You hear the comment all the time: the U.S. economy looks good by figures, but it doesn’t feel good. Why doesn’t ever-greater wealth promote ever-greater happiness? It is a question that dates at least to the appearance in 1958 of The Wealthy Society by John Kenneth Galbraith, who died recently at 97.

The Wealthy Society is a modern classic because it helped describe a new moment in the human condition. For most of history, “hunger, sickness, and cold” threatened nearly everyone, Galbraith wrote. “Poverty (貧窮) was found everywhere in that world. Obviously it is not of ours.” After World War II, the fear of another Great Depression gave way to an economic growth. In the 1930s unemployment had averaged 18.2 percent; in the 1950s it was 4.5 percent.

To Galbraith, materialism (物質(zhì)主義) had gone mad and would cause discontent. Through advertising, companies conditioned consumers to buy things they didn’t really want or need. Because so much spending was artificial, it would be unsatisfying. Meanwhile, government spending that would make everyone better off was being cut down because people wrongly considered government only as “a necessary bad.”

It’s often said that only the rich are getting ahead; everyone else is standing still or falling behind. Well, there are many undeserving rich — overpaid chief managers, for instance. But over any meaningful period, most people’s incomes are increasing. From 1995 to 2004, people feel “squeezed” because their rising incomes often don’t satisfy their rising wants — for bigger homes, more health care, more education, and faster Internet connections.

The other great disappointment is that it has not got rid of insecurity. People regard job stability as part of their standard of living. As company unemployment increased, that part has gradually become weaker. More workers fear they’ve become “the disposable American,” as Louis Uchitelle puts it in his book by the same name.

Because so much previous suffering and social conflict resulted from poverty, the arrival of widespread wealth suggested utopian (烏托邦式的) possibilities. Up to a point, wealth succeeds. There is much less physical suffering than before. People are better off. Unfortunately, wealth also creates new complaints.

Advanced societies need economic growth to satisfy the multiplying wants of their citizens. But the search for growth cause new anxieties and economic conflicts that disturb the social order. Wealth sets free the individual, promising that everyone can choose a unique way to self-accomplishment. But the promise is so unreasonable that it leads to many disappointments and sometimes inspires choices that have anti-social consequences, including family breakdown. Figures indicate that happiness has not risen with incomes.

Should we be surprised? Not really. We’ve simply confirmed an old truth: the seeking of wealth does not always end with happiness.

1.The Wealthy Society is a book ________.   

A．a(chǎn)bout poverty in the past

B．written by Louis Uchitelle

C．indicating that people are becoming worse off

D．a(chǎn)bout why happiness does not rise with wealth

2.According to Galbraith, people feel discontented because ________.   

A．materialism has run wild in modern society

B．they are in fear of another Great Depression

C．public spending hasn’t been cut down as expected

D．the government has proved to be necessary but ugly

3.Why do people feel“squeezed”when their average income rises considerably?  

A．They think there are too many overpaid rich.

B．There is more unemployment in modern society.

C．Their material demands go faster than their earnings.

D．Health care and educational cost have somehow gone out of control.

4.What does Louis Uchitelle mean by “the disposable American” ?  

A．People with a stable job.

B．Workers who no longer have secure jobs.

C．Those who see job stability as part of their living standard.

D．People who have a sense of security because of their rising incomes.

5.What has wealth brought to American society?   

A．Stability and security.

B．Materialism and content.

C．A sense of self-accomplishment.

D．New anxiety, conflicts and complaints.

 

My father was in the navy, which meant that my mother was married to both my father and the sea. As was often the __1__, we had to pack our belongings into boxes and __ 2__ those we had grown to love. We would arrive at our new home and find ourselves once again __3__ at the pier（碼頭）waving good-bye to my father as his ship pulled him away from us. My mother would turn my brother and me around before the ship was out of __4__, wipe our tears, and take us back home to start the process of __5__ in the new environment again.

Throughout the years of changing __6__, schools and friends, there remained one constant in my childhood — my mother. For both my __7_ and me, she was the cook, maid and teacher. She played these roles while __8__ some type of part-time job. Leaving a promising career is just one of the __9__ which my mother made for my family as we moved around the world with our father every three years or so. __10__ she had to deal with only a small budget, my mother __11__ managed to make each house the very home that is safe and __12__.

This probably sounds like a depressing way to live, __13__ with two small children: “single” parenthood, short-term friendships, and the inability to __14__ a career or establish a home. But it was not for my mother. She turned this __15__ into adventure for us all! Each relocation was a chance to __16__ another part of the world. My mother __17__ each new culture, climate and neighborhood. Each new house was a __18__ to rearrange furniture, make curtains and hang pictures. Every part-time job was an opportunity to learn something new and work with interesting people.

No matter how difficult the life was, she was always having a __19__ attitude. She always had strength in the face of struggle and change. My mother was so __20__all those years of my childhood — she was my island in a sea of change. She is my hero.

