在过去一代人中，美国中产阶级家庭已经被经济危机和新的现实所改变。过去他们曾经还能指望依靠艰苦工作和公平竞争来使自己在经济生活中获得安全保障。如今，一份解雇通知书，一个错误的判断或失去配偶都有可能在几个月之内使他们从稳固的中产阶级滑向新生的贫民阶层。
就在他们这代人中，成百万的女性参加了工作，改变了基本家庭经济结构。各种各样的学者们、政客们和批评家们还在辩论这件事的社会含义。但很少有人看待它的副作用：家庭的风险也随之上升。今日的家庭已经把两份收入这种预算状况推到了极致，毫无保留余地。其结果是，他们失去一个他们过去在财政困难时所可以依赖的保险伞--或者说是一个后备的挣钱者（通常指妻子）：因为她可以出来参加工作，如果主要的挣钱者下了岗或生了病。这种"后备人员效应"可以支援"家庭安全网"，再加上失业保险或残疾保险使家庭得以渡过难关。但是，今天一旦家中有了不测，再也无法从本应待在家中的那位后备者可以挣得的额外收入中得到补充。
与此同时，家庭现在要承担退休收入方面的更多的风险。钢铁工人、空勤人员以及汽车工业的工作者等也加入了成百万的家庭，他们都在担心着银行的存款利息变化、股票市场的波动、以及他们的退休金可能不够使用这一残酷现实。去年，布什总统发起一场运动把人们固定的社保基金转为银行存款这种类型，由此，退休者们正在把他们有保障的收入变成取决于投资回报的钱财类型。对于年轻人组成的家庭来说，情况也好不到哪里去。医疗保健费用的绝对数目和各个家庭所分担的数目也都在上升，而一种新近流行起来的医疗费用节约计划也正在从上层立法大厅到底层沃尔玛的工人之间广泛铺开，这对千家万户未来的医疗保健意味着更大的风险。甚至人口学也正在对中产阶级家庭造成不利影响。家中有一个衰弱的老年父母，医疗看护费用在过去一代人的时间内上涨了八倍。
从中产阶级家庭的角度出发，可以理解的是，这与其说是一个承担更多经济责任的机会，倒还不如说更像把经济危险的整个转变以吓人的速度加在他们早已过于不堪重负的双肩上。经济滑落己经开始了，政治上的跌落可能也不会很远了吧。
31今日这种夫妻双份收入家庭会面临更大的财务风险是因为：
［A］他们所曾经享有的那种安全网应经不复存在了。
［B］他们两人下岗的机会增大了。
［C］他们对家庭经济转变的抵抗力变得更加脆弱了。
［D］他们被剥夺了失业保险或残疾保险。
32作为布什总统改革的结果，退休人员可能有
［A］更高的安全感。
［B］更没有保障的收入。
［C］更少的投资机会。
［D］一个更加得到保障的未来。
33按照作者看法，医疗费用节约计划将
［A］有助于减少医疗开支的费用。
［B］在中产阶级中间得以推广。
［C］对减少的退休金是一个补偿。
［D］增加了家庭的投资风险。
34从末段中可推论出：
［A］财经风险可能超过政治风险。
［B］中产阶级可能面临更大的政治挑战。
［C］财经问题可能带来政治问题。
［D］财经责任是一个人的政治地位标志。
35下列哪个是本文最佳的标题：
［A］警觉的中产阶级
［B］处于悬崖的中产阶级
［C］冲突中的中产阶级
［D］毁掉了的中产阶级
TEXT 4
It never rains but it pours.Just as bosses and boards have finally sorted out their worst accounting and compliance troubles, and improved their feeble corporation governance, a new problem threatens to earn them-especially in America-the sort of nasty headlines that inevitably lead to heads rolling in the executive suite: data insecurity.Left, until now, to odd, low level IT staff to put right, and seen as a concern only of data rich industries such as banking, telecoms and air travel, information protection is now high on the boss's agenda in business of every variety.
Several massive leakages of customer and employee data this year-from organizations as diverse as Time Warner, the American defense contractor Science Applications International Corp and even the University of California, Berkeley-have left managers hurriedly peering into their intricate IT systems and business processes in search of potential vulnerabilities.
"Data is becoming an asset which needs to be guarded as much as any other asset,"says Haim Mendelson of Stanford University's business school."The ability to guard customer data is the key to market value, which the board is responsible for on behalf of shareholders".Indeed, just as there is the concept of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), perhaps it is time for GASP, Generally Accepted Security Practices, suggested Eli Noam of New York's Columbia Business School."Setting the proper investment level for security, redundancy, and recovery is a management issue, not a technical one," he says.
The mystery is that this should come as a surprise to any boss.Surely it should be obvious to the dimmest executive that trust, that most valuable of economic assets, is easily destroyed and hugely expensive to restore-and that few things are more likely to destroy trust than a company letting sensitive personal data get into the wrong hands.
The current state of affairs may have been encouraged-though not justified-by the lack of legal penalty (in America, but not Europe) for data leakage.Until California recently passed a law, American firms did not have to tell anyone, even the victim, when data went astray.That may change fast: lots of proposed data security legislation is now doing the rounds in Washington, D.C.Meanwhile, the theft of information about some 40 million credit card accounts in America, disclosed on June 17th, overshadowed a hugely important decision a day earlier by America's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that puts corporate America on notice that regulators will act if firms fail to provide adequate data security.
36. The statement: "It never rains but it pours" is used to introduce
［A］ the fierce business competition.
［B］ the feeble boss board relations.
［C］ the threat from news reports.
［D］ the severity of data leakage.
37. According to Paragraph 2, some organizations check their systems to find out
［A］ whether there is any weak point.
［B］ what sort of data has been stolen.
［C］ who is responsible for the leakage.
［D］ how the potential spies can be located.
38. In bringing up the concept of GASP the author is making the point that
［A］ shareholders' interest should be properly attended to.
［B］ information protection should be given due attention.
［C］ businesses should enhance their level of accounting security.
［D］ the market value of customer data should be emphasized.
39. According to Paragraph 4, what puzzles the author is that some bosses fail to
［A］ see the link between trust and data protection.
［B］ perceive the sensitivity of personal data.
［C］ realize the high cost of data restoration.
［D］ appreciate the economic value of trust.
40. It can be inferred from Paragraph 5 that
［A］ data leakage is more severe in Europe.
［B］ FTC's decision is essential to data security.
［C］ California takes the lead in security legislation.
［D］ legal penalty is a major solution to data leakage.
