背诵为王 第 四 册 第 33 课

Lesson33 On Social Equality
There have been few examples in history of a truly classless society where,to any significant degree, equality of pay and conditions prevailed. Twoshort-lived examples are the Paris Commune of 1871 which was ruthlesslydestroyed by the forces of the French government and the anarchist¹ regimethat controlled Barcelona in the early days of the Spanish Civil War whichwas ironically brought to violent end.
Today in Europe there is a new class which is growing apace that has come tobe known as the underclass or sub-class. This class consists of groups ofindividuals who do not have access to the rights enjoyed by members of othersocial strata². Indeed, in order to secure very basic living conditions takenfor granted by others, they are often forced to suffer the indignity³ of ameans test, be at the receiving end of charity and have to rely on run-downpublic services. The worlds of private transport, private health care,private education and private housing are remote and inaccessible⁴.
The underclass consists of the poor, the homeless, many of the unemployed⁵,the emotionally disturbed, and the disabled. A high proportion will be fromethnic minorities, many being employed illegally at low wage levels andunder sweatshop conditions. Some will be employed completely illegally;their very existence unrecognized and unrecorded by the authorities.
This class also includes drug addicts⁶, prostitutes and alcoholics⁷. Theunderclass is the unspoken but ever-present shadow of our modern lifestyle.
Whereas the poor of the last century were employed and formed the workingclass, the poor of today are now largely unemployed and form part of theunderclass.

anarchist 无政府主义者
means 财力；收入

论社会公平
历史上鲜有真正的无阶级差别的社会，那种在较大程度上盛行薪酬和社会地位平等的社会。有两个短暂存在的社会是其适例，一个是1871年的巴黎公社，被法国政府的军队无情摧毁，另一个是在西班牙内战早期控制巴塞罗纳的无政府主义政权，具有讽刺意义的是，它以暴力手段收场。
如今在欧洲一个新阶级正在快速成长，它被称为下层阶级或亚阶级。该阶级由那些无法享有其他社会阶层的成员所享有的权利的群体组成。事实上，为了确保在其他人看来是理所当然拥有的最基本的生存条件，他们经常被迫遭受有辱尊严的收入调查，接受施舍，以及不得不依靠每况愈下的公共服务。拥有私人交通、私人医疗保健、私人教育和私人住宅的世界对他们来说遥不可及。
该下层阶级包括穷人、无家可归者、众多失业者、情感受挫者和残疾人。少数民族占很大比例，很多人非法受雇，工资很低，且工作条件极差。有些人完全是非法打工，他们的存在没有得到政府当局的认可和记录。这一阶级也包括吸毒者、妓女和酗酒的人。该下层阶级是我们现代生活方式中不可言及却又永远存在的阴影。
上个世纪的穷人拥有工作并形成了工人阶级，而如今的穷人大多都是失业者并形成了下层阶级的一部分。

1 anarchist   

n.无政府主义者

参考例句：

• You must be an anarchist at heart.你在心底肯定是个无政府主义者。
• I did my best to comfort them and assure them I was not an anarchist.我尽量安抚他们并让它们明白我并不是一个无政府主义者。

2 strata   

n.地层（复数）；社会阶层

参考例句：

• The older strata gradually disintegrate.较老的岩层渐渐风化。
• They represent all social strata.他们代表各个社会阶层。

3 indignity   

n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑

参考例句：

• For more than a year we have suffered the indignity.在一年多的时间里,我们丢尽了丑。
• She was subjected to indignity and humiliation.她受到侮辱和羞辱。

4 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

5 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

6 addicts   

有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 )； 入迷的人

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

7 Alcoholics   

n.嗜酒者，酒鬼( alcoholic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many alcoholics go on drinking sprees that continue for days at a time. 许多酒鬼一次要狂饮好几天。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Do you have a copy of the Alcoholics Anonymous book? 你手上有戒酒匿名会的书吗？ 来自互联网