时间:2019-01-23 作者:英语课 分类:一起听英语


英语课

 人人都在为生计奔波,不同的人属于不同的阶层,怎样定义这些阶层,我们又属于哪个阶层呢


Rob: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English, I'm Rob and with me is


Neil.


Neil: Hello.


Rob: Today we’re talking about class. This is something of an obsession 1


with British people; it’s something they talk about and think about


all the time! So Neil, what class are you – lower, middle or upper?


Neil: I suppose if you look at my background, you could say I am middle


class.


Rob: Yes, me too – middle class. So we belong to a social group that


consists of well-educated people, who have good jobs and are


neither very rich nor very poor.


Neil: Well we are certainly not rich! But being middle class is not just a


British thing.


Rob: No – the number of middle class people around the world is rising


as people earn more money. So, for your question today Neil, can


you guess how many people are predicted to be middle class in the


world by 2030?


a) 2.9 billion


b) 3.9 billion


c) 4.9 billion


Neil: Such large numbers, I don’t know. I’ll go for b) 3.9 billion.


Rob: We’ll find out the answer later. So, being middle class involves a


number of factors – good education, a good job, sometimes owning


your own home and having a number of possessions like a car or


a TV.


Neil: It’s quite a privileged 2 or comfortable position to be in – but the


most important factor is having disposable income – that’s spare


money to spend on more than just things you need for everyday


survival 3, like food. That’s what you’ve got Rob, right?


6 Minute English © British Broadcasting Corporation 4 2013


Page 2 of 4


bbclearningenglish.com


Rob: A little – spare money to spend on little luxuries 6 like a holiday, a


computer or a meal at a restaurant. But we always complain we


never have enough money, don't we!


Neil: Yes, we do: the UN says to be middle class you have to earn


between $10 and $100 per day. In the UK I think that’s quite a


small amount so we could say, very generally, we are quite welloff


– but in places such as Asia there has been a huge shift 7 recently


from people in poorer working class jobs to middle class ones.


Rob: It’s interesting: that by 2030 there could be 3.2 billion middle class


people in Asia – overtaking 8 Europe and America. The BBC’s John


Sudworth can explain what is happening now in China. What does


he say people are becoming?


BBC reporter, John Sudworth:


Now there’s a new chapter, the farmers leaving these fields for cities like


Zhengzhou, are becoming not just workers but consumers too. In short –


they’re off to join the middle class.


Neil: So, people are now moving to the city not just to find work but to


spend the money they earn. They are becoming consumers


because their income – the money they earn – has gone up.


Rob: So, this is because of industrialisation – a change from an


economy based on farming to a growth in factories making things.


Now, this happened in China in the 1970s but it is now upgrading 9


or improving its industries again making people wealthier.


Neil: This has led to a consumer society – that’s where people are


spending money on things like fridges and washing machines.


Rob: Let’s hear from John Sudworth again, talking about a consumer


from China – what does this woman do if she can’t afford to buy


something?


BBC reporter, John Sudworth:


Jessica Zhao earns a little more than $12,000 US dollars a year and she spends


every last bit of it, often with the help of a credit 10 card. My parents would never


spend money they don’t have, she tells me, but attitudes are changing fast.


Neil: So that woman uses a credit card – it means she can buy now and


pay later. It’s a change in attitude – it’s not what our parents or


grandparents would do. I do it all the time. You pay for the goods


later but with a high interest rate. What have you bought with your


credit card recently Rob?


6 Minute English © British Broadcasting Corporation 2013


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bbclearningenglish.com


Rob: A new carpet… a pair of jeans and some train tickets. But I’m not


looking forward to my credit card bill!


Neil: Nor me. You might think we are spending a lot – in China 2,500


vehicles are sold every hour!


Rob: Goodness 11. Well, the rise of the middle class could be a good thing.


As people’s standard of living improves, global poverty could be


reduced.


Neil: Ah, but if people borrow too much money there could be a credit


crunch 12 – that’s a bad economic situation where banks do not want


to lend as much money.


Rob: But what I really want to know is when will I become upper class?


Neil: Sorry Rob, you’ll never get there – it’s all about your upbringing


and your family – something you can’t change, even with money.


But let’s prove how well educated I am by seeing if I got today’s


question right.


Rob: OK. Earlier I asked you how many people are predicted to be


middle class in the world by 2030?


Neil: I said 3.9 billion.


