【一起听英语】属于什么阶层（在线收听）

 人人都在为生计奔波，不同的人属于不同的阶层，怎样定义这些阶层，我们又属于哪个阶层呢

Rob: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English, I'm Rob and with me is

Neil.

Neil: Hello.

Rob: Today we’re talking about class. This is something of an obsession

with British people; it’s something they talk about and think about

all the time! So Neil, what class are you – lower, middle or upper?

Neil: I suppose if you look at my background, you could say I am middle

class.

Rob: Yes, me too – middle class. So we belong to a social group that

consists of well-educated people, who have good jobs and are

neither very rich nor very poor.

Neil: Well we are certainly not rich! But being middle class is not just a

British thing.

Rob: No – the number of middle class people around the world is rising

as people earn more money. So, for your question today Neil, can

you guess how many people are predicted to be middle class in the

world by 2030?

a) 2.9 billion

b) 3.9 billion

c) 4.9 billion

Neil: Such large numbers, I don’t know. I’ll go for b) 3.9 billion.

Rob: We’ll find out the answer later. So, being middle class involves a

number of factors – good education, a good job, sometimes owning

your own home and having a number of possessions like a car or

a TV.

Neil: It’s quite a privileged or comfortable position to be in – but the

most important factor is having disposable income – that’s spare

money to spend on more than just things you need for everyday

survival, like food. That’s what you’ve got Rob, right?

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Rob: A little – spare money to spend on little luxuries like a holiday, a

computer or a meal at a restaurant. But we always complain we

never have enough money, don't we!

Neil: Yes, we do: the UN says to be middle class you have to earn

between $10 and $100 per day. In the UK I think that’s quite a

small amount so we could say, very generally, we are quite welloff

– but in places such as Asia there has been a huge shift recently

from people in poorer working class jobs to middle class ones.

Rob: It’s interesting: that by 2030 there could be 3.2 billion middle class

people in Asia – overtaking Europe and America. The BBC’s John

Sudworth can explain what is happening now in China. What does

he say people are becoming?

BBC reporter, John Sudworth:

Now there’s a new chapter, the farmers leaving these fields for cities like

Zhengzhou, are becoming not just workers but consumers too. In short –

they’re off to join the middle class.

Neil: So, people are now moving to the city not just to find work but to

spend the money they earn. They are becoming consumers

because their income – the money they earn – has gone up.

Rob: So, this is because of industrialisation – a change from an

economy based on farming to a growth in factories making things.

Now, this happened in China in the 1970s but it is now upgrading

or improving its industries again making people wealthier.

Neil: This has led to a consumer society – that’s where people are

spending money on things like fridges and washing machines.

Rob: Let’s hear from John Sudworth again, talking about a consumer

from China – what does this woman do if she can’t afford to buy

something?

BBC reporter, John Sudworth:

Jessica Zhao earns a little more than $12,000 US dollars a year and she spends

every last bit of it, often with the help of a credit card. My parents would never

spend money they don’t have, she tells me, but attitudes are changing fast.

Neil: So that woman uses a credit card – it means she can buy now and

pay later. It’s a change in attitude – it’s not what our parents or

grandparents would do. I do it all the time. You pay for the goods

later but with a high interest rate. What have you bought with your

credit card recently Rob?

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Rob: A new carpet… a pair of jeans and some train tickets. But I’m not

looking forward to my credit card bill!

Neil: Nor me. You might think we are spending a lot – in China 2,500

vehicles are sold every hour!

Rob: Goodness. Well, the rise of the middle class could be a good thing.

As people’s standard of living improves, global poverty could be

reduced.

Neil: Ah, but if people borrow too much money there could be a credit

crunch – that’s a bad economic situation where banks do not want

to lend as much money.

Rob: But what I really want to know is when will I become upper class?

Neil: Sorry Rob, you’ll never get there – it’s all about your upbringing

and your family – something you can’t change, even with money.

But let’s prove how well educated I am by seeing if I got today’s

question right.

Rob: OK. Earlier I asked you how many people are predicted to be

middle class in the world by 2030?

Neil: I said 3.9 billion.

Rob: You were wrong. The figure is 4.9 billion. Now, Neil, could you

remind us of some of today's language?

Neil: obsession

possessions

privileged

disposable income

well-off

consumers

income

industrialisation

credit crunch

upgrading

consumer society

upbringing

Rob: OK that's it for this programme. Do join us again soon for more 6

Minute English from BBC Learning English.

Both: Bye.