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Here are two main changes comparing with the past. First, there are new definitions of what man can achieve, of what a human standard of life should be. In recent times this has been particularly true since technology has consistently broadened man's potential, it has made a longer, healthier, better life possible. Thus, in terms of what is technically possible, we have higher aspirations. Those who suffer levels of life well below those that are possible, even though they live better than medieval knights（中世纪骑士）or Asian peasants, are poor.

Related to this technological advance is the social definition of poverty. The American rich in Hong Kong of China or in the sixteenth century are poor here and now in the United States. They are dispossessed in terms of what the rest of the nations enjoy, in terms of what the society could provide if it had the will. They live on the fringe, the margin. They watch the movies and read the magazines of affluent（丰富的）American, and these will tell them that they are internal exiles（放逐）.

And finally, one of the reasons that the income figures show fewer people today with low incomes than 20 years ago. The reason is that more wives are working now, and family income has risen as a result. In 1940, 15% of wives were in the labor force; in 1957 the figure was 30%. This means that there was more money and, presumably（大概）, less poverty. Yet a tremendous growth in the number of the impoverishment（贫穷）of home life, of children who receive less care, love, and supervision. This one fact, for instance, might well play a significant role in the problems of the young in America. It could mean that we have made an improvement in income statistics at the cost of hurting thousands and thousands of children. If a person has money but achieves this through mortgaging the future, who is to say that he or she is no longer poor?

1．In recent times, as far as technology is concerned, those who are poor____.

A．live better than Asian peasants

B．lead better lives than medieval knights

C．cannot achieve the living standard that technology can make

D．have no aspiration

2．“They are internal exiles”（Line 5, Para. 2）implies____.

A．their internal feelings are different from the rest of nation

B．they are discriminated by the rest of the nation

C．they are excessively lonely than people in other countries

D．they can't enjoy what the rest of the nation do concerning what the society provides

3．The so-called American poor can only be defined by____.

A．technology

B．American social background

C．the living standard in the U.S.

D．the living standard of Hong Kong of China

4．More women are working in America, which means____.

A．improvement of all aspects of people's lives

B．fewer people are poor in the U.S. today

C．the nation's economy grows rapidly

D．the rising of family incomes

5．Which of the following sentences best describes the last paragraph?

A．Women are playing a less important role in educating children.

B．It's really unnecessary for women to work.

C．Improvement in income at the cost of the happiness of children doesn't mean rich.

D．Problems of the young will be solved if women do not work.

1．【答案】C

【精析】C项所表达的意思与第一段最后一句中的“suffer levels of life well below those that are possible”一致，故选C项。A项、B项虽然正确，但不是就技术而言的，所以排除；D项为干扰项，原文第四句中出现了“we have higher aspiration”，但这里的we是一个宽泛的概念，不是只针对富人或穷人而言的，与题干所问的不相干。

2．【答案】D

【精析】将线索定位在第二段最后一句中的“they are internal exiles”就可以得出D项正确。A项、B项是根据internal exiles的字面意思得出的错误理解；C项是对exile的错误理解。

3．【答案】C

【精析】从文章第一段及第二段可知，美国所谓的穷人是以美国本身的生活水平来划分的。第二段第一句“对于贫穷的社会定义是和这种科技进步联系在一起的”，这里讲的是定义“贫穷”时需要考虑到科技进步的因素，因此科技只是影响“贫穷”的一个因素而不是决定因素，所以排除A; B项从字面上看讲得通，但文中未提到社会背景方面的内容，而且生活标准仅是社会背景的一个方面；D项“中国香港的生活标准”显然不对。

4．【答案】D

【精析】根据文章第三段第二句，妇女参加工作的结果是家庭收入增加，可知答案应选D项。A项是说人民生活各个方面的提高，与原文内容不符；B项中的poor没有具体交代是哪一方面，在一个国家的不同时期，是否“贫穷”的标准是不同的，更多妇女参加工作，家庭收入增加，不能直接得出贫穷人口更少的结论；C项原文未提及。

5．【答案】C

【精析】第三段中说妇女参加工作使得家庭收入增加，但却以伤害成千上万儿童的幸福为代价。最后一句是对该段的总结，也是该段的主旨，与C项相符。A项这一说法本身正确，但不全面；B项“妇女没有必要出去工作”和D项“如果妇女不工作就可以解决孩子的问题”原文未提及。