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WASHINGTON--Almost 13 per cent of Americans still live in poverty in spite of a slight decrease in their number last year and a rise in average household income, the Census Bureau（统计局）reported last week.
Last year, the poverty rate dropped to 12.7 per cent of the population from 13.3 per cent the year before, and the common household income rose for the fourth year running.
According to the US government, poverty is described exactly as people who earn US $13,003 a year for a family of three, and US $ 16,600 a year for a family of four.
The number of those living in poverty fell from 35.6 million in 1997 to 34. 5 million in 1998--but that number is still high in the light of（考虑……的因素）the growing economy, which has seen the largest peacetime growing in history since US President Bill Clinton took office over six years ago.
One reason for the continued high poverty rate is immigration, according to Steve Camarota with the Centre for Immigration Studies.
His figures show the total number of immigrants living in poverty has tripled over the last 19 years from 2.5 million to 7.5 million in 1998.
Clinton took the chance to declare the country's strong financial health, saying it has “helped lift millions of hardworking families out of poverty.”
“The best news is that these gains finally are being shared with all groups in America, from the wealthiest to the poorest,” he told reporters at the White House.
But the Census report showed that while white households saw their incomes rise 3 per cent from 1997--1998 to a record US $424,000, African-American families held steady at an average US $ 254,000 annually.
Hispanic households had a 4.8 per cent increase to US $ 28,300 a year for the period.
(1) From the first paragraph, we get to know that in the last few years ________.
[ ]
A．American families have become richer
B．American families have become poorer
C．most American families have enjoyed a better life
D．most American families have suffered a lot
(2) In America, poor families ________.
[ ]
A．have more people than others
B．live in the countryside with more children
C．live in big cities with more children
D．get money below a certain specified（规定）“amount”
(3) The word “tripled” in the sixth paragraph means “________”.
[ ]
(4) What Clinton said means that ________.
[ ]
A．he would support the poor over the world
B．he would be president forever
C．he had done well as a president
D．he would make the poor richer
查看习题详情和答案>>WASHINGTON--Almost 13 per cent of Americans still live in poverty in spite of a slight decrease in their number last year and a rise in average household income, the Census Bureau（统计局）reported last week.
Last year, the poverty rate dropped to 12.7 per cent of the population from 13.3 per cent the year before, and the common household income rose for the fourth year running.
According to the US government, poverty is described exactly as people who earn US $13,003 a year for a family of three, and US $ 16,600 a year for a family of four.
The number of those living in poverty fell from 35.6 million in 1997 to 34. 5 million in 1998--but that number is still high in the light of（考虑……的因素）the growing economy, which has seen the largest peacetime growing in history since US President Bill Clinton took office over six years ago.
One reason for the continued high poverty rate is immigration, according to Steve Camarota with the Centre for Immigration Studies.
His figures show the total number of immigrants living in poverty has tripled over the last 19 years from 2.5 million to 7.5 million in 1998.
Clinton took the chance to declare the country's strong financial health, saying it has “helped lift millions of hardworking families out of poverty.”
“The best news is that these gains finally are being shared with all groups in America, from the wealthiest to the poorest,” he told reporters at the White House.
But the Census report showed that while white households saw their incomes rise 3 per cent from 1997--1998 to a record US $424,000, African-American families held steady at an average US $ 254,000 annually.
Hispanic households had a 4.8 per cent increase to US $ 28,300 a year for the period.
(1) From the first paragraph, we get to know that in the last few years ________.
[ ]
A．American families have become richer
B．American families have become poorer
C．most American families have enjoyed a better life
D．most American families have suffered a lot
(2) In America, poor families ________.
[ ]
A．have more people than others
B．live in the countryside with more children
C．live in big cities with more children
D．get money below a certain specified（规定）“amount”
(3) The word “tripled” in the sixth paragraph means “________”.
[ ]
(4) What Clinton said means that ________.
[ ]
A．he would support the poor over the world
B．he would be president forever
C．he had done well as a president
D．he would make the poor richer
查看习题详情和答案>>Twenty year ago, I drove a cab for a living. I met people whose lives amazed me made me ___(1)___ and weep. But none touched me more than a woman I ___(2)___ up late one August night.
I was responding to a call in a quiet part of town. When I arrived at 2: 30 am, the building was ___(3)____ except for a single light in a ground floor window. I walked to the door and ___(4)____.
The door opened. A small, woman in her eighties ___(5)____ before me. By her side was a small suitcase. I took the suitcase to the ___(6)___, and then returned to help the woman. She took my arm and we walked ___(7)____ toward the cab. She kept ____(8)____ me for my kindness.
When we got in the cab, she gave me a(n) __(9)____ and, asked,“Can you drive through downtown?”
For the next two hours, we drove _____(10)____ the city. She showed me the building where she had ____(11)___ worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived ___(12)____ they were newlyweds. She ____(13)___ me pull up in front of a house that had once been a ballroom where she had gone ____(14)____ as a girl. Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building and would sit _____(15)____ into the darkness, saying nothing.
As the day ___(16)____, we got to the address she had given me. It was a hospice（临终关怀医院）. Two orderlies came out to the cab as ___(17)___ as we pulled up. They must have been ____(18)___ her. I took the small suitcase to the door.
“You gave an old woman a little moment of __(19)______,”she said.“Thank you.”I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the ___(20)____ of a life. I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought.