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.

1.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.

2.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

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

 

Answer 1

1.B

2.A

3.A

【解析】　本文是一篇說明文，用“總—分”的篇章結構介紹了等級、權力和身份在人類社會等級排列中的重要性。

1.500,000 a year and a bus driver earning $50,000 a year both regard themselves as the middle class”可知A項片面了，而公共汽車司機是自己把自己看成是中層階級，所以C項是錯誤的。根據本段第三句中的“sociologists disagree on how these terms should be exactly defined”可知社會學家對階層的定義也不明確，故D項錯誤。

2.2】解析：選A。細節理解題。根據文章第三段第三句“Power and class do not always go hand in hand...”可知權力和等級并不總是相對應的，故A項為正確答案。由第二段第一句知B項中的status應改為class。根據文章最后一段第二句“It can also be affected by power and class，but not necessarily so.”可知C項是錯誤的。通讀第一段、第三、四段可知D項是錯誤的。

3.3】解析：選A。篇章結構題。文章第一段總述了三個方面(class，power，status)在定義階層中的作用，第二段(class)、第三段(power)和第四段(status)分別敘述了它們的作用，文章結構為“總—分”式，所以選擇A項。