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 statements in the fewest possible words. Please write your answers on Answer Sheet 2.
Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.
America is a country that now sits atop the cherished myth that work provides rewards, that working people can support their families. Its 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 dont 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 governments 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 theyre not important or intelligent enough to deserve more. But low-skilled workers today are better educated than ever before, and they constitute the linchpin of American industry. When politicians crow that happy days are here again because jobs are on the rise, its these jobs theyre 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 thats just the way it is, its 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 , 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?
Unit 5
47.divorced from reality/ unrealistic
48. The backbreaking labor of the working poor./The bowed backs of the working poor
49.lack of skill /low skill
50.much greater
51.Poor
职场英语口语:“炒鱿鱼”的各种英文表达
职场社交英语:28--我能跟你说些私事吗?】
职场社交英语:【18--我们得要抢先完成】
职场社交英语:【19--我就不拐弯抹角了】
职场社交英语:【41--你不打算想想办法吗?】
职场口语:办公室洋美眉们的"损人大全"
职场社交英语:【1--欢迎来到资讯王】
职场社交英语:【13--另一张绿色便条纸】
职场社交英语:【48--你对每个人都了若指掌】
职场社交英语:【8--我受不了电脑怪胎】
职场社交英语:【55--你这是在闹小孩子脾气】
职场社交英语:【42--撤资】
职场口语:解决你在办公室碰到的难题
职场英语口语:办公室电话英语解析
职场英语口语:公司前台接待常用英语对话
职场社交英语:【46--你怎能那么肯定?】
职场口语:工作中犯了错
职场英语口语:“分秒必争”的10种表达法
职场社交英语:【9--你今天早来了】
职场社交英语:【61--咱俩都是诈包】
职场社交英语:【57--是跟仰慕者碰面的时候了】
职场百科:办公室日常口语对话(1)
职场社交英语:【67--他手边有太多事要做了】
职场社交英语:【63--我的道行就是比较高】
职场社交英语:【29--我猜我只是有点紧张】
职场社交英语:【5--我要提供你认股权】
职场英语口语:如果失业了该怎么办?
职场社交英语:【45--你别跟我婆婆妈妈的】
职场社交英语:【66--我现在是自由工作者】
职场社交英语:【2--此话怎讲?】
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