Poverty exists because our society is an unequal one, and there are plenty of political pressures to keep it that way. Any attempt to redistribute wealth and income in the United States will be opposed by powerful middle and upper class interests. People can be relatively rich only if others are relatively poor, and since power is concentrated in the hands of the rich, public policies will continue to reflect their interests rather than those of the poor.

　　As Herbert Gans has pointed out, poverty is actually functional form from the point of view of the non-poor. Poverty ensures that ‘dirty’ work gets done. If there were no poor people to clean floors and empty dustbins, these jobs would have to be rewarded with high incomes before anyone would touch them. Poverty creates jobs for many of the non-poor, such as police officers, welfare workers, and government officials. Poverty makes life easier for the rich by providing them with cooks, gardeners and other workers to perform basic work while their employers enjoy more pleasurable activities. Poverty provides a market for low-level goods and services, such as day-old bread, rundown automobiles. Poverty legitimizes (make legal) middle-class values. To the middle class, the fate of the poor---who are supposed to lack honesty, and a taste of hard work---only confirms the desirability of qualities the poor are thought to lack. Poverty also provides a group that can be made to absorb the costs of change. For example, the poor bear the pressure of unemployment and it’s their homes, not those of the wealthy, that are destroyed when a route has to be found for a new highway. It cannot be said that the wealthy keep the poor in poverty. It is just that poverty is an outcome of the American economic system, which the poor are politically powerless to influence or change.

1. The best title is ________________________.

2. Poverty exists in American society because ____________.

3.The poor take on ‘dirty work’ ___________________.   

4. The author thinks that _____________________.

I really 　　　     you for your way of making decisions.  

完成句子（共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分）

1. When I opened the door, l found him sitting in the sofa, completely _____________________ reading a novel. (absorb)

当我打开门时，我发现他坐在沙发上，完全专心地看小说。

2.So _____________________________ that Maric was able to set up new branches elsewhere. (successful)

她的生意是如此成功，以至于玛里克可以在别的地方建立新的分公司。

3.It seems that we have to accept the result and make a good preparation to have another try.

                       earlier, I could have done something to avoid this accident. (inform)

看来我们必须接受这个结果并做好再次尝试的准备了。要是我早点得知的话，就可以做些什么来避免这场事故了。

4.It is the test system, rather than the teachers,           　                 for the students’ heavy study burden nowadays. (blame) 

对于学生现在的学业重压，该受责备的是考试体系，而不是老师。

5. Have you ever had a case           　           but nobody showed any concern? (fall)

你有没有过这种情况，你病倒了，却没有人关心?

6.With my money            　　　        , I have to draw some from the bank in case I have none in hand. (run)

我的钱快用完了，所以我要从银行取点钱，以防手头太紧。

7.We are told from the director’s office that                           we know the result of the final examination.  (long)

我们从主任办公室获悉，过不了多久，我们就可以知道期终考试的结果。

8.Some experts recommend signs and posters be put up in areas                 . (allow)

一些专家建议应在不允许抽烟的地方贴上标志和海报。

9. No one really knows exactly when the first people arrived in                 now. (call)

没有人知道确切在什么时候第一批移民者到达我们今天称之为美国的地方。

10.A reporter begins by contacting people ______________ and then prepares questions. (interview)

记者要先和被采访人联系，然后准备好要采访的问题。