German Prime Minister Otto Von Bismarck may be most famous for his
and diplomatic talent, but his contributions to the society include many of today’s social insurance programs. During the middle of the 19
th century, Germany,
other European nations,
an unusual outbreak of workplace deaths and accidents as a result of growing
.
in part by Christian sympathy for the helpless as well as a practical political impulse to get the
of the socialist labor movement, Bismarck
the world’s first worker’s compensation law in 1884.
By 1908, the United States was the
industrial nation in the world that lacked workers’ compensation insurance. American’s injured workers could seek
in a court of law, but they still faced a number of tough legal barriers.
, employees had to prove that their injuries directly
employer’s lack of care and they themselves were ignorant about potential danger in the workplace. The first state workers’ compensation law in this country passed in 1911, and the program soon
throughout the nation.
After World War II, benefit payments to American workers did not
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
to study the problems workers’ compensation. Two years later, the committee issued 19 key recommendations,
one that called for increasing compensation benefit levels to 100 percent of the states’ average weekly wages.
| 小题1: | | A．artistic | B．literary | C．military | D．economic |
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| 小题2: | | A．along with | B．other than | C．apart from | D．rather than |
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| 小题3: | | A．experimented | B．explored | C．experienced | D．excluded |
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| 小题4: | | A．urbanization | B．revolution | | C．evolution | D．industrialization |
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| 小题5: | | A．Inspired | B．Touched | C．Organized | D．Motivated |
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| 小题6: | | A．feedback | B．statement | C．proof | D．support |
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| 小题7: | | A．discovered | B．created | C．uncovered | D．revealed |
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| 小题8: | | A．unique | B．only | C．powerful | D．most |
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| 小题9: | | A．rights | B．help | C．compensation | D．support |
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| 小题10: | | A．For example | B．However | C．Consequently | D．Moreover |
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| 小题11: | | A．resulted in | B．stood for | C．resulted from | D．deal with |
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| 小题12: | | A．spread | B．promoted | C．stretched | D．placed |
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| 小题13: | | A．put up with | B．face up to | | C．benefit from | D．keep up with |
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| 小题14: | | A．community | B．committee | C．authority | D．government |
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| 小题15: | | A．including | B．insisting | C．installing | D．investing |
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