Rob: You were wrong. The figure is 4.9 billion. Now, Neil, could you


remind us of some of today's language?


Neil: obsession


possessions


privileged


disposable income


well-off


consumers


income


industrialisation


credit crunch


upgrading


consumer society


upbringing


Rob: OK that's it for this programme. Do join us again soon for more 6


Minute English from BBC Learning 5 English.


Both: Bye.



n.困扰,无法摆脱的思想(或情感)
  • I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
  • She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。
adj.享有特权的;特许的,专用的;秘密的,保密的;幸运的
  • Those in authority were in a privileged position. 有地位者自有特权。
  • a privileged Wasp background 享有特权的盎格鲁&dash1;撒克逊裔白人新教徒出身
n.留住生命,生存,残存,幸存者
  • The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子,说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
  • The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。
n.公司,企业&n.社团,团体
  • The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation. 这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
  • The inflation did the corporation up. 通货膨胀使这个公司破产了。
n.学问,学识,学习;动词learn的现在分词
  • When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时,常会从车上掉下来。
  • Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。
n.奢侈( luxury的名词复数 );豪华;奢侈品;不常有的乐趣(或享受、优势)
  • Such luxuries are unavailable to ordinary people. 此等奢侈品普通百姓是难以获得的。
  • His salary is low and he gets few luxuries. 他薪水微薄,很少买奢侈品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
n.交换,变化,移动,接班者;vt.更替,移转,变声;vi.改变,定责,更衣
  • Lend me a hand to shift this box,will you?来帮一下忙,把这箱子搬开,好吗?
  • A sudden shift in the wind warned of the coming storm.风向的突然改变预示暴风雨来临。
v.追上,赶上,超过( overtake的现在分词 );(不愉快的事情)突然发生;突然降临;(在数量或重要性方面)大于
  • After the meal, I could feel lethargy overtaking me. 饭后我昏昏欲睡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • We should have close fighting and overtaking, and unfortunately we don't. 我们应该要更紧密的战斗和超车,但不幸的是我们没有。 来自互联网
浓缩
  • Many people are upgrading their mobiles to top-end models. 很多人不断将手机升级到最高档的款式。
  • We will press ahead with our plans for upgrading the software. 我们会继续为我们的计划努力,加快进行软件升级。
n.信用,荣誉,贷款,学分;v.归功于,赞颂,信任
  • I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
  • He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉,我们做不讨好的工作。
n.善良,善行,美德
  • Would you have the goodness to turn off the radio?劳驾,请你把收音机关上好不好?
  • Thank goodness,we've found a cure for the disease.好了,这病有救了!
n.关键时刻;艰难局面;v.发出碎裂声
  • If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
  • People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。
学英语单词
abort key
absorption loss water
acetyl dioxide
affective commitment
aghast at
air-setting refractory cement
alfalfa-leaf
amplectant
anabiotic
as dry as a mummy
backward differentiation method
be in sb's skin
Bois-Colombes
boon companion
bulpiss
butterwomen
calvia shirozui
carbothialdine
cast and crew
centihg
Chainsk
chrysanthemum flower disc console typewriter
chrysme
climbing exercise
coefficient of inbreeding
composition profiles
concavoconcave lens
crossflow vortices
desertscape
detector field
dolomite twinning
edificate
egocentrists
electro gas arc welding
electrolytic separation
extension advice
fillister-head
Fossa cranii posterior
get up with the lark
goodens
Google Search Appliance
Grand Army
Haychur
heavy element
Her Honor
host language execution
identification dimensions
involute tooth form
ionophoreses
ironmonoxide
judoman
khalifats
kyleakin
Laragon
larisaite
lateral tolerance symbol
mechanical action
men-on-a-horse
mine construction survey
MIPSs
misknows
Navigational Warning for S Atlantic
non bribery
nonowner
nuclear exclusion
optomechanics
outparamoured
package tour
Palanzano
pdg.
pening
Penthamil
petrosus branch
pipe graber
plywood facing
policy year
polymorphed
portioning device
preliminary plans
public liability insurance
recongregate
rossello
safe water marks
scoop shoe
ship's machinery
sleeps out
solid aggregate
spherical pitotprobe
sting-hum
taurophobia
tea heating machine
theligonum
thoracicolumbar
transition factor
treadways
twilled flannel
vitelliform
vmware
VSC
wastewater pipe
western ribbon snakes
woodworking sawing machine