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北京外国语大学 2001 年研究生
入学考试基础英语试卷
Ⅰ
A nation divided
What to do about the ever widening gulf between rich and poor?
Mortimer B. Zuckerman
We are becoming two nations. The prosperous are rapidly getting more prosperous and the
poor are slowly getting poorer. George W. Bush did well to rebuke his party when House
Republicans maneuvered to balance the budget by proposing to delay the earned income tax credit
for the working poor—paying it in monthly installments rather than an annual lump sum. “I don’t
think they ought to balance the budget on the backs of the poor,” Bush said. Instead, it is time for
aspiring leaders to ponder how the two nations might more closely become one.
The American economy is growing dramatically. But this prosperity is being distributed very
unevenly. The America that is doing well is doing very well indeed. But most benefits have gone
to those who work in industries where the main product is information. The losers have been the
producers of tangible goods and personal services—even teachers and health care providers. The
high-tech information economy has been growing at approximately 10 times the rate of the older
industrial economy. It has enjoyed substantial job growth, the highest productivity gains（about 30
percent a year）, and bigger profits. It can therefore afford bigger wage gains（about four times that
of the older economy）. And this wage gap is likely to widen for years to come.
The rich get richer. The concentration of wealth is even more dramatic. New York
University economist Edward Wolff points out that the top 20 percent of Americans account for
more than 100 percent of the total growth in wealth from 1983 to 1997 while the bottom 80
percent lost 7 percent. Another study found that the top 1percent saw their after-tax income jump
115 percent in the past 22 years. The top fifth have seen an after-tax increase of 43 percent during
the same period while the bottom fifth of all Americans—including many working mothers—have
seen their after-tax incomes fall 9 percent. The result is that 4 out of 5 households—some 217
million people—will take home a thinner slice of the economic pie than they did 22 years ago.
There are those who point out that these income figures do not fully reflect the improvement
in the standard of living and say that attention should be paid to what Americans own, what they
buy, and how they live, A fair point. Two economists, W. Michael Cox and Richard Alm, have
revealed that each person in the average household today has 814 square feet of living space
compared with 478 square feet in 1970;that 62 percent of all households own two or more vehicles
compared with 29 percent back then; that the number of gas ranges has increased sixfold, air
travel four times, and the median household wealth—i.e., the family right in the middle—has
jumped dramatically. Even given such improvements in life quality, our public policy must not
exacerbate the disproportionate concentrations of wealth.
Fortunately, Americans are pragmatists. They know that what you earn depends on what you
learn, especially in a digital economy; so 83 percent of our children now complete four years of
high school, compared with 55 percent in 1970.This is good news. But vast numbers of people
feel marginalized in an information-based economy. For too many, work no longer provides the
kinds of wages and promotions that allow them to achieve economic success or security. Wage
increases do not substantially increase their real income, so they have to work longer hours, get a
higher-paying shift, or find another job. These are the people who are particularly concerned about

 

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