Question

According to sociologists（社會學家）, every modern industrial society has some form of social stratification（階層）. Class, power and status are important in deciding people’s rank in society.
  Class means a person’s economic position in society. A commonly used classification is lower class, middle class and upper class. While sociologists disagree on how these terms should be exactly defined, they do describe societies like the United States quite well. One study shows that 53% of Americans belong to the lower class, 46% the middle class, and 1% the upper class. Interestingly, a surgeon earning ＄500,000 a year and a bus driver earning ＄50,000 a year both regard themselves as the middle class!
   Power refers to the amount of control a person has over other people. Obviously, people in positions of great power (such as governors) exercise（行使）big power, but people who take orders from others have less power. Power and class do not always go hand in hand, however. For example, the governor of a state has great power, but he or she may not belong to a corresponding （相應的）economic class. Generally, however, there is a relationship between power and class.

To our knowledge, there aren’t too many people who aren’t millionaires in the U.S. Senate! Status is the honor or respect attached to a person’s position in society. It can also be affected by power and class, but not necessarily so. For example, a university professor may have a high status but not belong to a high social class or have a lot of power over others.

54. What can we learn about “the middle class” from Paragraph 2?

A. People earning ＄50,000 a year belong to the middle class.

B. Nearly half Americans belong to the middle class.

C. People generally consider bus drivers as the middle class.

D. Sociologists have a clear definition of the middle class.

55. According to the text, we know that _____.

A. power and class do not always correspond with each other

B. status refers to a person’s economic position in society

C. people with high status have a lot of control over others

D. class is less important in deciding a person’s social rank

56. Which of the following shows the structure of the whole text?

                                      

                                                

                                       

            A.                B.             C.           D.

Answer 1

【語篇解讀】本文是一篇議論文，題材是政治話題。作者論述了階級、權力和社會地位的定義及它們之間的關系。階級、權力和社會地位在判斷人們社會等級中起著重要作用。

段落		關鍵詞、句	大意推測
第一部分 （Para. 1） 總述	Para. 1	form of social stratification （階層）；Class，power and status；people’s rank	總述：每個現(xiàn)代工業(yè)社會都有一個社會階層結構。階級、權力和社會地位在判斷人們社會等級中起著重要作用。
第二部分（Para. 2——4）分述	Para. 2	Class means a person’s economic position in society; lower class, middle class and upper class; the United Slates	階級即是人們在社會中的經(jīng)濟地位。一般地分為低收入階級、中收入階級和高收入階級。美國三個階級的比例結構。
	Para. 3	Power refers to the amount of control a person has over other people; Power and class do not always go hand in hand; Generally, however, there is a relationship between power and class.	權力指一個人對其他人實行控制的程度。權力和階級不總是一致的。一般地說，它們之間有一定的關系。
	Para 4	Status is the honor or respect attached to a person’s position in society；affected by power and class；not necessarily	地位指依附于一個人在社會中位置的榮譽和尊敬。

【解析】

54. B。推理判斷題。難度：中等。根據(jù)文章第二段中的One study shows that 53% of Americans belong to the lower class, 46% the middle class, and 1 % the upper class可知，美國46%的人屬于中收入階層。這里的46%和Nearly half是同意表達。故選B。

干擾項排除：A項說一年掙$ 50,000的人屬于中收入階層。這與文章中的“一年掙$ 50,000的司機自認為是中收入階層”不一致；C項說人們普遍認為公共汽車司機屬于中收入階層。這與文章中的“收入$ 50,000的司機屬于中收入階層”相悖；D項說社會學家對中收入階層有一個清晰的定義。這與文章第二段中的“sociologists disagree on how these terms should be exactly defined”相悖。

55. A。推理判斷題。難度：中等。根據(jù)文章第三段中的Power and class do not always go hand in hand可以推知：權力和階級不總是一致的。此處采用了同義句表達的手段，關鍵詞定位：correspond with each other和go hand in hand同意。故選A。

干擾項排除：B項犯了偷梁換柱的錯誤。與文章中的Status is the honor or respect attached to a person’s position in society內(nèi)容不符；C項犯了相同的錯誤。根據(jù)文章內(nèi)容正確的表述應為：people with great power have a lot of control over others；D項與文章第一段中的Class，power and status are important in deciding people’s rank in society內(nèi)容相悖。

56. A�？疾槲恼陆Y構題。難度：中等。根據(jù)語篇解讀中表格可以清晰的看出文章的整體結構。第一段總述：階級、權力和社會地位在判斷人們社會等級中起著重要作用；第二段分述階級即是人們在社會中的經(jīng)濟地位；第三段分述權力指一個人對其他人實行控制的程度；第四段分述地位指依附于一個人在社會中位置的榮譽和尊敬。故選A。

【難句學習】

1. While sociologists disagree on how these terms should be exactly defined, they do describe societies like the United States quite well.

翻譯：盡管社會學家不同意如何把這些術語進行準確的定義，但是他們的確很好地描述了像美國這樣的社會階層。

分析：句中while引導一個讓步狀語從句，在讓步狀語從句中how引導一個介詞on的賓語從句；主句中的do是表強調(diào)的助動詞。

2. Obviously, people in positions of great power (such as governors) exercise （行使）big power, but people who take orders from others have less power.

翻譯：顯而易見，位居大權的人們（比如政府官員）行使大權，但執(zhí)行別人命令的人們擁有較小的權力。

分析：句中but是并列連詞，連接兩個并列分句，在第二個分句中含有一個who引導的定語從句。