单选题 Text
The conception of poverty and what to (26) about it have changed over the decades. Under Social Darwinism the lazy and the (27) were supposed to be at the bottom of the economic ladder as a result of the "law of (28) of the fittest". Society was (29) as a network of self-sufficient families which provided for their own. (30) persons outside a household (orphans, the (31) elderly,and the crippled) were provided outdoor relief grudgingly and as a temporary expedient. Although it was (32) that "the poor will always be with us", the individual was expected to improve himself (33) acts of his own will. Charity was thought to be the (34) of idleness. By keeping wages low, labourers would be (35) to work harder.
At about the turn of the century, the beginning of concern about natural (36) brought uneasiness about the possible spread of beggary. There was a potentially dangerous class in (37) of disease and disorder. The "poor" were (38) as different from "paupers". Paupers were individuals well (39) to being on the low end of the socioeconomic (40) . Without shame or bitterness, they would not seek independence and a " (41) " life. For the mountaineers, the subsistence dwellers, and some slum dwellers, the lack of wealth, (42) has been argued,reflects a preference not to pay the psychological costs of the struggle for the riches or of adopting the middle-class work ethic of surviving. In (43) ,the worthy poor struggled to (44) their lot against circumstances beyond their control: low wages, sickness, industrial (45) , widowhood and so on.