On Friday, an important event took place in China. A change in the statutory(法定的) retirement age starting from January 1st, 2025 was announced.

Starting in 2025, over the next 15 years, the official retirement age for men will slowly go up from 60 to 63. For women cadres and women blue-collar workers, the retirement age will increase too, from 55 to 58 for cadres and from 50 to 55 for blue-collar workers.

____▲____ On Friday, Wang Xiaoping, minister of the human resources and social security, stated that China’s workforce has become increasingly diverse in their needs due to changes in the country’s economic, social, and demographic structures. As a result, it has become necessary to raise the statutory retirement age. She mentioned that it also helps increase labor supply. In 2023, China’s population aged 60 and above reached 297 million, accounting for 21.1 percent of the total population; those aged 65 and above exceeded (超过) 217 million, making up 15.4 percent, showing a clear trend of aging. Meanwhile, the labor force population has been falling since 2012.

When will your parents retire from their work? Ask them about it and share the answers HERE.

1.A man is supposed to retire at age 60, but now he will have to work another _________ years.

A 3

B 2

C 8

D 5

解析：选A。A数字计算题。根据第二段中的“the official retirement age for men will slowly go up from 60 to 63.”可知，如果一个男职工本该在60岁退休，依据修改之后的政策他将会在63岁退休，即再工作3年。故选A。

2.What can be put back into the blank “ ▲ ”?

A What is the retirement age in China?

B Why is China raising the statutory retirement age?

C How does the statutory retirement age influence us?

D How should China raise the retirement age?

解析：选B。B段落大意题。根据第二段内容可知，本段主要讲了延迟退休年龄的原因，因此空白处应该是询问原因。故选B。

3.How does Wang explain to readers about the present situations?

A By asking questions.

B By telling stories.

C By listing numbers.

D By giving examples.

解析：选C。C细节理解题。根据该段内容可知，王晓萍主要通过列数字的方式告诉我们对法定退休年龄进行调整有助于增加劳动力有效供给：2023年，我国60岁以上人口2.97亿人，占总人口比重21.1%；65岁以上人口超过2.17亿人，占比15.4%，老龄化趋势明显。与此同时，我国劳动年龄人口数量从2012年起持续下降。故选C。

4.Where can we most probably read the passage?

A In a poster.

B In a textbook.

C In a travel guide.

D On a website.

解析：选D。D推理判断题。根据文章最后一段的“share the answers HERE”点击此处分享答案可知，本文出自某个网站。故选D。