阅读训练

　　Part Ⅳ Reading Comprehension(Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)

　　Section A

　　Directions: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words on the Answer Sheet.

　　America is a country that now sits atop the cherished myth that work provides rewards, that working people can support their families. It's a myth that has become so divorced from reality that it might as well begin with the words "Once upon a time". Today 1.6 million New Yorkers suffer from "food insecurity", which is a fancy way of saying they don't have enough to eat. Some are the people who come in at night and clean the skyscrapers that glitter along the river. Some pour coffee and take care of the aged parents of the people who live in those buildings. The American Dream for the well-to-do grows from the bowed backs of the working poor, who too often have to choose between groceries and rent.

　　In a new book called "The Betrayal of Work", Beth Shulman says that even in the booming 1990s one out of every four American workers made less than $8. 70 an hour, an income equal to the government's poverty level for a family of four. Many, if not most, of these workers had no health care, sick pay or retirement provisions.

　　We ease our consciences, Shulman writes, by describing these people as "low skilled", as though they're not important or intelligent enough to deserve more. But Iow-skilled workers today are better educated than ever before, and they constitute the linchpin (SYNC) of American industry. When politicians crow (得意洋洋地说) that happy days are here again because jobs are on the rise, it's these jobs they're really talking about. Five of the 10 occupations expected to grow big in the next decade are in the lowest-paying job groups. And before we sit back and decide that's just the way it; is, it's instructive to consider the rest of the world. While the bottom 10 percent of American workers earn just 37 percent of our average wage, their counterparts in other industrialized countries earn upwards of 60 percent. And those are countries that provide health care and child care, which eases the economic pinch considerably.

　　Almost 40 years ago, when Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty, a family with a car and a house in the suburbs felt prosperous. Today that same family may well feel poor, overwhelmed by credit card debt, a second mortgage and the cost of the stuff that has become the backbone of American life. When the middle Class feels poor, the poor have little chance for change, or even recognition.

　　47. By saying "it might as well begin with the words 'Once upon a time'"(Line 3,Para. 1), the author suggests that the American myth is ______.

　　48. What is the American Dream of the well-to-do built upon?

　　49. Some Americans try to make themselves feel less guilty by attributing the poverty of the working people to ______.

　　50. We learn from the passage that the difference in pay between the lowest paid and the average worker in America is ______ than. that in other industrialized countries.

　　51. According to the author, how would an American family with a car and a house in the suburbs probably feel about themselves today?

阅读答案及解析

　　答案：

　　Part Ⅳ Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth)

　　Section A

　　47. divorced from reality/unrealistic

　　48. The backbreaking labor of the working poor. /The bowed backs of the working poor.

　　49. (their) lack of skill/(their)low skill

　　50. much greater

　　51. Poor.

　　试题解析：

　　Part Ⅳ Reading Comprehension(Reading in Depth)

　　Section A

　　47.文章一开始作者讲到美国人一直相信这样一个神话：只要工作就有回报，工作的人完全可以养家.但紧接着作者说“It's a myth that has become so divorced from reality that it might as well begin with the words‘Once upon a time.”(这个神话和现实有如此大的差距以至于我们在这么说之前得加上“很久很久以前……”。)所以本题可以填写原文中的原词“divorced from reality”.这样要填写的句子的意思就符合原文了，作者说“我们最好在前面加上很久很久以前”，暗示美国神话已经脱离了现实。基于对这部分意思的理解，也可以填写“unrealistic”，表示这一神话般的说法是不现实的。

　　48.第一段最后一句“The American Dream for the well-to-do grows from the bowed backs of the working poor，who too often have to choose between groceries and rent.”中的grows from和问题中的is built upon是一个意思。因此，本题可以用“The bowed backs of the working poor，”来回答，也可以基于理解，回答成“The backbreaking labor of the working labor”。

　　49.第三段第一句“We ease our consciences，Shulman writes，by describing these people as ‘low skilled，’ as though they're not important or intelligent enough to deserve more.”中的“ease our consciences”就是“减轻负疚感”的意思。因此只要回答归咎于劳动者“技能低下”就可以了。原文用的是形容词“low skilled”，题目中在介词to后用名词。因此答案可以是“(their)lack of skill”或者“(their) low skill”。

　　50.第三段倒数第二句，“While the bottom 10 percent of American workers earn just 37 percent of our average wage，their，counterparts in other industrialized countries earn upwards of 60 percent.”中提到美国工资最低的10%的劳动者的收入占美国人均收入的37%，而在其他工业国家，这类劳动者的收入达到这些国家平均收入的60%。由此可见，美国劳动者的最低收入和人均收入的差距要比其他工业国家的大很多。因此，正确答案为“much greater”。

　　51.文章最后一段说“Almost 40 years ago，when Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty，a family with a car and a house in the suburbs felt prosperous.Today that same family may well feel poor...”。可见正确答案是“Poor”。