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  3. It is hard to get any agreement on the accurate meaning of the term "social class". In everyday life, people tend to have a diff

It is hard to get any agreement on the accurate meaning of the term "social class". In everyday life, people tend to have a diff

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问题     It is hard to get any agreement on the accurate meaning of the term "social class". In everyday life, people tend to have a different approach to those they consider their equals from that which they assume with people they consider higher or lower than themselves in the social scale. The criteria we use to "place" a new acquaintance (熟人) , however, are a complex mixture of factors. Dress, way of speaking, area of residence in a given city or province, education and manners all play a part.
    In Greece, after the sixth-century B.C., there was a growing conflict between the peasants and the landed aristocrats(贵族), and a gradual decrease in the power of the aristocracy when a kind of "middle class" of traders and skilled workers grew up. The population of Athens, for example, was divided into three main classes which were politically and legally distinct. About one-third of the total were slaves, who did not count politically at all, a fact often forgotten by those who praise Athens as the nursery of democracy. The next main group consisted of resident foreigners, the "metics", who were freemen, though they two were allowed no share in political life. The third group was the powerful body of "citizens", who were themselves divided into sub-classes.
    In the later Middle Ages, however, the development of monetary economy and the growth of cities and trade led to the rise of another class, the "burghers" or city merchants and mayors. These were the predecessors of the modern middle classes. Gradually high office and occupation assumed importance in determining social position, as it became more and more possible for a person born to one station in life to move to another. This change ’affected the towns more than the country areas, where remnants of feudalism lasted much longer.
    With the break-up of the feudal economy, the increasing division of labour, and the growing power of the town burghers(公民), the commercial and professional middle class became more and more important in Europe, and the older privileged class, the landed aristocracy, began to lose some of its power.
Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE, according to the passage?
选项 A、Slaves in Greece in the sixth century B. C.were not politically significant.
B、The "burghers" of the later Middle Ages constituted an entirely new social class.
C、To some extent, social mobility can be attributed to the growth of trade.
D、The new class made up of traders and executive officials of the later Middle Ages made the development of a money economy possible.
答案D
解析 A项认为“公元前6世纪的希腊，奴隶在政治上是无关紧要的”，这与原文中所提到的奴隶无政治权的意思相符，所以不应选A。文中第三段写道：中世纪后期，货币经济的发展和城市与贸易的增长促进了另一个阶层的崛起——自由民或商人和市长的崛起，并提到一个地方的人转移到另一个地方越米越容易。因此B项认为“中世纪后期的自由民组成了一个全新的社会阶层”，这与原文相符。C项认为“在某种程度上，社会流动性促进了贸易的增长，从对整个第三段的理解，且根据日常知识，我们可判断C是正确的。D项认为“中世纪后期的商人和执行官员使货币经济的发展得以实现”。这与原文小符，所以D项是不正确的，应选D。
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