Layers of SocialClass
Taken together, income, occupation, and education are good measures of people’s social standing. Using a layered model of stratification, most sociologists describe the class system in the United States as divided into several classes: upper, upper middle, middle, lower middle, and lower class.Each class is defined by characteristics such as income, occupational prestige, and educational attainment. The different groups are arrayed along a continuum with those with the most money, education, and prestige at the top and those with the least at the bottom.
In the United States, the upper class owns the major share of corporate and personal wealth; it includes those who have held wealth for generations as well as those who have recently become rich. Only a very small proportion of people actually constitute the upper class, but they control vast amounts of wealth and power in the United States. They exercise enormous control throughout society. Most of their wealth is inheriteD、
Despite social myths to the contrary, the best predictor of future wealth is the family into which you are born.Each year, the business magazine Forbes publishes a list of the "Forbes 400"--the four hundred wealthiest families and individuals in the country. Of all the wealth represented on the "Forbes 400" list, more than half is inheriteD、Those on the list who could be called "self-made" were not typically of modest origins; most inherited significant assets (Forbes,1997; Sklar andCollins, 1997). Those in the upper class with newly acquired wealth are known as the nouveau riche.Although they may have vast amounts of money, they are often not accepted into "old rich" circles.
The upper middle class includes those with high incomes and high social prestige. They tend to be well-educated professionals or business executives. Their earnings can be quite high indeed successful business executives can earn millions of dollars a year. It is difficult to estimate exactly how many people fall into this group because of the difficulty of drawing lines between the upper, upper middle, and middle class. Indeed, the upper middle class is often thought of as "middle class" because their lifestyle sets the standard to which many aspire, but this lifestyle is simply beyond the means of a majority of people in the United States.
The middle class is hard to define; in part, being "middle class" is more than just economic position.By far the majority ofAmericans identify themselves as middle class even though they vary widely in lifestyle and in resources at their disposal.But the idea that the United States is an open- class system leads many to think that the majority have a middle-class lifestyle because, in general, people tend not to want to recognize class distinctions in the United States. Thus, the middle class becomes the ubiquitous norm even though many who call themselves middle class have a tenuous hold on this class position.
In the hierarchy of social class, the lower middle class includes workers in the skilled trades and low-income bureaucratic workers, many of whom may actually define themselves as middle class.Examples are blue-collar workers (those in skilled trades who do manual labor) and many service workers, such as secretaries, hairdressers, waitresses, police, and firefighters. Medium to low income, education, and occupational prestige define the lower middle class relative to the class groups above it. The term "lower" in this class designation refers to the relative position of the group in the stratification system, but it has a pejorative sound to many people, especially to people who are members of this class.
The lower class is composed primarily of the displaced and poor. People in this class have little formal education and are often unemployed or working in minimum-wage jobs.
【单选题】： A B C D

