海天英语课外补充阅读资料.docVIP

海天英语课外补充阅读资料（1） （2013年4月10日——4月20日） 【注意事项】：本文通过2012年美国总统大选中候选人针对贫困阶层政策的讨论，系统描述和分析当今美国社会的贫困问题。本文有大量经典长难句、地道英文表达、美国文化和社会背景介绍、经济学和政治学专业词汇，篇幅较长，难度略高于考研真题。同学们在完成当周讲义学习和之前讲义复习的基础上，可以进行阅读。但也要按照课堂的要求进行精读。切记不要为了阅读此文而忽略讲义内容，不可主次不分；也不可泛泛而读，否则起不到补充训练的效果。本文有任何细节不懂，也可以随时向我提问。另，本文最后附有对部分生僻背景知识的注释。 ————海天英语老师 赵南望 The poor in America美国的贫困阶级 America’s poor were little mentioned in Barack Obama’s re-election campaign. They deserve better You do what you can尽力而为 When Barack Obama first ran for president, Emma Hamilton was part of that politically crucial cohort, the white working class. A tall woman with tawny hair, broad shoulders, a firm handshake and a forthright, direct manner, Ms Hamilton worked as a loader at a factory in Sumter, a modest city of 40,000 in east-central South Carolina. In July 2008, however, after seven years on the factory floor, she mangled her hand between two heavy rollers. The accident was to leave her unable to work. 在巴拉克·奥巴马第一次竞选总统时，艾玛·汉密尔顿（Emma Hamilton）还在工作。当时的她属于在美国政治中起到举足轻重作用的阶级群体——白人工人——中的一员。汉密尔顿女士高个子，宽肩膀，长着一头褐发，举止直率，握手有力。她在南卡罗来纳州中东部一个4万人的小镇苏姆特上做工厂装货工干了七年。不幸的是，在2008年7月发生的一起工厂事故中，她的手被卷入两个重型滚筒之间。这次事故让她无法再继续工作。 She lost her house three years later, in April 2011. She, her 20-year-old son and her dog moved into her teal Chevy van, where they have been living ever since, collecting metal cans during the day and sleeping in a grocery-store car park at night. 三年之后，她在2011年4月失去了住的房子。于是，她和20岁的儿子以及家里的狗一起搬到她那辆蓝绿色的雪佛兰货车货厢内居住。直到现在，他们依然住在货车里，每天白天捡易拉罐，晚上则把车停在一间杂货店门口的停车场上过夜。 When a pain in Ms Hamilton’s leg grew too severe to ignore, an employee at the shelter where she and her son occasionally stay directed her to the Excelsior Medical Clinic in downtown Sumter. The assistant who checked her in was named Patricia Dunham. Ms Dunham has cinnamon-coloured skin, arresting blue eyes and an easy, infectious laugh. She works at the Excelsior for 37.5 hours each week. At night she works behind the counter at a fast-food restaurant. The first job pays $12.50 an hour,