Before, whenever we had wealth, we started discussing poverty. Why not now?

游客2023-09-10  20

问题     Before, whenever we had wealth, we started discussing poverty. Why not now? Why is the current politics of wealth and poverty seemingly about wealth alone? Eight years ago, when Bill Clinton first ran. for president, the Dow Jones average was under 3,500, yearly federal budget deficits were projected at hundreds of billions of dollars forever and beyond, and no one talked about the "permanent boom" or the "new economy." Yet in that more straitened time, Clinton made much of the importance of "not leaving a single person behind." It is possible that similar "compassionate" rhetoric might yet play a role in the general election.
    But it is striking how much less talk there is about the poor than there was eight years ago, when the country was economically uncertain, or in previous eras, when the country felt flush. Even last summer, when Clinton spent several days on a remarkable, Bobby Kennedy-like pilgrimage through impoverished areas from Indian reservations in South Dakota to ghetto neighborhoods in East St. Louis, the administration decided to refer to the effort not as a poverty tour but as a "new markets initiative."
    What is happening is partly a logical, policy-driven reaction. Poverty really is lower than it has been in decades, especially for minority groups. The most attractive solution to it--a growing economy is being applied. The people who have been totally left out of this boom often have medical, mental or other problems for which no one has an immediate solution. "The economy has sucked in anyone who has any preparation, any ability to cope with modern life," says Franklin D. Raines, the former director of the Office of Management and Budget who is now head of Fannie Mae.  When he and other people who specialize in the issue talk about solutions, they talk analytically and long-term: education, development of work skills, shifts in the labor market, adjustments in welfare reform.
    But I think there is another force that has made this a rich era with barely visible poor people. ft is the unusual social and imaginative separation between prosperous America and those still left out. It’s simple invisibility, because of increasing geographic, occupational, and social barriers that block one group from the other’s view.  [br] After reading this passage, you can conclude that ______.

选项 A、the relationship between the rich and the poor has changed
B、the good economy will soon end
C、poverty will be obliterated as a result of increased wealth
D、all people benefit from good economic conditions

答案 A

解析 推断题。选项B和C的内容作者在文章中并未提到。文章第三段指出和过去相比,贫困状况确实有所改善,尤其是对占人口比重少数的群体而言。但作者接着指出:“The people who have been totally left out of this boom often have medical,mental or other problems for which no one has an immediate solution.”,可见还是有人没有从经济繁荣中获益。所以选项 D也可以被排除。故正确答案为A项。
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