高考英语话题阅读素材：Unit99TheFragileAmericanMiddleclass.docVIP

Unit 99　　The Fragile American Middle class　　Since 1997, the number of American families filing for bankruptcy annually has exceeded one million. They are going to bankruptcy courts for protection. Those who file are members of the middle class -- a group that has long provided stability and vitality for the American economic system. This raises the troubling question: Why are unprecedented numbers of Americans encountering such serious financial trouble?　　Recently the book The Fragile Middle Class, through analyzing court records and demographic data on thousands of bankruptcy cases as well as poignant real-life stories, answers the perplexing question of why Americans have experienced dramatic increases in bankruptcy filing in the midst of unprecedented prosperity. For many middle-class Americans financial stability is fragile -- almost any setback can be a catastrophe. The erosion of job stability, divorce and family instability, the visible and invisible costs of medical care, the burden of home ownership, and the staggering weight of consumer debt financed with plastic combine to threaten the financial security of growing numbers of middle-class families. The authors view the bankruptcy process in the light of changing cultural and economic factors and consider what this may signify for the future of a large, secure, and dynamic middle class. This chilling diagnosis of middle-class affliction demonstrates that many Americans may be only a job loss, an illness or credit card indulgence away from the downward spiral leading to bankruptcy.　　The authors of this well designed and carefully execute study remind us that there are winners and losers in the American free enterprise system. Many of the US middle class are losers, as their seemingly-secure middle class lifestyles may be shattered by a job loss, a serious accident, illness, divorce, or the irresistible temptation of easy credit. It is all too easy to make purchases when you just have o pull out the plas