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.
分析 作者在文中介绍了两项调查，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，52%的人认为仍然有尖锐的阶级差异．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，他们认为一些地方口音是最吸引人的，而BBC的英语是最不吸引人的，也说明了英国阶级划分的根源非常深．通过调查的结果可知，英国社会的阶级划分没有消失，它是英国社会重要的一部分．
21．The word stratification in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to________________．
A．variety B．most people belong to middle class
C．authority （权威） D．qualification（资格）
【解析】B 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．所以英国人好像对阶级划分非常热衷．stratification阶层分化，跟B选项大多数人属于中产阶级意思相近，故选B．
22．The study in the US showed that BBC English was regarded as_______________．
A．regional B．educated C．prejudiced(偏见的) D．unattractive
【解析】D 细节理解题．根据第四段的"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．"可知，美国关于英语口音的调查结果正好和英国的调查结果相反，他们认为一些地方口音是最吸引人的，而BBC的英语是最不吸引人的，故选D．
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.
分析 作者在文中介绍了两项调查，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，52%的人认为仍然有尖锐的阶级差异．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，他们认为一些地方口音是最吸引人的，而BBC的英语是最不吸引人的，也说明了英国阶级划分的根源非常深．通过调查的结果可知，英国社会的阶级划分没有消失，它是英国社会重要的一部分．
21．The word stratification in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to________________．
A．variety B．most people belong to middle class
C．authority （权威） D．qualification（资格）
【解析】B 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．所以英国人好像对阶级划分非常热衷．stratification阶层分化，跟B选项大多数人属于中产阶级意思相近，故选B．
22．The study in the US showed that BBC English was regarded as_______________．
A．regional B．educated C．prejudiced(偏见的) D．unattractive
【解析】D 细节理解题．根据第四段的"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．"可知，美国关于英语口音的调查结果正好和英国的调查结果相反，他们认为一些地方口音是最吸引人的，而BBC的英语是最不吸引人的，故选D．
苏19057182-3号