Passage Two
Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.
Before, whenever we had wealth, we started discussing poverty. Why not now? Why is the current politics of wealth and poverty seemingly about wealth alone? Eight years ago, when Bill Clinton first ran for president, the Dow Jones average was under 3,500, yearly federal budget deficits were projected at hundreds of billions of dollars forever and beyond, and no one talked about the “permanent boom” or the “new economy.” Yet in that more straitened time, Clinton made much of the importance of “not leaving a single person behind.” It is possible that similar “compassionate” rhetoric might yet play a role in the general election.
But it is striking how much less talk there is about the poor than there was eight years ago, when the country was economically uncertain, or in previous eras, when the country felt flush. Even last summer, when Clinton spent several days on a remarkable tour through impoverished areas from Indian reservations in South Dakota to ghetto neighborhoods in East St. Louis, the administration decided to refer to the effort not as a poverty tour but as a “new markets initiative.”
What is happening is partly a logical, policy-driven reaction. Poverty really is lower than it has been in decades, especially for minority groups. The most attractive solution to it—a growing economy—is being applied. The people who have been totally left out of this boom often have medical, mental or other problems for which no one has an immediate solution. “The economy has sucked in anyone who has any preparation, any ability to cope with modern life,” says Franklin D. Raines, the former director of the Office of Management and Budget who is now head of Fannie Mae. When he and other people who specialize in the issue talk about solutions, they talk analytically and longterm: education, development of work skills, shifts in the labor market, adjustments in welfare reform.
But I think there is another force that has made this a rich era with barely visible poor people. It is the unusual social and imaginative separation between prosperous America and those still left out. It’s simple invisibility, because of increasing geographic, occupational, and social barriers that block one group from the other’s view.
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62. In the 1st paragraph, the word “straitened” means _____________.
A) difficult
B) wealthy
C) distant
D) straightforward
63. The author states that one important reason that we do not talk much about poverty is that______________.
A) no one knows what to do about it
B) poverty really is lower than in the past
C) no one has been left out of the current boom
D) the president is not concerned about the poor
64. After reading this passage, we can conclude that ____________.
A) the relationship between the rich and the poor has changed
B) the good economy will soon end
C) poverty will be obliterated as a result of increased wealth
D) all people benefit from good economic conditions
65. What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
A) To entertain.
B) To tell a story.
C) To describe.
D) To persuade.
66. The main idea of the passage is that ______________.
A) The country is enjoying economic growth
B) The poor are benefiting from today’s good economy
C) In the past we were more aware of the poor than we are today
D) In the past there were many more poor people than there are today
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