Low wages, chronic unemployment and underemployment lead to low income, lack of property ownership, absence of savings, absence of food reserves in the home, and a chronic shortage of cash. These conditions reduce the possibility of effective participation in the larger economic system. As a response to these conditions, we find in the culture of poverty a high incidence of pawning personal goods, borrowing from local money-lenders at higher rates of interest, spontaneous informal credit devices organized by neighbors, the use of second-hand clothing and furniture, and the pattern of frequent buying of small quantities of food many times a day as the need arises. People with a culture of poverty produce very little wealth and receive very little in return. They have a low level of literacy and education, usually do not belong to labor unions, are not members of political parties, generally do not participate in the national welfare agencies, and make very little use of banks, hospitals, department stores, museums or art galleries. They have a critical attitude toward some of the basic institutions of the dominant classes, hatred of the police, mistrust of government and those in high position, and a cynicism which extends even to the church. This gives the culture of poverty a high potential for protest and for being used in political movements aimed against the existing social order. People with a culture of poverty are aware of middle-class values, talk about them and even claim some of them as their own, but on the whole, they do not live by them. Thus, it is important to distinguish between what they say and what they do. For example, many will tell you that marriage by law, by the church, or by both is the ideal form of marriage, but few will marry. To men who have no steady jobs or other sources of income, who do not own property and have no wealth to pass on to their children, who are present-time-oriented and who want to avoid the expense and legal difficulties involved in formal marriage and divorce, free unions or consensual marriages make a lot of sense. Women will often turn down offers of marriage because they feel it ties them down to men who are immature, punishing and generally unreliable. Women feel that consensual union gives them a better break; it gives them some of the freedom and flexibility that men have. By not giving the fathers of their children legal status as husbands, the women have a stronger claim on their children if they decide to leave their men. It also gives women exclusive rights to a house or any other property they may own.

According to the passage, a defining characteristic of poverty is that poor people______.

A．are isolated from the mainstream of society

B．lack the skills to find decent jobs

C．are constantly in a state of crisis

D．are held responsible for their own poverty

The phrase “culture of poverty“ underlined in Paragraph 1 suggests that______.

A．there are several classifications of poor people

B．poor people often take pride in their poverty

C．poverty has become a prevalent lifestyle for some people

D．poor people share a common background

In Paragraph 2, by asserting that the culture of poverty can be used by political movements, the author______.

A．predicts an uprising by the poor

B．shows how poverty may threaten social stability

C．justifies the motives of politicians

D．calls upon the middle class to fight against the poor

The author’s attitude toward the need to “distinguish between what they say and what they do“ (underlined in Paragraph 3) suggests that______.

A．poor people are often hypocritical

B．poverty causes illusions among the poor people

C．the poor are held responsible for their poverty

D．the poor often cannot change their conditions

According to Paragraph 3, consensual union CANNOT provide poor women refraining from a legal marriage with______.

A．a free church wedding or civil ceremony

B．some of the freedom and flexibility that men have

C．ownership of a house or any other property

D．a stronger claim on their children when they want to leave their men

A conclusion can be drawn from Paragraph 3 that men and women in the culture of poverty______.

A．consider themselves unworthy of legal marriage

B．cannot get married and raise a family of their own

C．do not trust each other as faithful husbands and wives

D．avoid legal marriages for practical and economic reasons

In discussing poverty, the author is most likely to agree that poverty______.

A．is more widespread than most people think

B．cannot be eliminated from society

C．means more than a lack of money

D．weakens the fabric of society

The fact that they reacted so differently was a reflection of their different______. preferences points personalities performances

Despite their good services, most inns are less costly than hotels of______standards. exceptional exact exclusive equivalent

Being both lazy and spoiled, some people tend to______everyone else for their failure to success. admire blame charge refuse

Some high-yield crops can be planted in preference to others to______food supply. handle generate enhance undertake

As a______of his pioneering work in the late 1930s, Earl Hines has been called the father of the modern jazz piano. result sign token mark

Our knowledge of dinosaurs is wholly______from the bones which have been found here and there. confirmed retained acquired sought

The managers got in quite a brawl over the decision for a new branch office. fight game parade riot

The secretary is very competent, and she can finish writing all these letters within one hour. careful clumsy clever capable

Financial consultants acknowledge that the value of common stock is inherently changeable. relatively intrinsically consequently accordingly

The merit of a sales tax is that it decreases government reliance on income taxes. supply balance outcome benefit

The scholar discoursed in detail on the poetic style of John Keats at the university hall. talked targeted touched thought

The reading group was homogeneous because all of the youngsters are two years below grade level. identical similar pluralistic uniform

The tiresome congressional investigations soon lost most of their listeners. laborious humorous tedious monotonous

Like sauces, without a certain amount of spice, conversations grow uninteresting. bleeding boring bursting bubbling

It is a market which sales value might be more than 10 billion RMB yuan a year. with a sales value which might be which might be sales value with sales might be a value with sales value might be

My teacher recommended me a dictionary, and yesterday I bought a copy in town. to me a dictionary a dictionary to me me to a dictionary dictionary to me

Hiram Revels, the first black member of the U.S. Senate, served as senator from Mississippi, an office where he was elected in 1870. on which at which to which for which

Man has used metals for centuries in gradual increasing quantities, but it was not until the Industrial Revolution that they came to be employed in vast quantities. gradually increasing quantities increased quantities gradually gradual increased quantities increasingly gradual quantities

As much as we wish him prosperous, we have objections to his ways of obtaining wealth. Much as As much More as As more

The president’s tone of voice was so much that the students knew that the university authorities took the incident seriously. such as so that as such such that