(C)
Despite social myths to the contrary, the best predictor of
future wealth is the family into which you are born. Each year, the business
magazine Forbes publishes a list of the “Forbes 400”-the four hundred
wealthiest families and individuals in the country.
Of all the wealth represented on the Forbes 400 list, more than
half is inherited. Those on the list who could be called “self-made” were not typically of modest origins; most inherited significant
assets (资产). Those in the upper class with newly
acquired wealth are known as the nouveau riche. Although they may have vast
amounts of money, they are often not accepted into “old rich” circles.
The upper middle class includes those with high incomes and high
social reputation. They tend to be well-educated professionals or business
executives. Their earnings can be quite high indeed-successful business
executives can earn millions of dollars a year. It is difficult to estimate
exactly how many people fall into this group because of the difficulty of
drawing lines between the upper, upper middle, and middle class. Indeed, the
upper middle class is often thought of as “middle class” because their
lifestyle sets the standard to which many long for, but this lifestyle is
simply beyond the means of a majority of people in the United States.
The middle class is hard to define; in part, being “middle
class” is more than just economic position. By far the majority of Americans
identify themselves as middle class even though they vary widely in lifestyle
and in resources at their disposal. But the idea that the United States is an
open-class system leads many to think that the majority have a middle-class
lifestyle because, in general, people tend not to want to recognize class
distinctions in the United States. Thus, the middle class becomes the common
concept even though many who call themselves middle class have a weak hold on
this class position.
The lower class is composed primarily of the displaced and
poor. People in this class have little formal education and are often
unemployed or working in minimum-wage jobs. Forty percent of the poor work; 10
percent work year-round and full time-a proportion that has generally increased
over time. Recently, the concept of the underclass has been added to the lower
class. The underclass includes those who have been left behind by contemporary
economic developments. Rejected from the economic system, those in the
underclass may become dependent on public assistance or illegal activities.
72. Why does the author
mention the “Forbes 400” in the passage?
A. To explain the meaning of the listing that appears every
year.
B. To cast doubt on the claim that family income predicts
individual wealth.
C. To give examples of successful people who have modest family
connections.
D. To support the statement that most wealthy people inherit
their money.
73. Why
do most people identify themselves as middle class in the United States?
A. They have about the same lifestyle as everyone else in the
country.
B. They don’t really know how to define their status because it
is unclear.
C. They prefer not to admit that there are class distinctions
in the United States.
D. They identify themselves with the majority who have normal
lifestyles.
74. According
to the passage, what can be inferred about poor people in the United States?
A. They are not able to find entry-level jobs.
B. They work in jobs that require little education.
C. They are service workers and manual laborers.
D. They do not try to find employment.
75. According
to the passage, why has the underclass emerged?
A. Changes in the economy have caused an entire class of people
to survive by welfare or crime.
B. The increase in crime has supported a new class of people
who live by engaging in illegal activities.
C. The new term was necessary because the lower class enjoyed a
higher lifestyle than it had previously.
D. Minimum-wage jobs no longer support a class of people at a
standard level in the economic system..
Section C
Directions: Read the following passage and choose the most
suitable heading from A-F for each paragraph. There is one extra heading which you do
not need.
A. Use all the information in the book
B. Get background information
C. Be critical while reading
D. Enjoy and engage yourself
E. Choose the appropriate reading techniques
F. Know your reading purpose
76.
A good reader finds joy in reading. A good reader is a happy
reader. If you are a good reader you will be rewarded in knowledge and a new
understanding of or different perspective on life. Make the book your own.
“It’s the good reader that makes the good book; a good head cannot read
mistakenly: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides
hidden from all else and unmistakably meant for his ear.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
77.
The way you read a book depends very much on your reasons for
reading it. You should read a question in your math exam differently from an
entry in an encyclopedia which you are looking at quickly to find out the date
of an event. The kind of reading you do in class or for your homework is
different from how you read a novel for pleasure in the summer vacation.
78.
Good books are well-organized, with titles, sub-titles,
introductions, summaries or conclusions. Many books also have pictures with
captions. Look at all these first before starting to read. Another aspect of
good writing is that each paragraph has a topic sentence. A topic sentence is a
sentence, usually the first one in a paragraph which contains the main idea of
the paragraph. If you concentrate on understanding the topic sentence, this may
help you to understand what comes next.
79.
One of the following methods improve your reading quality.
Skimming -- this is reading a text quickly to find out what information it contains.
You should skim when, for example, you want to check if a text has the
information you need to answer some questions or write a project. It is often
enough to look at the first (and last) sentences in each paragraph. Scanning --
this is reading quickly to find a specific piece of information. You should
scan when, for example, you are looking for the answer to a question which you
know is in the text.
80.
Find something out about the topic you have to read. The more
relevant background information you have, the easier it will be to understand
the book. You can get this relevant information background in your own
language. For example, if you are studying the Italian Renaissance, you could
read an encyclopedia or textbook in your own language to find out the most
important details about this historical period.
Section D
Directions: Read the passage carefully. Then answer the
questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words.
Who’s in control of your life? Who is pulling your string? For
the majority of us, it’s other people-society, colleagues, friend, family or
our religious community. We learned this way of operating when we were very
young, of course. We were brainwashed. We discovered that feeling important and
feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we learned to do everything we
could to make other people like us. As Oscar Wilde puts it, “Most people are
other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry
(模仿), their passions a quotation.”
So when people tell us how wonderful we are, it makes us feel
good. We long for this good feeling like a drug-we are addicted to (沉溺于) it and seek it out wherever we can. Therefore, we are so eager for
the approval of others that we live unhappy and limited lives, failing to do
the things we really want to. Just as drug addicts and alcoholics live worsened
lives to keep getting their fix (一剂毒品), we worsen our
own existence to get our own constant fix of approval.
But just as with any drug, there is a price to pay. The price
of the approval drug is freedom-the freedom to be ourselves. The truth is that
we cannot control what other people think. People have their own agenda, and
they come with their own baggage and, in the end, they’re more interested in
themselves than in you. Furthermore, if we try to live by the opinions of
others, we will build our life on sinking sand. Everyone has a different way of
thinking, and people change their opinions all the time. The person who tries
to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted and probably pleasing no
one in the process.
So how can we take back control? I think there’s only one
way-make a conscious decision to stop caring what other people think. We should
guide ourselves by means of a set of values-not values imposed from the outside
by others, but innate values which come from within. If we are driven by these
values and not by the changing opinions and value system of others, we will
live a more authentic, effective, purposeful and happy life.
(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO
MORE THAN TWELVE WORDS.)
81. By
saying “Most people are other people……”, Oscar Wilde means that most people’s
thoughts __________________.
82. What happens to people
if they care too much for the approval of others?
83. Why is it unreliable
for us to live by the opinions of others?
84. According to the
author, we can take back control by _______________________.
第II 卷
(共45分)
