题文
We are not who we think we are.The American self-image is spread with the golden glow of opportunity. We think of the United States as a land of unlimited possibility, not so much a classless society but as a place where class is mutable—a place where brains, energy and ambition are what counts, not the circumstances of one's birth.
The Economic Mobility Project, an ambitious research led by Pew Charitable Trusts, looked at the economic fortunes of a large group of families over time, comparing the income of parents in the late 1960s with the income of their children in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Here is the finding: "The 'rags to riches' story is much more common in Hollywood than on Main Street. only 6 percent of children born to parents with family income at the very bottom move to the top.
That is right, just 6 percent of children born to parents who ranked in the bottom of the study sample, in terms of income, were able to bootstrap their way into the top . Meanwhile, an incredible 42 percent of children born into that lowest are still stuck at the bottom, having been unable to climb a single rung of the income ladder.
It is noted that even in Britain---a nation we think of as burdened with a hidebound class system-children who are born poor have a better chance of moving up. When the studies were released, most reporters focused on the finding that African-Americans born to middle-class or upper middle-class families are earning slightly less, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than did their parents.
One of the studies indicates, in fact, that most of the financial gains white families have made in the past three decades can be attributed to the entry of white women into the labor force. This is much less true for African-Americans.
The picture that emerges from all the quintiles, correlations and percentages is of a nation in which, overall, "the current generation of adults is better off than the previous one", as one of the studies notes.
The median income of the families in the sample group was $55,600 in the late 1960s; their children's median family income was measured at $71,900. However, this rising tide has not lifted all boats equally. The rich have seen far greater income gains than have the poor.
Even more troubling is that our nation of America as the land of opportunity gets little support from the data. Americans move fairly easily up and down the middle rungs of the ladder, but there is "stickiness at the ends" —four out of ten children who are born poor will remain poor, and four out often who are born rich will stay rich.
小题1:What did the Economic Mobility Project find in its research?A．Children from low-income families are unable to bootstrap their way to the top.B．Hollywood actors and actresses are upwardly mobile from rags to riches.C．The rags to riches story is more fiction than reality.D．The rags to riches story is only true for a small minority of whites.小题2:It can be inferred from the undertone of the writer that America, as a classless society, should ________.A．perfect its self-image as a land of opportunityB．have a higher level of upward mobility than BritainC．enable African-Americans to have exclusive access to well-paid employmentD．encourage the current generation to work as hard as the previous generation小题3:Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?A．The US is a land where brains, energy and ambition are what counts.B．Inequality persists between whites and blacks in financial gains.C．Middle-class families earn slightly less with inflation considered.D．Children in lowest-income families manage to climb a single rung of the ladder.小题4:What might be the best title for this passage?A．Social Upward Mobility.B．Incredible Income Gains.C．Inequality in Wealth.D．America Not Land of Opportunity. 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:C
小题2:A
小题3:B
小题4:D
解析
文章介绍了Economic Mobility Project的研究发现，美国并不是一个到处充满机会的地方，白人和黑人之间还是存在不平等的。由穷到富有的故事与其说是现实不如说是幻想。
小题1:细节题：从文章第三段的句子："The 'rags to riches' story is much more common in Hollywood than on Main Street.可知Economic Mobility Project发现由穷到富有的故事与其说是现实不如说是幻想，选C
小题2:推理题：根据第二段的句子：We think of the United States as a land of unlimited possibility, not so much a classless society but as a place where class is mutable—a place where brains, energy and ambition are what counts, not the circumstances of one's birth.
从作者的语气看，做为一个没有等级的社会，美国应该完善自己的形象做一个有机会的地方，选A
小题3:细节题：从文章第五段和第六段的句子：可知在经济收入方面，白人和黑人之间还是存在不平等的。选B
小题4:标题确定题：从全篇文章和最后一段的句子：Even more troubling is that our nation of America as the land of opportunity gets little support from the data.可知美国并不是一个到处都是机会的地方，选D。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“We are not who we th.....”主要考查你对 [社会现象类阅读 ]考点的理解。社会现象类阅读
社会现象类阅读概念：
这类文章通过写人记事来揭示文章的主题，显示其社会意义，一般采用顺序或倒叙来叙述。题目经常是一些细节问题。考查的方面可以是原因和其中引发的思考。
社会现象类阅读解题技巧：
这类文章通过写人记事来揭示文章的主题，显示其社会意义，一般采用顺序或倒叙来叙述。题目经常是一些细节问题。考查的方面可以是原因和其中引发的思考。阅读这类文章要理清思路。
1、浏览试题，明确要求。
在阅读文章前，最好先浏览一下文章后面的题干和选项。知道了问题后再去看文章，可使思路更敏捷，而且也便于阅读时留意文中出现的与选项有关的信息。
2、通读全文，抓住主要内容。
在不影响理解的前提下，尽可能地阅读以便在尽可能短的时间内理解文章或段落的内容。阅读时，如遇到不熟悉的单词、词组或一时看不懂的句子，不要停下来苦思冥想，继续读下去，通过上下文的词语和句子可能就理解了。
3、抓住中心思想和段落大意。
通读全文时，要特别注意主题句。每篇文章或每个段落都有与文章有关的句子，尤其是科技、政论性文章的主题句一般都在文章的开头或结尾，插在中间的很少。所以，文章的第一段或开头的第一、二个句子往往包含着文章的中心思想、作者的意图或全文的概述，因此要特别注意，彻底理解。
4、有针对性地仔细阅读，找寻所需信息。
在前面的基础上，可进行有针对性地阅读了。把与问题无关的内容一扫而过，而对于和问题有关的内容认真阅读，还可以用笔在下面做出记号。再把这些信息与问题的要求结合起来，逐条分析，综合判断，找出正确答案。
5、进行合理的推理判断。
对文章有了全面的了解之后，可以按照文章要求以及上下文之间的关系，做出推理判断。在进行推理判断的时候，需要综合考虑句型、语法、句子之间的逻辑关系、文化背景等方面的因素。
6、认真复读，验证答案。
要用全文的中心思想统帅各个题目，研究其内在联系和逻辑关系，并依次审核那些还未打上的题目，确保理解无误。
