It was once common to regard Britain as a society with class distinction. Each class had unique characteristics.
In recent years, many writers have begun to speak of the ‘decline of class ’ and ‘classless society ’ in Britain. And in modern day consumer society everyone is considered to be middle class.
But pronouncing the death of class is too early. A recent wide-ranging study of pubic opinion found 90 percent of people still placing themselves in a particular class; 73 percent agreeed that class was still a vital part of British society.; and 52 percent thought there were still sharp class differences. Thus, class may not be culturally and politically obvious, yet it remains an imprtant part of British society. Britain seems to have a love of
stratification.
One unchanging aspect of a British person’s class position is accent. The words a person speaks tell her or his class. A study of British accents during the 1970s found that a voice sounding like a BBC newsreader was viewed as the most attractive voice. Most people said this accent sounds ‘educated ’ and ‘soft ’. The accents placed at the bottom in this study, on the other hand, were regional(地区的) city accents. These accents were seen as ‘common ’ and ‘ugly ’. However, a similar study of British accents in the US turned these results upside down and placed some regional accents as the most attractive and BBC English as the least. This suggests that British attitudes towards accent have deep roots and are based on class prejudice.
In recent years, however, young upper midder-class people in London, have begun to adopt some regional accents, in order to hide their class origins. This is an indication of class becoming unnoticed. However, the 1995 pop song ‘ Common People ’ puts forward the view that though a middle-class person may ‘ want to live like common people ’ they can never appreciate the reality of a working class life.
【小题1】A recent study of pubic opinion shows that in modern Britain_________.
| A．it is time to end class distinction |
| B．most people belong to middle class |
| C．it is easy to recognize a person’s class |
| D．people regard themselves socially different |
【小题2】The word stratification in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to_________.
| A．variety | B．division |
| C．authority | D．qualification |
【小题3】The study in the US showed that BBC English was regarded as _________.
| A．regional | B．educated |
| C．prejudiced | D．unattractive |
【小题4】British attitudes towards accent_________.
| A．have a long tradition |
| B．are based on regional status |
| C．are shared by the Americans |
| D．have changed in recent years |
【小题5】What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．The middle class is expanding. |
| B．A person’s accent reflects his class. |
| C．Class is a key part of British society. |
| D．Each class has unique characteristics. |
