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Members of the working class have blue-collar jobs. They are construction workers, truck drivers, mechanics, steel workers, electricians, and the like. What makes this class differ from the lower class is, first, longer periods of employment -- and therefore, more fixed incomes —and, second, employment in skilled or semiskilled (半熟练的 ) occupations, not unskilled ones. Although unemployment hits all levels of the American economy, including those of skilled and semi-skilled workers, it is most common at the bottom of the class structure and increasingly less common at each level upward. They consider themselves to be respectable and hard working and they look down upon members of the "lower" class, whom they often consider to be lazy, dishonest, and too ready to exploit public assistance.
Most people in the working class have at least high school education. Many have some experience of college ( especially community college), though few are college graduates. Unionization has helped the working class, but a rapidly changing economy and frequent periods of high unemployment make it difficult for most of its members to be able to increase their savings greatly. Purchasing a house for people in this class is extremely difficult, although a certain percentage may receive houses from their parents. (Home-owning rises with social class. )
A greater number of the members of the working class take relatively little satisfaction in their jobs, because much of their work is ordinary and boring. As a result, many seek their main satisfaction in recreational ( 娱乐的) activities. Many members of this class would like to earn enough money to leave their jobs and start their own businesses, though few make it. Many place their expectations on their children, hoping that they at least will rise in the ladder of success, American style.
1.Which of the following is true about the working class.?
A. They are often employed as skilled and semi-skilled workers.
B. They are often offered jobs with high incomes.
C. They are often considered lazy and dishonest.
D. They are often exploited by the public.
2.The underlined word “hit” (paragraph 1 ) roughly means .
A. strike with a blow B. have bad effects on C. break up D. beat
3.Most people in the working class .
A. have difficulty increasing their savings greatly
B. have at least some experience of college
C. receive houses from their parents
D. buy houses by themselves
4.Many members from the working class are not satisfied with their jobs because .
A. they could not rise in the ladder of success B. they are not interested in their jobs
C. they could not earn much money D. they are not their own bosses
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I shall never forget the night, a few years ago, when Marion J. Douglas was a student in one of my adult-education classes. He told us how tragedy had struck at his home, not once, but twice. The first time he had lost his five-year-old daughter. He and his wife thought they couldn’t bear that first loss; but, as he said, “Ten months later, God gave us another little girl and she died in five days.”
This double bereavement was almost too much to bear. “I couldn’t take it,” this father told us. “I couldn’t sleep, eat, rest or relax. My nerves were entirely shaken and my confidence gone.” At last he went to the doctors: one recommended sleeping pills and another recommended a trip, but neither helped. He said, “My body felt as if it was surrounded in a vice(大钳子), and the jaws of the vice were being drawn tighter and tighter.” The tension of grief(悲伤) --- if you have ever been paralyzed(使瘫痪) by sorrow, you know what the meant.
“But thank God, I had one child left --- a four-year-old son. He gave me the solution to the problem. One afternoon as I sat around feeling sorry for myself, he asked, ‘Daddy, will you build a boat for me?’ I was in no mood to build a boat; in fact, I was in no mood to do anything. But my son is a persistent fellow! I had to give in. Building that toy boat took me about three hours. By the time it was finished, I realized that those three hours spent building that boat were first hours of mental relaxation and peace that I had had in months! I realized that it is difficult to worry while you are busy doing something that requires planning and thinking. In my case, building the boat had knocked worry out of the ring. So I determined to keep busy.”
“The following night, I made a list of jobs that ought to be done. Scores of items needed to be repaired. Amazingly, I had made a list of 242 items that needed attention. During the last two years I have completed most of them. I am so busy now that I have no time for worry.”
No time for worry! That is exactly what Winston Churchill said when he was working eighteen hours a day at the height of the war. When he was asked if he worried about his huge responsibilities, he said, “I am too busy. I have no time for worry.”
【小题1】 The underlined word “bereavement” in the second paragraph refers to _________.
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