阅读理解 The loudest outcry (大声疾呼) about poverty seemed to come in the wealthiest country by far in the world. According to most calculations, through most of the 1945-1970 period the United States had a standard of living well above Europe''s and many times above the world average. Yet protests about grinding poverty, hunger, and dreadful need proceed from the United States than from countries with one fortieth of their living standard. (An annual per capita income of eight dollars is typical of much of Africa and Asia and not a little of South America.) It would seem strange to these people(they were only aware of the fact) that American radicals demand a retreat from an American commitment to the far concerns of the globe so that the money thus saved can be spent raising the standard of living of underprivileged Americans. What this last point suggests is not so much that human wants all never to be satisfied though this is doubtless true, and the American suburbanite (郊区居民) deprived of his second car and his color TV suffers just as acutely as an African farmer in need of a second cow and a screen door. Rather, it suggests the extent of contemporary broach (违背) of social norms—the emancipation (解放) of the individual self. People have learned that their wants are sacred and right ought to be satisfied. They have learned to consider any obstacle to personal fulfillment an intolerable insult They have greatly expended the circle of self-awareness. They no longer accept sharp limitations on individual desires in the name of the group. The amount of potential human discontent has always been infinite misery, failure, misfitting, bitterness, hatred, envy beyond telling. It has usually failed of utterance, and in the past it was accepted passively as being beyond help.
单选题 According to the author, who are most concerned with the problem of poverty?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】事实细节题。文章第一句表明，抱怨贫困的疾呼发自世界上最富有的国家，接下来指出美国是世界上最富有的国家，因此C“美国人民”与原文一致。
单选题 In the second paragraph, the author suggests that_____..
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推理判断题。作者在第二段指出“并非要说明人类的欲望是永无满足的……两者心中感到的痛苦是一样强烈的……他们的需要是神圣的，权利应该得到满足”，由此可见C“人们意识到他们的需要应该被满足”符合题意。
单选题 What does the underlined word mean?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】语意理解题。作者指出人们意识到他们的需要是神圣的，权利应该得到满足，personal fulfillment意为“个人满足”，intolerable insult意为“不能忍受的侮辱”。A“物体，目标”、B“目的”以及D“摘要”显然都不合题意，C“障碍”是obstacle同义转述。
单选题 Who suffer more acutely according to the passage?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推理判断题。从文章第二段…the American suburbanite…suffers just as acutely as all African farmer可以判断出他们的痛苦是一样的，因此C“一样”为正确答案；而D“美国农民”是干扰选项，文中没有提到。
单选题 The passage is mainly about______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】主旨大意题。文章第一段陈述了一个事实，“世界上对于贫困问题的疾呼似乎都来自于最富裕的国家——美国”，通过这个例子引出了现代社会人们对自我的解放(the emancipation of the individual self)，认识到人们有权利满足自己的个人需求(People have learned that their wants are sacred and fight ought to be satisfied)，而不是使其受到限制(They no longer accept sharp limitations on individual desires)，而不是过去人们没有说出来的(It has usually failed of utterance)。A“贫穷”只是作者为了引出主题而列举的一个现象；B“不满足”意思太笼统，不明确；D“永无止境的人类欲望”，从作者第二段第一句…not so much that human wants are never to be satisfied中可以看出这尽管是事实，但并不是作者想要讨论的；C“对自我满足的新理解”准确体现了作者在文章中想要表达的思想，故为正确答案。