【一起听英语】属于什么阶层
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?
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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?
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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.
- 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。
- 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
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- 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》
- 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。
- 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
- 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。
- 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。
- 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!