单选题 For most Americans, the word "poverty" suggests destitution: an inability to provide a family with nutritious food, clothing, and reasonable shelter. But only a small number of the 35 million persons classified as "pour" by the Census Bureau fit that description.
While the poor are generally well-nourished, some poor families do experience hunger, meaning a temporary discomfort due to food shortages. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 13 percent of poor families and 2.6 percent of poor children experience hunger at some point during the year. In most cases, their hunger is short-term. Eighty-nine percent of the poor report their families have "enough" food to eat, while only 2 percent say they "often" do not have enough to eat.
The typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not well-off, it is equally far from the popular images of frightening poverty conveyed by the press.

单选题 For most Americans, a "poor" man is the person who ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推理判断题。本题询问对于大多数美国人来说。“穷”人是什么样的,根据文章首句可知,“贫穷”是指在衣、食、住即物质财富方面匮乏。因此可以判断四个选项中只有选项B(无丰富的物质财富)最符合文意,为正确答案。
[避错指南] 选项A(不能提供很多食物)只是“贫穷”的一个方面,选项C(没有工作)和选项D(没有钱)与文章意思不符合。
单选题 In the second paragraph the writer tries to tell us that ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推理判断题。本题询问作者在第二段想要告诉我们什么。根据第二段第一句话可知,穷人在一般情况下营养充足,而有些穷的家庭也的确遭受饥饿,因此可推理得出并不是所有的贫穷家庭都经受食物短缺这一境况,即选项C为正确答案。
[避错指南] 根据第二段最后一句话可知,大部分贫穷家庭有“足够”的食物;而只有很少一部分贫穷的家庭经常缺少吃的东西,选项A(贫穷的家庭经常没有足够的食物)过分夸大事实,与文意不符;选项D(所有贫穷的家庭都没有吃的东西)也不符合文意。根据第二段第三句话可知,食物缺乏“大多数情况下……是短期的”,因此选项B(对贫穷家庭来说,饥饿只是暂时的)这种说法过于绝对,所以不正确。
单选题 The word "well-off" (the last sentence of Par
【正确答案】
【答案解析】语义理解题。本题询问第三段最后一句中的well-off一词的含义是什么。根据第三段最后一句的后中部分可知,well-off的意思应与poverty相背,因此选项D(富有的)为正确答案。
[避错指南] 选项A(贫穷的)、选项B(健康的)和选项C(快的)与文章意思不一致,故可以排除,
单选题 Which of the following is NOT true about the poor American defined by the American government?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】细节理解题。本题询问有关美国政府对贫穷美国人的定义,下面哪一种说法不正确。根据第三段第五句话可知,贫穷的美国人持有的钱能够满足生活中必需的消费,而不是所有的消费,故选项D(他能为家里所有的需求提供足够的钱)与文意不符,所以选项D为符合题意的答案。
[避错指南] 选项A(他拥有一辆轿车、一部空调、一台冰箱和一个微波炉)与第三段第一句话意思相符。选项B (有两台彩电和有线电视或者卫星电视接收器)与第三段第二句话意思相符。选项C(他的房子不是非常拥挤)与第三段第四句话意思相符。
单选题 We can learn from the passage that the poor American life ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推理判断题,本题询问我们从文章中可以了解到美国的穷人是什么样的;根据文章末句可知,美国政府定义的穷人形象和媒体宣传的穷人的形象相差甚远,故选项C(美国穷人的形象在政府和媒体眼中是不一样的)是正确答案。
[避错指南] 选项A(能够买得起所有现代产品)在文中没有提到;而且这一选项仅根据我们的常识就可以加以排除。根据文章首句可知,“贫穷”是指缺少营养食品、衣服以及适宜的住处,故选项B(没有供家人住的地方)与选项D(只属于那些没有足够食物的人)均与文意不符。