阅读理解

Read the following passages carefully and choose one best answer for each question in Passage 1 2and 3, and answer the questions in passage 4 based on your understanding of the passage. 

(2) 
“They treat us like mules. ” the guy installing my washer tells me, his eyes narrowing as he wipes his hands, I had just complimented him and his partner on the speed and assurance of their work. He explains that it’ s rare that customers speak to him this way. I know what he’ s talking about. My mother was a waitress all her life, in coffee shops and fast-paced chain restaurants. It was hard work, but she liked it, liked “being among the public, ” as she would say. But that work had its sting too the customer who would treat her like a servant or, her biggest complaint, like she was not that bright. 
There’s a lesson here for this political season: the subtle and not-so-subtle insults that blue-collar and service workers endure as part of their working lives. And those insults often have to do with intelligence. 
We like to think of the United States as a classless society. The belief in economic mobility is central to the American Dream, and we pride ourselves on our spirit of egalitarianism. But we also have a troubling streak of aristocratic bias in our national temperament, and one way it manifests itself is in the assumptions we make about people who work with their hands. Working people sense this bias and react to it when they vote. The common political wisdom is that hot-button social issues have driven blue-collar voters rightward. But there are other cultural dynamics at play as well. And Democrats can be as oblivious to these dynamics as Republicans-though the Grand Old Party did appeal to them in St. Paul. 
Let’ s go back to those two men installing my washer and dryer They do a lot of heavy lifting quickly mine was the first of 15 deliveries and efficiently, to avoid injury. Between them there is ongoing communication, verbal anti nonverbal, to coordinate the lift, negotiate the tight fit, move in rhythm with each other. And all the while, they are weighing options, making decisions and solving problems as when my new dryer didn’ t match up with the gas outlet. 
Think about what a good waitress has to do in the busy restaurant: remember orders and monitor them, attend to a dynamic, quickly changing environment, prioritize tasks and manage the flow of work, make decisions on the fly There’s the carpenter using a number of mathematical concepts symmetry, proportion. congruence, the properties of angles and visualizing these concepts while building a cabinet, a flight of stairs, or a pitched roof. The hairstylist’s practice is a mix of technique, “knowledge about the biology of hair. aesthetic judgment and communication skill. The mechanic, electrician, and plumber are troubleshooters and problem solvers Even the routinized factory floor calls for working smarts When has any of this made its way into our political speeches? From either pasty. Even on Labor Day.
 Last week, the CDP masterfully invoked some old cultural suspicions: country folk versus, city and east coast versus heartland education But these are symbolic populist gestures not the stuff of the engagement. Judgements about intelligence easy great weight in our society, and we have a tendency to make sweeping assessments of people’s intelligence based on the kind of work they do. 

Political tributes to labor over the next two months will render the muscled arm, sleeve rolled tight against biceps. But few will also celebrate die thought bright behind the eye, or offer an image that links hand and brain. It would be fitting in a country with an egalitarian vision of itself to have a truer, richer sense of all that is involved in the wide range of work that surrounds and sustains us. 
Those politicians who can communicate that sense will tap a deep reserve of neglected feeling. And those who can honor and use work in explaining and personalizing their policies will find a welcome reception. 

单选题 To illustrate the intelligence of the working class,the author cites the examples of all of the following EXCEPT _____.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】在倒数第四、 五、 六段中, 作者举了two men installing my washer and dryer、 waitress、 carpenter、 mechanic,electrician, and plumber、 hairstylist的例子来证明他们的智慧, 因此作者没有提到D项中street-cleaner and shop-assistant。
单选题 In the sentence “we pride ourselves on our spirit of egalitarianism” (para. 3) , the word “egalitarianism”can be replaced by _____.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】在题干所引句子后, 作者话锋一转, 说到但是他们的民族性格中有一种“aristocratic bias” , 因此“egalitarianism” 的意思与“equality” 相同。
单选题 We can conclude from the passage that _____.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】根据第二段“the subtle and not-so-subtle insults that blue-collar and service workers endure as part of their working lives” 可知, 或多或少的侮辱是他们职业生活的一部分, 但并不说明这是美国每天都会发生的现象, 因此B项错误。 根据后一句可知, 这些侮辱通常“have to do with intelligence” , 即通常与智力联系到一起, 因此A项正确。
单选题 One of the major groups of targeted readers of the author should be _____.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】由第二段“There’ s a lesson here for this political season” 和第三段中“Working people sense this bias and react to it when they vote” 及最后一段“those who can honor and use work in. . . their policies will find a welcome reception. ” 可以推断, 这篇文章的目标读者为政客。
单选题 Which of the following summarizes the main idea of the passage?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】本文介绍了社会对于蓝领及服务人员 智力的普遍偏见, 并指出接下来两个月 中“political tributes to labor” 能够给政客赢得巨大的力量, 因此B项正确。