第八篇                                                        the changing middle class

 

the united states perceives感觉，感知 itself to be a middle-class nation.  however, middle class is not a real designation名称, nor does it carry privileges.特权 it is more of a perception知觉观念, which probably was as true as it ever could be right after world war ii. the economy was growing, more and more people owned their own homes, workers had solid contracts with the companies that employed them, and nearly everyone who wanted a higher education could  have one.  successful people enjoyed upward上升的 social mobility. 流动性they may have started out poor, but they could become rich. successful people also found that they had greater geographic地理的mobility.  in other words, they found themselves moving to and living in a variety of places.

the middle class collectively holds several values and principles.  one strong value is the need to earn enough money to feel that one can determine one's own economic fate.  in addition, middle- class morality道德embraces principles of individual responsibility,  importance of family,  obligations义务 to others,  and believing in something outside oneself. 

 

but in the 1990s those in the middle class found that there was a price for success.  a.u.s. news & world report survey in 1994 indicated that 75 percent of americans believed that middle- class families could no longer make ends meet.收支平衡 both spouses夫妻 now worked, as did some of the children; long commutes became routine; the need for child care put strains on the family; and public schools were not as good as they once were. members of the middle class were no longer financing their lifestyles through earnings but were using credit to stay afloat.  the understanding of just what middle class meant was changing.

练习:

1.  the information in this passage deals with __________.

    a) an individual  个人，个体

    b) a social and economic group  社会经济群体

    c) a political organization       政治组织

  d) government                政府

解析：考察中心思想

1 the united states perceives感觉，感知 itself to be a middle-class nation.  however, middle class is not a real designation名称, nor does it carry privileges.特权 it is more of a perception知觉, which probably was as true as it ever could be right after world war ii. the economy was growing, more and more people owned their own homes, workers had solid contracts with the companies that employed them, and nearly everyone who wanted a higher education could  have one.  successful people enjoyed upward social mobility. they may have started out poor, but they could become rich. successful people also found that they had greater geographic mobility.  in other words, they found themselves moving to and living in a variety of places.

2.  a common middle class value is that __________.

    a) people should always have fun

    b) children should be seen and not heard

    c) debt is nothing to worry about

d) the family is very important

解析：细节问题的考查

2 the middle class collectively holds several values and principles.  one strong value is the need to earn enough money to feel that one can determine one's own economic fate.  in addition, middle- class morality embraces principles of individual responsibility,  importance of family,  obligations义务 to others,  and believing in something outside oneself. 

3.  in the years after world war ii, the middle class could be defined as __________.

    a) overburdened负担过重 and in debt 债务

    b) hard working 勤奋的and suspicious 多疑的

    c) prosperous繁荣的 and optimistic 乐观的

d) young 年轻的and foolish 愚蠢的

解析：细节问题的考查

1 the united states perceives感觉，感知 itself to be a middle-class nation.  however, middle class is not a real designation, nor does it carry privileges. it is more of a perception, which probably was as true as it ever could be right after world war ii. the economy was growing, more and more people owned their own homes, workers had solid contracts with the companies that employed them, and nearly everyone who wanted a higher education could  have one.  successful people enjoyed upward social mobility. they may have started out poor, but they could become rich. successful people also found that they had greater geographic mobility.  in other words, they found themselves moving to and living in a variety of places.

4.  the phrase “in other words” in the first paragraph means that the following statement is __________.

    a) an exception例外 to the previous idea

    b) a denial   否认of the previous idea

    c) a restatement 重述，再次声明of the previous idea

d) a contrasting差异的 idea

解析：解释词义

  1 the united states perceives感觉，感知 itself to be a middle-class nation.  however, middle class is not a real designation, nor does it carry privileges. it is more of a perception, which probably was as true as it ever could be right after world war ii. the economy was growing, more and more people owned their own homes, workers had solid contracts with the companies that employed them, and nearly everyone who wanted a higher education could  have one.  successful people enjoyed upward social mobility. they may have started out poor, but they could become rich. successful people also found that they had greater geographic mobility.  in other words, they found themselves moving to and living in a variety of places.

5.  the word collectively means __________.  共同地，全体地

    a) as a group  总体来讲

    b) hesitatingly  踌躇地

    c) unknowingly  不知不觉地

    d) weakly   虚弱地，无力地

解析：解释词义，单个单词，查字典