Sure, some leftish billionaires like George Soros have been railing against income inequality for years. But increasingly, centrist and right-wing billionaires are starting to worry about income inequality and the fate of the middle class.
In December, Mortimer Zuckerman wrote a column in U.S. News & World Report, which he owns. "Our nation's core bargain with the middle class is disintegrating," lamented (哀叹) the 117th-riehest main in America. "Most of our economic gains have gone to people at the very top of the income ladder. Average income for a household of people of working age, by contrast, has fallen five years in a row." He noted that "Tens of millions of Americans live in fear that a major health problem can reduce them to bankruptcy."
Wilbur Ross Jr. has echoed Zuckerman's anger over the bitter struggles faced by middle-class Americans. "It's an outrage that any American's life expectancy should be shortened simply because the company they worked for went bankrupt and ended health-care coverage," said the former chairman of the International Steel Group.
What's happening? The very rich are just as trendy as you and I, and can be so when it comes to politics and policy. Given the recent change of control in Congress, the popularity of measures like increasing the minimum wage, and efforts by California's governor to offer universal health care, these guys don't need their own personal weathermen to know which way the wind blows.
It's possible that plutocrats (有钱有势的人) are expressing solidarity with the struggling middle class as part of an effort to insulate themselves from confiscatory (没收性的) tax policies. But the prospect that income inequality will lead to higher taxes on the wealthy doesn't keep plutocrats up at night. They can live with that.
No, what they fear was that the political challenges of sustaining support for global economic integration will be more difficult in the United States because of what has happened to the distribution of income and economic insecurity.
In other words, if middle-class Americans continue to struggle financially as the ultrawealthy grow ever wealthier, it will be increasingly difficult to maintain political support for the free flow of goods, services, and capital across borders. And when the United States places obstacles in the way of foreign investors and foreign goods, it's likely to encourage reciprocal action abroad. For people who buy and sell companies, or who allocate capital to markets all around the world, that's the real nightmare.
What is the current topic of common interest among the very rich in America?
A. The fate of the ultrawealthy people.
B. The disintegration of the middle class.
C. The inequality in the distribution of wealth.
D. The conflict between the left and the right wing.
听力原文: So we've already talked a bit about the growth of extreme sports, like rock-climbing. As psychologists, we need to ask ourselves, "Why is this person doing this?", "Why do people take these risks and put themselves in danger when they don't have to?"
One common trait among risk-takers is that they enjoy strong feelings or sensations. We call this trait "sensation seeking". A sensation-seeker is someone who is always looking for new sensations. What else do we know about sensation seekers? Well, as I said, sensation-seekers like strong emotions. You can see this trait in many parts of a parson's life not just in extreme sports. For example, many sensation seekers enjoy hard rock music. They like the loud sound and strong emotion of the songs. Similarly, sensation-seekers enjoy frightening horror movies. They like the feeling of being scared and horrified while watching the movie. This feeling is even stronger for extreme sports where the person faces real danger. Sensation-seekers feel that danger is very exciting. In addition, sensation-seekers like new experiences that force them to push their personal limits. For them, repeating the same things everyday is boring. Many sensation-seekers choose jobs that involve risk, such as starting a new business or being an Emergency Rotan doctor. These jobs are different everyday, so they never know what will happen. That's why many sensation-seekers also like extreme sports. When you do rock-climbing, you never know what will happen. The activity is always new and different.
(30)
A. Enjoying strong feelings and emotions.
B. Defying all dangers when they have to.
C. Being fond of making sensational news.
Dreaming of becoming famous one day.
听力原文:M: So, Claire, you are into drama.
W: Yes, I've a master's degree in Drama and Theater. At the moment, I am hoping to get onto a PHD program.
M: What excites you about drama?
W: Well, I find it's a communicative way to study people, and you learn how to read people in drama. So usually I can understand what people are saying, even though they might be lying.
M: That would be useful.