Influenza and Vaccines
There is no specific cure for influenzA、Recommended treatment usually consists of bed rest and increased intake of nonalcoholic fluids until fever and other symptoms lessen in severity.Certain drugs have been found effective in lessening flu symptoms, but medical efforts aimed against the disease focus chiefly on prevention by means of vaccines that create immunity.
No drugs can cure influenza, but certain antiviral medicines can relieve flu symptoms.Available by prescription, these drugs provide modest relief, but only if taken on the first or second day of symptoms. The drugs amantadine (sold under the brand name Symmetrel) and rimantadine (Flumadine., both in pill form, work against hemagglutinin and are effective in treating typeA、influenzA、Two other drugs inhibit neuraminidase and are effective against both typeA、and typeB、strains: oseltamivir (Tamiflu) is in pill form and zanamivir (RelenzA、is an inhalant.
A、flu vaccine consists of greatly weakened or dead flu viruses, or fragments of dead viruses.Antigens in the vaccine stimulate the patient’s immune system to produce antibodies against the viruses. If the flu viruses invade a vaccinated person at a later time, the sensitized immune system recognizes the antigens, produces the antibodies and quickly responds to help destroy them.
About 5 to 10 percent of people who receive a flu vaccine experience mild, temporary side effects, typically soreness at the injection site. Young children who have not previously been exposed to the influenza virus are most likely to experience side effects.
Flu viruses constantly change so different virus strains must be incorporated in vaccines from one year to the next. Scientists try to provide a good match between the vaccine and the most serious virus strains circulating at the time.But because it takes months to manufacture and distribute vaccines, decisions on their composition must be made well before the start of each flu season.Each February experts at the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend a vaccine composition to be used for the forthcoming winter in the Northern Hemisphere; a second recommendation is made in September for vaccines to be used in the Southern Hemisphere. Typically vaccines contain antigens from three virus strains, usually two strains from typeA、and one strain from typeB、
According to theCDC, the success of flu vaccines varies from one person to another. In healthy young adults, the vaccines are 70 to 90 percent effective in preventing the disease. In the elderly and people with certain chronic medical conditions, the vaccines are less effective in preventing illness but help reduce the severity of an infection and the risk of major complications or death. Studies show that flu vaccines reduce flu-related hospitalization by about 70 percent and flu-related deaths by about 85 percent among elderly people.
TheCDC、recommends annual flu shots for people who are at high risk for developing serious complications as a result of an influenza infection.A、[■]This group includes all people aged 65 and older; people in nursing homes and other facilities that house people with chronic medical conditions; people with chronic heart, lung or kidney disease, diabetes, an impaired immune system, or severe forms of anemia; children and adolescents with conditions treated for long periods of time with aspirin (which makes them vulnerable to Reye’s syndrome. ; and women who will be in the second or third trimester of pregnancy during the influenza season.B、[■] Some doctors encourage individuals who travel to areas of the world where influenza viruses circulate to receive the most current vaccine.C、[■] Vaccination taken earlier can better protect the travellers from being infected by influenza in the epidemic areasD、[■] vaccination is more urgently needed particularly if they ar

HistoricalChanges in theEuropeanArt World
1.European artists in the Late MiddleAges were accorded the same social status as blacksmiths, carpenters, tailors, and other craftsmen. Whereas philosophers, musicians, and poets were seen as exercising intellectual skills, artists were not. Like other craftsmen, they were organized under the guild system. Originally developed prior to the second millenniumAD, guilds were formal organizations founded by people who practiced a similar craft, with the intention of ensuring they received fair payment for their services and fostering the exchange of knowledge among members. In mostEuropean cities, there would be a masons’ guild, a smiths’ guild, and a carvers’ guild, along with those established by painters, sculptors, and architects. New members began as apprentices, learning from the masters of their craft, and if they demonstrated enough skill, they would one day be eligible to become master craftsmen themselves.
2. Then, in the fourteenth century,Europe entered a period of significant transformation known as the Renaissance. This term literally means "rebirth;’ as it describes an era whenEuropean scholars were rediscovering works of theClassical Greeks and Romans.Ancient texts on math, science, and philosophy, written by such figures as Plato andCicero, became the subjects of intense study and altered the ways in whichEuropeans Viewed their worlD、From its origins in Florence, Italy, the Renaissance radiated throughout the continent and affected every aspect of the lives of the people living there.
3. The quest forClassical knowledge that characterized the Renaissance also led to a rebirth of the conception of the artist,
Depiction of nature in its true form became the ideal, and painters began to study mathematical perspective and optics in order to more realistically represent their subjects.
This emphasis on intellectual investigation distinguished the arts from the so-called mechanical crafts, and artists witnessed a marked improvement in their social standing.
By the 1500s, descriptions like "genius" and "divine" were being ascribed to Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and other creators of artistic masterpieces.

4. The Renaissance also spawned the introduction of formal educational institutions.Called academies, the first of these, such as the PlatonicAcademy founded in Florence in 1438, focused on literature and scientific disciplines. Soon, though, artistic pursuits were added to the curriculum, including everything from painting to architecture. Next came the rise of academies dedicated solely to education in the arts. Rome’sAcademy of St. Luke, established in 1593, was one of the most popular, and these centers quickly replaced the artists’ guilds as the premier purveyors^* of artistic knowledge.
5.By the close of the Renaissance in the late seventeenth century, academies of art had spread from Italy north to other regions. French academies became highly influential, and their mission shifted from general education to the cultivation of a national artists’ movement. Whereas the early Italian academies had not charged their pupils or limited their enrollment, French academies instituted tuition and entrance examination systems to ensure that only certain students were admitteD、Control was exercised by the government, and as time went on, the academies devised very specific artistic conventions that its members were expected to follow. Still emphasizing theClassical ideals that had flourished during the Renaissance, t

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