According to sociologists, every modern industrial society has some form of social stratification（阶层）. Class, power and status are important in deciding people’s rank in society.
Class means a person’s economic position in society. A monly used classification is lower class, middle class and upper class. While sociologists disagree on how these terms should be exactly defined, they do describe societies like the United States quite well. One study shows that 53% of Americans belong to the lower class, 46% the middle class, and 1% the upper class. Interestingly, a surgeon earning ＄500,000 a year and a bus driver earning ＄50,000 a year both regard themselves as the middle class!
Power refers to the amount of control a person has over other people. Obviously, people in positions of great power (such as governors) exercise（行使）big power, but people who take orders from others have less power. Power and class do not always go hand in hand, however. For example, the governor of a state has great power, but he or she may not belong to a corresponding （相应的）economic class. Generally, however, there is a relationship between power and class.
To our knowledge, there aren’t too many people who aren’t millionaires in the U.S. Senate!
Status is the honor or respect attached to a person’s position in society. It can also be affected by power and class, but not necessarily so. For example, a university professor may have a high status but not belong to a high social class or have a lot of power over others.
【小题1】What can we learn about “the middle class” from Paragraph 2?A．People earning ＄50,000 a year belong to the middle class.B．Nearly half Americans belong to the middle class.C．People generally consider bus drivers as the middle class.D．Sociologists have a clear definition of the middle class.【小题2】According to the text, we know that .A．power and class do not always correspond with each otherB．status refers to a person’s economic position in societyC．people with high status have a lot of control over othersD．class is less important in deciding a person’s social rank【小题3】Which of the following shows the structure of the whole text?
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解析：
本文题材是议论文，社会类阅读理解，谈到了关于社会等级权利地位的话题，社会学家研究了每个社会阶层中的权利和阶层关系问题
【小题1】Ｂ细节理解题。根据文章第二段46% the middle class直接得出答案，所以B正确。
【小题2】Ａ推理判断题。根据文章第三段第三行Power and class do not always go hand in hand, however.得出答案，所以A正确。
【小题3】Ａ篇章结构题。根据对文章整体理解，文章为总分总结构，第一段综述，地2 3 4 分述。所以A正确。