W: Yeah, it's very useful for me as well. I'm an English lecturer, so I use a lot of drama in my classes, such as role-plays. And I ask my students to create mini-dramas. They really respond well. At the moment, I am hoping to get onto a PHD course. I would like to concentrate on Asian drama and try to bring Asian theater to the world attention. I don't know how successful I will be, but here is hoping.
M: Oh, I'm sure you will be successful. Now, Claire, what do you do for stage fright?
W: Ah, stage fright. Well, many actors have that problem. I get stage fright every time I'm going to teach a new class. The night before, I usually can't sleep.
M: What? For teaching?
W: Yes! I get really had stage fright, but the minute I step into the classroom or get onto the stage, it just all falls into place. Then I just feel like "Yeah, this is what I'm made to do." and I am fine.
M: Wow, that' cool.
(20)
A. It helps her to attract more public attention.
B. It improves her chance of getting promoted.
C. It strengthens her relationship with students.
D. It enables her to understand people better.
Seven Ways to Save the World
Forget the old idea that conserving energy is a form. of self-denial -- riding bicycles, dimming the lights, and taking fewer showers. These days conservation is all about efficiency: getting the same -- or better -- results from just a fraction of the energy. When a slump in business travel forced Ulrich Romer to cut costs at his family-owned hotel in Germany, he replaced hundreds of the hotel's wasteful light bulbs, getting the same light for 80 percent less power. He bought a new water boiler with a digitally controlled pump, and wrapped insulation around the pipes. Spending about ?100,000 on these and other improvements, he slashed his ?90,000 fuel and power bill by ?60,000 As a bonus, the hotel's lower energy needs have reduced its annual carbon emissions by more than 200 metric tons. "For us, saving energy has been very, very profitable," he says. "And most importantly, we're not giving up a single comfort for our guests."
Efficiency is also a great way to lower carbon emissions and help slow global warming. But the best argument for efficiency is its cost -- or, more precisely, its profitability. That's because quickly growing energy demand requires immense investment in new supply, not to mention the drain of rising energy prices.
No wonder efficiency has moved to the top of the political agenda. On Jan. 10, the European Union unveiled a plan to cut energy use across the continent by 20 percent by 2020. Last March, China imposed a 20 percent increase in energy efficiency by 2020. Even George W. Bush, the Texas oilman, is expected to talk about energy conservation in his State of the Union speech this week.
The good news is that the world is full of proven, cheap ways to save energy. Here are the seven that could have the biggest impact:
Insulate
Space heating and cooling eats up 36 percent of all the world's energy. There's virtually no limit to how much of that can be saved, as prototype "zero-energy homes" in Switzerland and Germany have shown. There's been a surge in new ways of keeping heat in and cold out (or vice versa). The most advanced insulation follows the law of increasing returns: if you add enough, you can scale down or even eliminate heating and air-conditioning equipment, lowering costs even before you start saving on utility bills. Studies have shown that green workplaces (ones that don't constantly need to have the heat or air-conditioner running) have higher worker productivity and lower sick rates.
Change Bulbs
Lighting eats up 20 percent of the world's electricity, or the equivalent of roughly 600,000 tons of coal a day. Forty percent of that powers old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs -- a 19th-century technology that wastes most of the power it consumes on unwanted heat.
Compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, not only use 75 to 80 percent leas electricity than incandescent bulbs to generate the same amount of light, but they also last 10 times longer, Phasing old bulbs out by 2030 would save the output of 650 power plants and avoid the release of 700 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year.
Comfort Zone
Water boilers, space heaters and air conditioners have been notoriously inefficient. The heat pump has altered that equation. It removes heat from the air outside or the ground below and uses it to supply heat to a building or its water supply. In the summer, the system can be reversed to cool buildings as well.
Most new residential buildings in Sweden are already heated with ground-source heat pumps. Such systems consume almost no conventional fuel at all. Several countries have used subsidies to jumpstart the market, including Japan, where almost 1 million heat pumps have been installed in the past two years to heat water for showers and hot tubs.
Remake Factories
From steel mills to paper f
A. Raising efficiency.
B. Cutting unnecessary costs.
C. Finding alternative resources.
D. Sacrificing some personal comforts.