《英语流行话题阅读:语境识词4500》99 The Fragile American Middle class

　　Unit 99
The Fragile American Middle class
Since 1997, the number of American families filing for bankruptcy¹ annually² 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 vitality³ for the American economic system. This raises the troubling question: Why are unprecedented⁴ numbers of Americans encountering such serious financial trouble?
Recently the book The Fragile Middle Class, through analyzing⁵ court records and demographic data on thousands of bankruptcy cases as well as poignant⁶ 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 setback⁷ can be a catastrophe⁸. 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 diagnosis⁹ 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 irresistible¹⁰ temptation of easy credit. It is all too easy to make purchases when you just have o pull out the "plastic". Easy that is, until all of the monthly bills arrive. Many families use credit to make ends meet and the find it hard, if not impossible, to make all the monthly payments. That's when the "credit card blues¹¹" set in. The banks make money from those who pay their bills and can absorb the losses from those who cannot. Bankruptcy is part of the American "safety net" which is great for everyone except those who must suffer its humiliation¹². The temptations of easy credit are a problem to which moral and religious leaders should attend.
This is also an important book for women to read. The most disturbing chapter to readers was the description of what happens to women following divorce. The authors show that a divorced woman has a 300% greater chance of filing for bankruptcy than her married sister. Can it be, as the authors say, that a woman's economic success is still largely dependent on marrying -- and staying married?

1 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

2 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

3 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

4 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

5 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

6 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

7 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

8 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

9 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

10 irresistible   

adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的

参考例句：

• The wheel of history rolls forward with an irresistible force.历史车轮滚滚向前，势不可挡。
• She saw an irresistible skirt in the store window.她看见商店的橱窗里有一条叫人着迷的裙子。

11 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

12 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。