北师大版高中英语模块7--Unit 24 warm-up2

[00:01.07]Not everybody has benefited though
[00:03.46]and there are much greater inequalities
[00:05.59]than twenty years ago.
[00:06.87]The top 20% are much richer-
[00:09.59]they now have 46% for the nation's wealth
[00:12.08]compared with around 35% in 1981.
[00:15.70]The bottom 20% of society society are now
[00:18.28]relatively much poorer and their share of the
[00:20.74]nation's wealth has declined¹ from 10% to 6%.
[00:25.24]Problems like begging and homelessness
[00:27.57]are on the increase.

[00:29.69]Life expectancy² has gone up steadily³.
[00:31.85]In 1981, British men could expect to live
[00:34.54]around 70 years and British women
[00:36.58]on average 75 years.
[00:38.68]Now men live 74 years and women 79.

[00:43.28]Over the last twenty years,
[00:45.02]unemployment has fluctuated⁴
[00:46.60]but has gone down recently.
[00:49.19]It went up form around 1.7 million in 1981
[00:52.54]to 2.1 million in 1989 only to fall beneath
[00:57.23]a million in the spring of 2001.
[01:00.08]However, we work much longer hours than before,
[01:03.01]in fact the longest in Europe.
[01:06.37]There are many more women working than before-
[01:08.48]nearly 72% compared with 57% in 1981,
[01:12.60]the highest figure in Europe.
[01:14.43]However, on average women still only earn
[01:17.63]80% of that earned by men.
[01:19.58]

1 declined   

v.辞谢，谢绝（邀请等）( decline的过去式和过去分词 )；（道路、物体等）下倾；（太阳）落下；（在品格、价值上）降低

参考例句：

• We asked her to come to our party, but she declined. 我们请她来参加我们的晚会，但是她谢绝了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He declined to charge his memory with so many details. 他不愿在脑中记这么多细枝末节。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

3 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

4 fluctuated   

波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• All year she has fluctuated between optimism and despair. 全年当中她时而乐观，时而消沉。
• He fluctuated between hope and despair. 他时而充满希望时而失望。