首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Passage Three When George Orwell wrote in 1941 that England was "the most class-ridden country under the sun" , he was only
Passage Three When George Orwell wrote in 1941 that England was "the most class-ridden country under the sun" , he was only
admin
2022-10-07
92
问题
Passage Three
When George Orwell wrote in 1941 that England was "the most class-ridden country under the sun" , he was only partly right. Societies have always had their hierarchies, with some group perched at the top. In the Indian state of Bihar the Ranveer Sena, an upper-caste private army, even killed to stay there.
By that measure class in Britain hardly seems entrenched (根深蒂固的). But in another way Orwell was right, and continues to be. As a new YouGov poll shows, Britons are surprisingly alert to class—both their own and that of others. And they still think class is sticky. According to the poll ,48% of people aged 30 or over say they expect to end up better off than their parents. But only 28% expect to end up in a different class. More than two-thirds think neither they nor their children will leave the class they were born into.
What does this thing that people cannot escape consist of these days? And what do people look at when decoding which class someone belongs to? The most useful identifying markers, according to the poll, are occupation, address, accent and income, in that order. The fact that income comes fourth is revealing: though some of the habits and attitudes that class used to define are more widely spread than they were, class still indicates something less blunt than mere wealth.
Occupation is the most trusted guide to class, but changes in the labour market have made that harder to read than when Orwell was writing. Manual workers have shrunk along with farming and heavy industry as a proportion of the workforce, while the number of people in white-collar jobs has surged. Despite this striking change, when they were asked to place themselves in a class, Brits in 2006 huddled in much the same categories as they did when they were asked in 1949. So, jobs, which were once a fairly reliable guide to class, have become misleading.
A survey conducted earlier this year by Expertian shows how this convergence on similar types of work has blurred class boundaries. Expertian asked people in a number of different jobs to place themselves in the working class or the middle class. Secretaries, waiters and journalists were significantly more likely to think themselves middle-class than accountants, computer programmers or civil servants. Many new white-collar jobs offer no more autonomy or better prospects than old blue-collar ones. Yet despite the muddle over what the markers of class are these days, 71% of those polled by YouGov still said they found it very or fairly easy to figure out which class others belong to.
In addition to changes in the labour market, two other things have smudged the borders on the class map. First, since 1945 Britain has received large numbers of immigrants who do not fit easily into existing notions of class and may have their own pyramids to scramble up. The flow of new arrivals has increased since the late 1990s, multiplying this effect.
Second, barriers to fame have been lowered. Britain’s fast-growing ranks of celebrities—like David Beckham and his wife Victoria—form a kind of parallel aristocracy open to talent, or at least to those who are uninhibited enough to meet the requests of television producers. This too has made definitions more complicated.
But many Brits, given the choice, still prefer to identify with the class they were born into rather than that which their jobs or income would suggest. This often entails pretending to be more humble than is actually the case: 22% of white-collar workers told YouGov that they consider themselves working class. Likewise, the Expertian survey found that one in ten adults who call themselves working class are among the richest asset-owners, and that over half a million households which earn more than $191,000 a year say they are working class. Pretending to be grander than income and occupation suggest is rarer, though it happens too.
If class no longer describes a clear social, economic or even political status, is it worth paying any attention to? Possibly, yes. It is still in most cases closely correlated with educational attainment and career expectations.
Which of the following is NOT a cause to blur class distinction?
选项
A、Notions of class by immigrants.
B、Changing trends of employment.
C、Fewer types of work.
D、Easy access to fame.
答案
C
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/fHBK777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
(1)OscarWildesaidthatworkistherefugeofpeoplewhohavenothingbettertodo.Ifso,Americansarenowamongtheworld’s
(1)OscarWildesaidthatworkistherefugeofpeoplewhohavenothingbettertodo.Ifso,Americansarenowamongtheworld’s
PASSAGEFOURWhatdidMr.Galili’smovingfromAmsterdamtoGroningenturnouttobe?
(1)Aswehurtletowardsmenewmillennium,whatisthebettersymboloftherelentlesspassageoftimethanmeancientsundial?
(1)Aswehurtletowardsmenewmillennium,whatisthebettersymboloftherelentlesspassageoftimethanmeancientsundial?
PASSAGETHREEWhatwastheappearanceofBEATLESregardedas?
A、Toaskstudentstowriteasimilarletterusingoneofthemodels.B、Togivestudentspracticecomplainingintheclassroom.C
Appliedresearchaimsatsomespecificobjective,suchasthedevelopmentofanewproduce,process,ormaterial.
A、Patients’practice.B、Advicefromexperts.C、Recognitionbygovernment.D、Suggestionsfromhospital.C采访者提到:Recognitionbygov
A、Shecan’tfindanappropriatetopic.B、Shecan’tfindenoughreferencematerial.C、Shecan’tfinishitinasfewas3,000wor
随机试题
陈某与刘某二人达成如下协议:“双方如就祖传字画的继承权发生争议,则提交双方住所地以外的仲裁委员会(北京仲裁委员会)进行仲裁,并将自动履行裁决。”后双方果然在继承问题上发生争议,现双方解决争议的可行的法律途径是:
地下水环境现状调查与评价的范围以能说明()为原则,并应满足环境影响预测和评价的要求。
国家根据建设项目(),对建设项目的环境影响评价实行分类管理。
当利用S形曲线进行实际进度与计划进度比较时,如果检查日期实际进展点落在计划S形曲线的右侧,则该实际进展点与计划S形曲线的水平距离表示工程项目( )。
质量是一组固有()满足要求的程度。
计算机网络最大的价值在于资源共享。()
BeautyisbigbusinessinChina.Thecountry’scosmeticsmarketisworth$26billionayear,makingitthethird-biggestinthe
如果报表中没有页眉,则Access将显示时间的文本框添加到
组成CPU的主要部件是
Thequalityofpatiencegoesalongwaytowardyourgoalofcreatingamorepeacefulandlovingself.Themorepatientyouare,
最新回复
(
0
)