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  3. The American dream is that any child can make it from the bottom to the top. That may still be true in politics: the son of a Ke

The American dream is that any child can make it from the bottom to the top. That may still be true in politics: the son of a Ke

admin2019-04-19  8
问题    The American dream is that any child can make it from the bottom to the top. That may still be true in politics: the son of a Kenyan immigrant, raised partly by his grandparents, is now president of the United States. But it is much less true, in economic terms, than most Americans think. Social mobility is less easy in America than in other countries. For example, three-quarters of Danes born in the lowest-earning 20% of the population escape their plight in adulthood. Seven out of ten poor children in supposedly class-ridden Britain achieve the same feat. But fewer than six in ten Americans do so.
   Similarly, with rags-to-riches stories. It is far less common for Americans from the bottom 20% in childhood to move into the top 20% in adulthood than it is in Denmark or in Britain. On the whole, America’s wealthy prosper while the average citizen struggles. The pay workers get has failed to move in line with productivity in the past 30 years. But Americans have yet to realise the extent of this tectonic shift.
   Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel prize-winner in economics and a regular critic of liberal capitalism, addresses this issue in his new book, which he wrote in response to the Occupy Wall Street protesters. Indeed, he argues that their slogan, "We are the 99% " , echoes an article entitled, "Of the 1% , by the 1% , for the 1% " , that he wrote in Vanity Fair in May 2011.
   To Mr Stiglitz, this inequality is the result of public policy being captured by an elite who have feathered their own nests at the expense of the rest. They have used their power to distort political debate, pushing through tax cuts to favour the rich and adjusting monetary policy to favour the banks. Many of the new rich are not entrepreneurs but "rent-seekers" , he says, who use monopoly power to boost profits.
   When it comes to solutions to the inequality problem, Mr Stiglitz wants a top income tax rate of "well in excess of" 50% , targeted fiscal stimulus and greater bank regulation. Here, perhaps, he might have been more open about the tradeoffs. Controls on bank leverage, caps on interest rates and greater protection for bankrupts are all likely to reduce bank lending at a time when there already is a credit squeeze. He admits that the 2009 fiscal stimulus was " not as well designed as it could have been" , but blithely hopes that the convoluted American budget-setting process will result in much better stimulus packages in future.
   Whether or not he has the right answers, Mr Stiglitz is surely right to focus on the issue. Across the developed world, the average worker is suffering a squeeze in living standards while bankers and chief executives are still doing very nicely. This dichotomy is bound to have social and political consequences.
What advice does the author give to Mr Stiglitz?
选项 A、Be more tolerant of balancing.
B、Stick to behavioral studies.
C、Be less dependent upon dreams.
D、Get rid of negative attitudes.
答案A
解析 本题是一道虚拟语气题型。因为本题题干中的名词“advice(建议)”一词与第五段首句中的名词“solutions(解决办法)”是相互替换词语，所以首先确定本题的答案信息来源在第五段。在本段第二句中，本文作者以虚拟语气的句式给施蒂格利茨提出了建议和忠告。第五段第二句“Here，perhaps，he might have been more open about the trade-offs．(在这一点上，或许他可以对平衡协调采取更开放的态度。)”暗示：本文作者建议施蒂格利茨可以对平衡协调方法更加包容一些。由此推断，选项A“Be more tolerant of balancing．(多包容平衡协调方法。)”应该是本题的正确答案。解答本题时，除了对题干与原文中的核心词语有识别能力之外，还要对虚拟语气有敏感的识别和理解能力，否则就丧失了解题的思路。
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