Age has its special advantage in America. And one of the more impressive of them is the senior citizen discount. Anyone who has reached a certain age—in some cases as low as 55－is automatically entitled to plenty of price reductions at nearly every level of mercial life. Eligibility（资格）is determined not by one’s need but by the date on one’s birth certificate. Practically the discounts have bee a routine part of many businesses-as mon as color televisions in motel rooms and free coffee on airliners.
People with gray hair often are given the discounts without even asking for them；yet, millions of Americans above age 60 are healthy and solvent（有支付能力的）. Businesses that would never dare offer discounts to college students or anyone under 30 freely offer them to older Americans. The practice is acceptable because of the widespread belief that “elderly” and “needy” are synonymous（同义的）. Perhaps that once was true, but today, to be sure, there is economic variety within the elderly, and most of them aren’t poor.
It is impossible to determine the effect of the discounts on individual panies. For many firms, they are a stimulus to ine. But in other cases the discounts are given at the expense, directly or indirectly, of younger Americans. Moreover, they directly annoy some politicians and scholars who consider it a ing conflict between the generations.
Generational tensions are being fueled by continuing debate over Social Security benefits, which mostly involves a transfer of resources from the young to the old. Employment is another point. Supported by laws and court decisions, more and more older Americans are refusing the retirement dinner in favor of staying on the job-thereby lessening employment and promotion opportunities for younger workers. Far from a kind of charity they once were, senior citizen discounts have bee a powerful economic privilege（特权）to a group with millions of members who don’t need them.
It no longer makes sense to treat the elderly as a single group whose economic needs deserve priority over those of others. Senior citizen discounts only enrich the myth that older people can’t take care of themselves and need special treatment；and they threaten the creation of a new myth, that the elderly ale ungrateful and taking for themselves at the expense of children and other age groups. Senior citizen discounts are the heart of the very thing older Americans are fighting against－discrimination by age.
【小题1】We learn from the first paragraph that . A．offering senior citizen discounts has bee routine mercial practiceB．senior citizen discounts have enabled many old people to live a good lifeC．giving senior citizen discounts has increased the market for the elderlyD．senior citizens have to show their birth certificates to get a discount【小题2】The reason to give the senior citizen discount is that . A．the elderly need humane help from societyB．businesses should do something for society in returnC．old people are entitled to special treatment for their contribution to societyD．the senior discounts can make up for the lack of the Social Security system【小题3】What does the author think of the Social Security system?A．It encourages elderly people to retire in time. B．It opens up broad career chances for young people. C．It benefits the old at the expense of the young. D．It should be strengthened by laws and court decisions.【小题4】What does the author mainly argue in the passage?A．Senior citizens should fight hard against age discrimination. B．The elderly are selfish and taking senior discounts for granted. C．Senior citizen discounts may well be a type of age discrimination. D．Discount should be given to the economic needs of senior citizens.A
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(答案→)A
解析：
【小题1】细节题。从文章第一段得知什么？这种类型的题干还是找首段主题。第一段主要讲述老年人购物时都能得到折扣，即A“offering senior citizens discounts ha形成这种现象的背后形成因素是什么？讲到产生原因定为文中第二段，说“elderly”和“needy” 是同义词，也就是说因为老年人钱不多了，我们社会要帮s bee routine mercial practice”所表述的意义。
【小题2】细节题。助她！即选项C“The elderly, being financially underprivileged, need humane help from society.”
【小题3】细节事实题。根据题干中的大写字母可以定位到原文四段首句。文中明确指出会把资源从年轻人传递到老年人处。然后回选项找到C “It benefits the old at the expense of the young.”
【小题4】主旨大意题。文中讲述老人的优惠价给我们带来的不利影响，因此选D “Senior citizen discounts may well be a type of age discrimination.”为同义替换。而且may又是一个相对化概念的词，几乎都是正确答案。