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-1-PassageOneEqualityofopportunityinthetwentiethCenturyHasNotDestroyedtheClassSystemThesedayswehearalotofnonsenseaboutthe‘greatclasslesssociety’.Theideathatthetwentiethcenturyistheageofthecommonmanhasbecomeoneofthegreatclichésofourtime.Thesameoldargumentsareputforwardinevidence.Herearesomeofthem:monarchyasasystemofgovernmenthasbeencompletelydiscredited.Themonarchiesthatsurvivehavebeendeprivedofallpoliticalpower.Inheritedwealthhasbeensavagelyreducedbytaxationand,intime,thegreatfortuneswilldisappearaltogether.Inanumberofcountriesthevictoryhasbeencomplete.Thepeoplerule;thegreatmillenniumhasbecomeapoliticalreality.Buthasit?Closeexaminationdoesn’tbearouttheclaim.w*w*w*k*s*5*u*c*o*mItisafallacytosupposethatallmenareequalandthatsocietywillbeleveledoutifyouprovideeverybodywiththesameeducationalopportunities.(Itisdebatablewhetheryoucaneverprovideeveryonewiththesameeducationalopportunities,butthatisanotherquestion.)Thefactisthatnaturedispensesbrainsandabilitywithatotaldisregardfortheprincipleofequality.Theoldrulesofthejungle,‘survivalofthefittest’,and‘mightisright’arestillwithus.Thespreadofeducationhasdestroyedtheoldclasssystemandcreatedanewone.Rewardsarebasedonmerit.For‘aristocracy’read‘meritocracy’;inotherrespects,societyremainsunaltered:theclasssystemisrigidlymaintained.Genuineability,animalcunning,skill,theknackofseizingopportunities,allbringmaterialrewards.Andwhatisthefirstthingpeopledowhentheybecomerich?Theyusetheirwealthtosecurethebestpossibleopportunitiesfortheirchildren,togivethem‘agoodstartinlife’.Forallthelipservicewepaytotheideaofequality,wedonotconsiderthiswronginthewesternworld.Privateschoolswhichofferunfairadvantagesoverstateschoolsarenotbannedbecauseoneoftheprinciplesinademocracyisthatpeopleshouldbefreetochoosehowtheywilleducatetheirchildren.Inthisway,thenewmeritocracycanperpetuateitselftoacertainextent:anablechildfromawealthyhomecansucceedfarmorerapidlythanhispoorercounterpart.Wealthisalsousedindiscriminatelytofurtherpoliticalends.Itwouldbealmostimpossibletobecometheleaderofademocracywithoutmassivefinancialbacking.Moneyisaspowerfulaweaponaseveritwas.Insocietieswhollydedicatedtotheprincipleofsocialequality,privilegedprivateeducationisforbidden.Butevenherepeoplearerewardedaccordingtotheirabilities.Infact,sogreatistheneed-2-forskilledworkersthattheleastablemaybeneglected.Brightchildrenarecarefullyandexpensivelytrainedtobecomefuturerulers.Intheend,allpoliticalideologiesboildowntothesamething:classdivisionspersistwhetheryouareruledbyafeudalkingoraneducatedpeasant.1.Whatisthemainideaofthispassage?A.Equalityofopportunityinthetwentiethcenturyhasnotdestroyedtheclasssystem.B.Equalitymeansmoney.C.Thereisnosuchsocietyasclasslesssociety.D.Naturecan’tgiveyouaclasslesssociety.2.Accordingtotheauthor,thesameeducationalopportunitiescan’tgetridofinequalitybecauseA.theprinciple‘survivalofthefittest’exists.B.Natureignoresequalityindispensingbrainsandability.C.Materialrewardsareforgenuineability.D.Peoplehavethefreedomhowtoeducatetheirchildren.3.WhocanobtainmorerapidsuccessA.thosewithwealth.B.Thosewiththebestbrains.C.Thosewiththebestopportunities.D.Thosewhohavetheabilitytocatchatopportunities.4.Whydoestheauthorsaythenewmeritocracycanperpetuateitselftoacertainextent?BecauseA.moneydecideseverything.B.Privateschoolsofferadvantagesoverstateschools.C.Peoplearefreetochoosethewayofeducatingtheirchildren.D.Wealthisusedforpoliticalends.5.Accordingtotheauthor,‘classdivisions’referstoA.therichandthepoor.B.Differentopportunitiesforpeople.C.Oppressorandtheoppressed.-3-D.Geniusandstupidity.w*w*w*k*s*5*u*c*o*mVocabulary1.discredit损害，破坏，败坏（某人的名声），不可信2.monarch国王，女皇，君主政体3.millennium千年themillennium千僖年4.bearout证实5.levelout（升跌之后）呈平稳状态6.meritocracy英才管理，英才教育，能人统治7.knack技巧，诀窍8.perpetuate使永久，永存或持续9.indiscriminate不加鉴别的，不加分析的，任意的10.boildown归结为……难句译注1.Closeexaminationdoesn’tbearouttheclaim.【参考译文】深入探索证实此断言不确。（也就是说太平盛世并没有成为政治现实）。2.mightisright谚语：强权即公理。3.Forallthelipservicewepaytotheideaofequality,wedonotconsiderthiswronginthewesternworld.【结构简析】lip-service口惠而实不至。EX:Hepayslip-servicetofeminismbuthiswifestilldoesallthehousework.他口口声声说支持女权主义，但全部家务仍是他妻子的事。【参考译文】我们口口声声赞扬平等思想，我们在西方世界中并不认为这一思想事错误的。4.Intheend,allpoliticalideologiesboildowntothesamething:classdivisionspersistwhetheryouareruledbyafeudalkingoraneducatedperson.【参考译文】最终，一切政治意识，都归结为一件事：不论你是由封建国王统治还是英才统治，阶级区分依然存在。-4-写作方法与文章大意这是一篇对“无阶级社会和人人平等”论点的驳斥文章。作者从四个方面进行论述。1、天赋的才能和智慧与平等原则无关。2、“适者生存，强权即公理”依然存在。3、人获得的报酬是取决于人的才能而不是平等。4、金钱的作用，它不仅可以培育有能力的人，还是政治的后盾。只有金钱加能力是成功的关键。所以所谓平等不存在，更没有无阶级的社会。答案详解1.A二十世纪平等的机遇并没有摧毁阶级。文章一开始就对无阶级社会的论点进行了反驳：有人认为君主整体已完全摧毁，幸存下来的王公贵族已经被剥夺了一切政治权力，继承的财产为税收大幅度的削减，到时候，巨大的财富将消失殆尽，在许多国家中，已全面胜利，人民进行统治，伟大的太平盛世已成为政治显示。作者认为：深入检查证实这一断言不实。第二段提出了即使人人都获同样的受教育的机会，可人的天然智慧和能力与平等原则无关，适者生存，强权即公理依然存在。教育的普及摧毁了老的阶级体制，却创造新的，报酬是机遇才干成就。贵族统治就是英才统治，可在其他方面，社会依然，阶级确实存在。后面两段集中论述了金钱的作用。B.金钱意味着平等是错误的。C.不存在无阶级社会。内容是对的，但不是本文的主题思想。D.自然界不会赋予你一个无阶级社会。2.B自然界在分赋人智慧和能力是不会顾及平等。A.适者生存的原则存在。根据这一原则无智慧和能力者难以生存于社会。C.物质报偿是根据人的真正能力。D.人们有自由选择如何教育自己的孩子。这三项都基于一点――人的智慧和能力。有智慧能力才能生存，才能获报偿，这已经是不平等，即使获同样的受教育的机会，也不可能铲除不平等。A有钱的人。第三段一开始就点明：真正的