2023届高考英语二轮复习英美外刊原创题训练三十

高考英语二轮复习英美外刊原创题训练 三十 题源 The Wall Street Journal 华尔街日报 (January 3, 2023) 有删减 I 阅读理解 A Economic downturns are usually horrible for poor people, bad for the middle class and an inconvenience for the rich. But if the economy enters a recession in 2023, or even if it manages to narrowly evade one, it might be the well-heeled who take a bigger hit than usual. Call it the richcession. Nobody likes being poor. But for many poorer people, the years since the Covid-19 crisis struck have been a bit easier financially than the years that preceded it. Several rounds of government relief helped them weather the early stages of the pandemic, and now a tight job market is giving them wage gains that are reducing inflation’s bite. Federal Reserve figures show that the net worth of households in the bottom fifth by income was 42% higher in the third quarter than at the end of 2019. Household net worth for the top fifth was down 7.1% from the end of 2021—a consequence of the falling stock market. Recent layoffs also have inordinately affected higher-income workers. Many of the tech companies have made headlines with layoff announcements. The consolation for higher-income workers who are laid off is that it should be relatively easier for them to find new work than it is for poorer people who lose their jobs. But they will still be in for a period of belt tightening, and they might not get paid quite as well at their new jobs as they were at their old ones. That need for workers—especially as more Americans engage in services such as dining out—is part of why even among those economists expecting a recession in the coming year, many don’t think the job market will take a severe hit. This makes poorer Americans better positioned than usual to handle a weak economy. Not only are their finances in relatively good condition, they might be less likely to experience severe job losses. Heading into the new year, businesses that cater to the well-off might be in for disappointment. 1.Accord