这在前面讲了，是不正确的。

34. D)推导题问作者为什么说“诚为上策”，他反对什么。这句话出现在文章的末尾，作者是为了揭露民主党人借民意测验的结果达成政治目的的企图。所以D）是正确答案。

35. B)主旨题问文章的最佳标题。A）“是重新考虑社会保险的时候了”，这个适合用于怀疑当前政策的文章。C）“社会保险只是个幻想”，这是悲观主义者的论调。D）“拥抱社会保险的美好明天”，这是乐观主义的、歌功颂德式文章的标题。该文章是驳论文，应以B）为最佳，文章是为驳斥某些别有用心的民主党人所写，特别又在文章末尾点题，颇具匠心。