1.                A．situation        B．case           C．matter    D．rule

 

2.                A．leave behind    B．leave out        C．leave off  D．leave for

 

3.                A．a(chǎn)rriving         B．staring          C．standing  D．looking

 

4.                A．range          B．shape          C．sight D．control

 

5.                A．a(chǎn)dapting        B．suiting          C．matching D．fitting

 

6.                A．names         B．jobs            C．a(chǎn)ddresses D．directions

 

7.                A．father          B．classmates       C．brother   D．relatives

 

8.                A．performing      B．seeking         C．waiting   D．a(chǎn)pplying

 

9.                A．programs       B．sacrifices        C．contributions  D．cooperations

 

10.               A．Once          B．While          C．When     D．Unless

 

11.               A．somewhere     B．somewhat       C．sometime D．somehow

 

12.               A．romantic       B．comfortable     C．mysterious D．wealthy

 

13.               A．generally       B．a(chǎn)ctually         C．especially  D．unfairly

 

14.               A．desert         B．pursue         C．a(chǎn)ffect D．limit

 

15.               A．lifestyle        B．value          C．journey   D．opportunity

 

16.               A．a(chǎn)cquire        B．explore        C．occupy    D．realize

 

17.               A．met           B．greeted        C．a(chǎn)greed    D．suspected

 

18.               A．load           B．sadness        C．result D．challenge

 

19.               A．changeable     B．cautious        C．positive   D．negative

 

20.               A．experienced    B．brave          C．ordinary   D．a(chǎn)nnoyed

 

 

Although he has become wealthy, Mr. Wood remains _________ he used to be ,modest and friendly .

A．which

B．where

C．what

D．that

 

1 

The "Occupy Wall Street" movement gained more support on Wednesday as unions and students joined in. With the protests developing from a group of young people's camping out near the New York Stock Exchange on September 17 to large-scale (大規(guī)模的) movements across the country and around the world, people can't help asking: What has led to "Occupy Wall Street?"

Three years after the severe economic crisis, the U.S. economy now is stuck again. Protesters are not satisfied with the present economic situation since unemployment rate is above 9 percent and economic growth has slowed. The housing market is still struggling for a recovery three years after the bubble (泡沫) burst. People are losing their houses even after they have paid a large amount of mortgage(抵押). It is getting difficult for young people to find jobs. People feared that a similar crisis like the one in 2008 may be already on its way.

It is Wall Street that possessed the most riches. It is Wall Street greed that, at least partly, led to the financial crisis in 2008. It was Wall Street's "fat cats" who take taxpayers' aid money as their own big bonus (獎(jiǎng)金). With the growing economic crisis around the world, people realize that Wall Street is responsible for it. So they try to target people who created the crisis.

The majority of the protesters are young people under 30. Many of them are unemployed. Some are students with mountains of loans (貸款). Some are hard-working people about to lose their houses even if they have paid a large amount of mortgage. They are complaining that the hard-working middle class is getting poor, yet Wall Street stays wealthy.

William Cohan, author of Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the world, wrote recently that Wall Street not only learned nothing from the 2008 crisis, they are also trying to kill all reforms that might "break this dangerous cycle in which bankers get very rich while the rest of working people suffer from their mistakes."

1.. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. The cause of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement.

B. The demand of the protesters of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement.

C. The popularity of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement.

D. The development of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement.

2.. According to the second paragraph, what set off the “Occupy Wall Street” movement?

A. The housing market.                                              B. The bad economic situation.

C. The mortgage                                     D. The high unemployment rate.

3.. We can learn from the passage that Wall Street is the symbol of          in the USA.

A. civilization          B. power                         C. wealth             D. fashion

4. We can infer that William Cohan         .

A. is the organizer of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement

B. lives on Wall Street

C. is against the “Occupy Wall Street” movement

D. approves of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement

 

閱讀下面短文，按照句子結(jié)構(gòu)的語(yǔ)法性和上下文連貫的要求，在空格處填入一個(gè)適當(dāng)?shù)脑~或使用括號(hào)中詞語(yǔ)的正確形式填空，并將答案填寫在答題卡標(biāo)號(hào)為31-40的相應(yīng)位置上。

       In Greece, women had little freedom．Wealthy women hardly left   16   houses, but they   17  （allow） to attend weddings and some festivals．Greek women’s job was to run the houses and raise children．They also supervised（監(jiān)督） slaves   18  did all the cooking, cleaning and planting of the crops．Male slaves guarded the women   19   the men were away．Girls learned only the basics of reading and maths at home．They were taught   20   to run a house．Women lived in   21   special section of the house．

       The Greeks had breakfast at sunrise．They had a small lunch and a late afternoon snack．The main meal was had at the end of the day．

       The soil was poor   22   the coast．With irrigation, the Greeks were able to raise some crops．The soil was richer in the plains than   23   in other places．In the plain regions, the Greeks were able to raise wheat and barley（大麥）．The Greeks made a large variety of bread,  24  （include） milk bread, wheaten bread, farmhouse bread, brown bread, and square bread．  25   wheat could only be raised in the plain, there was not enough food to feed all the people in Greece．