Passage A
1. What's hot for 2007 among the very rich? A $7.3 million diamond ring. A trip to Tanzania to hunt wild animals. Oh, and income inequality.
2. Sure, some leftish billionaires like George Soros have been railing against income inequality for years. But increasingly, centrist and right-wing billionaires are starting to worry about income inequality and the fate of the middle class.
3. In December. Mortimer Zuckerman wrote a column in U.S. News & World Report, which he owns. “Our nation's core bargain with the middle class is disintegrating.” lamented the 117th -richest man in America. “Most of our economic gains have gone to people at the very top of the income ladder. Average income for a household of people of working age,by contrast, has fallen five years in a row.” He noted that “Tens of millions of Americans live in fear that a major health problem can reduce them to bankruptcy.”
4. Wilbur Ross Jr. has echoed Zuckerman's anger over the bitter struggles faced by middle-class Americans. “It's an outrage that any American's life expectancy should be shortened simply because the company they worked for went bankrupt and ended health-care coverage,” said the former chairman of the International Steel Group.
5. What's happening? The very rich are just as trendy as you and I, and can be so when it comes to politics and policy. Given the recent change of control in Congress, the popularity of measures like increasing the minimum wage, and efforts by California's governor to offer universal health care, these guys don't need their own personal weathermen to know which way the wind blows.
6. It's possible that plutocrats (有钱有势的人) are expressing solidarity with the struggling middle class as part of an effort to insulate themselves from confiscatory (没收性的) tax policies. But the prospect that income inequality will lead to higher taxes on the wealthy doesn't keep plutocrats up at night. They can live with that.
7. No, what they fear was that the political challenges of sustaining support for global economic integration will be more difficult in the United States because of what has happened to the distribution of income and economic insecurity.
8. In other words, if middle-class Americans continue to struggle financially as the ultrawealthy grow ever wealthier,it will be increasingly difficult to maintain political support for the free flow of goods, services, and capital across borders. And when the United States places obstacles in the way of foreign investors and foreign goods, it's likely to encourage reciprocal action abroad. For people who buy and sell companies, or who allocate capital to markets all around the world, that's the real nightmare.
What is the current topic of common interest among the very rich in America?
文章第一段提到了“对于 2007 年的富人来说， 最热门的话题无非是谈论一枚价值 730 万美元的钻石戒指，去坦桑尼亚狩猎野生动物以及收入不平等”， 因此可知财富分配的不平等是目 前美国有钱人普遍谈论的话题。 故选 C。
What do we learn from Mortimer Zuckerman's lamentation?
文章第三段提到了“我们国家与中产阶级的核心协议正在瓦解， 大部分的经济收益都流向了收入阶梯顶端的人。 相比之下， 工薪家庭的平均收入已经连续下降了 5 年。 数以千万计的美国人生活在恐惧之中， 担心一个重大的健康问题会使他们破产”， 因此可知美国除了财富的流向， 民族处于巨大的分裂中。 故选 C。
From the fifth paragraph we can learn that ________.
文章第五段提到了“非常富有的人跟你和我一样新潮， 在政治和政策方面也是如此。 考虑到最近国会的控制权的变化， 诸如提高最低工资的措施的普及， 以及加州州长提供全民医疗保健的努力， 这些人不需要他们自己的气象员就可以了解风向”， 由此可知在政治和政策领域， 这些富人是非常敏感的。 故选 B。
What is the real reason for plutocrats to express solidarity with the middle class?
根据文章第七段“他们担心的是， 由于收入分配和经济不安全的分配状况， 维持对全球经济一体化得到足够的支持将在美国变得更加困难”， 可知富豪和工薪阶层团结在一起的原因是获得其对全球经济一体化的支持。 故选 C。
What may happen if the United States places obstacles in the way of foreign investors and foreign goods?
根据文章最后一段可知“如果美国对外国投资者和外国商品设置贸易壁垒， 那么国外的企业也很有可能会采取同样的应对措施”。 故选 D。