Pictures in the British papers this week of Prince William，Prince Charles’s 18-year-old son，cleaning...

Pictures in the British papers this week of Prince William，Prince Charles’s 18-year-old son，cleaning toilets overseas，have led to a surge of altruism（利他主义）. Raleigh Internation-al，the charity that organized his trip，has seen inquiries about voluntary work abroad rise by 30%. But the image of idealistic youth that William presents no longer reflects the reality of the volunteer force. It’s getting older and older.
Voluntary Service Overseas（VSO）has about 2000 volunteers in the field around the world. After a dip in interest in the mid-1990s，applications to work abroad are at record levels. Last year 7645 people submitted applications，and 920 successfully negotiated the VSO selection process and were sent abroad. When the organization was founded in 1959，the average volunteer was in his early 20s. Now，the average age is 35，and set to rise further.
Partly，that is because there are more older people who want to do VSO. More people take early retirement；more，says the chief executive of VSO，“still feel that they have more to give and are in good health”. And the demands of the African and Asian countries where most of the volunteers go are changing，too. Their educational standards have risen over the past couple of decades，so they want people with more qualifications，skills and experience.
BESO（British Executive Service Overseas）recruits executives and businessmen with at least 15 years’ experience for short-term contract work overseas. It organizes 500 placements （工作安置）a year，and at the moment supply is surpassing demand. A BESO spokesman said that the organization is“limited by funding rather than a lack of volunteers”.
Enthusiastic but unqualified students do not impress as much as they once did alongside accountants，managers and doctors. The typical volunteer，these days，has been in full-time employment for at least five years and is highly qualified. And the profession which provides the biggest portion of volunteers is education—headmasters and school inspectors as well as classroom teachers.
58. From the second paragraph we can know that .

A. the number of applications to work abroad declined in the mid-1990s
B. the average volunteer now is not much older than forty years ago
C. of those who have submitted applications a majority have been chosen and sent abroad
D. there were more applications to work aboard in the early 1990s than in the late 1990s

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参考答案: A

参考解析: 本周，英国报纸刊登的图片是查尔斯王子18岁的儿子、威廉王子在国外打扫厕所的照片，这些照片引起了一股利他主义的潮流。组织威廉王子这次旅行的慈善机构“Raleigh International”收到的关于自愿到国外服务的咨询上升了30％。但是，威廉王子所代表的理想主义青年形象不再是志愿者队伍的真实情况。这支队伍的年龄正变得越来越大。
海外志愿服务（VSO）在全世界范围内大约有2000名志愿者。在20世纪90年代中期，人们的兴趣有所下降之后，申请出国工作的人数达到创纪录的水平。去年，7645人递交了申请，920人成功地通过了VSO的挑选过程，被派往海外。该组织在1959年成立时，志愿者的平均年龄是20出头。现在，平均年龄为35岁，未来还将更高。
一部分原因是，因为更多老年人想从事海外志愿服务。更多的人提前退休；VSO的首席执行官说，更多的人“觉得他们仍然可以付出更多，而且身体状况良好”。大多数志愿者想去非洲和亚洲国家的要求也在发生变化。这些国家的教育水平在过去几十年里有了提高。所以他们希望那些资格更高、更有技能和经验的人来到本国。
BESO（英国海外服务管理部门）招聘至少有15年经验的管理人员和商人签订到海外工作的短期合同。BESO每年安排500个工作岗位，目前供给已经超过需求。BESO的一位发言人说，该组织“受到限制是因为缺少资金而不是因为缺少志愿者”。
有热情但不够资格的学生不再像以前他们担任会计、管理人员和医生那样引人注目。目前，典型的志愿者是那些至少可以做五年全职工作并且很有资格的人。在提供给志愿者的职业中，占最大比例的是教育部门——校长、学校督察和课堂教师。
【考点类型】细节分析题
【解析过程】从文章第2段我们可以知道。
A. 在20世纪90年代中期，申请去国外工作的人数减少了
B. 现在志愿者的平均年龄并不比40年前的志愿者大
C. 那些递交申请的大多数人是被挑选再被派到国外的
D. 20世纪90年初期申请去国外工作的人数比后期要多
线索：文章的第2段提到“Aftera dip in interest in the mid-1990’s，applications to work abroad are at record levels. ”这里关键是要理解单词dip的含义，dip除了有“浸，沾”之义，也有水平或数量上的降低之义。这就表明选项A是正确答案。
【考点提示】这个题的难点在dip一词上，考点也在dip一词上。因此，在平时单词积累时一定要对单词进行全方面的了解。