Question

    It was once common to regard Britain as a society with class distinction. Each class had unique characteristics.

In recent years, many writers have begun to speak the 'decline of class' and 'classless society' in Britain. And in modern day consumer society everyone is considered to be middle class.

But pronouncing the death of class is too early. A recent wide-ranging society of public opinion found 90 percent of people still placing themselves in particular class; 73 percent agreed that class was still a vital part of British society; and 52 percent thought there were still sharp class differences. Thus, class may not be culturally and politically obvious, yet it remains an important part of British society. Britain seems to have a love of stratification.

One unchanging aspect of a British person's class position is accent. The words a person speaks tell her or his class. A study of British accents during 1970s found that a voice sounding like a BBC newsreader was viewed as the most attractive voice. Most people said this accent sounded 'educated' and 'soft'. The accents placed at the bottom in this study, on the other hand, were regional city accents. These accents were seen as 'common' and 'ugly'. However, a similar study of British accents in the US turned these results upside down and placed some regional accents as the most attractive and BBC English as the least. This suggests that British attitudes towards accent have deep roots and are based on class prejudice.

In recent years, however, young upper middle-class people in London, have begun to adopt some regional accents, in order to hide their class origins. This is an indication of class becoming unnoticed. However, the 1995 pop song 'Common People' puts forward the view that though a middle-class person may 'want to live like common people' they can never appreciate the reality of a working-class life.

1.A recent study of public opinion shows that in modern Britain ________.

A. people regard themselves socially different

B. most people belong to middle class

C. it is easy to recognize a person’s class

D. it is time to end class distinction

2.The word “stratification” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ________.

A. variety B. qualification C. authority D. division

3.British attitudes towards accent ________.

A. are based on regional status

B. have a long tradition

C. are shared by the Americans

D. have changed in recent years

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. The middle class is expanding

B. A person’s accent reflects his class

C. Class is a key part of British society

D. Each class has unique characteristics.

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.B

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。这篇短文给我们讲述了在英国社会中，阶级划分是重要的一部分。作者在短文中给我们介绍了两项调查，通过调查的结果我们可以看到，英国社会里的阶级划分没有消失，它是英国社会重要的一部分。

1.推理判断题。根据第三段第二句A recent wide-ranging society of public opinion found 90 percent of people still placing themselves in particular class; 73 percent agreed that class was still a vital part of British society; and 52 percent thought there were still sharp class differences.可知，关于“阶级消亡”的说法，在英国对大众进行了一个调查，结果发现90%的人们仍然把自己划分在一定的阶层中；73%的人认为阶级是英国社会一个必不可少的部分。由此可知人们仍然认为他们在社会中是有区别的，故选A。

2.词义猜测题。根据第三段的内容可知，根据一项关于英国社会阶级是否开始消亡的调查可知，绝大多数人仍然认为英国社会中存在不同的阶级，这是英国社会中重要的一部分。由此可知，英国人好像对阶级划分非常热衷。stratification划分，故选D。

3.推理判断题。根据最后一段的“In recent years，however，young upper middle-class people in London，have begun to adopt some regional accents，”然而，在最近几年，伦敦的年轻的上层中产阶级，已经开始采取一些地区口音，可知，现在英国人对待口音的态度开始改变了。故选B。

4.主旨大意题。这篇短文给我们讲述了在英国社会中，阶级划分是重要的一部分。作者在短文中给我们介绍了两项调查，其中一项告诉我们大多数人们觉得阶级是英国社会必不可少的一部分；另一项调查是关于人们说话的口音，英国和美国的调查结果正好相反，也说明了英国阶级划分的根源非常深。由此可知C选项：阶级是英国社会中的一个重要部分，符合短文的大意。故选C。