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Washington D.C. ranks first among the 40 cities with the widest gap between the poor and the rich, according to a recent report

admin2015-02-12  39
问题     Washington D.C. ranks first among the 40 cities with the widest gap between the poor and the rich, according to a recent report released by the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute on July 22nd. The top 20 percent of households in D.C. have an average yearly income of $186,830, 31 times that of the bottom 20 percent, which earns only $6,126 per year.
    The report also indicates that the widening gap occurred mainly during the 1990s. Over the last decade, the average income of the top 20 percent of households has grown 36 percent, while the average income of the bottom 20 percent has only risen 3 percent.
    "I believe the concentration of the middle to high-income families in the D.C. area will continue, therefore, the income gap between rich and poor will be hard to bridge," David Garrison told the Washington Observer. Garrison is a senior researcher with the Brookings Institution, specializing in the study of the social and economic policies in the greater Washington D.C. area.
    The report attributed the persistent income gap in Washington to the area’s special job opportunities, which attract high-income households. Especially since the federal government is based in Washington D.C, Government agencies and other government related businesses such as lobbying firms and government contractors constantly offer high-paying jobs, which contribute to the trend of increasing high-income households in the D.C. area. For example, a single young professional working in a law firm in D.C. can earn as much as $100,000 in his or her first year out of law school.
    "In addition, high-quality housing available in Washington D.C. is one of the main reasons why high-income families choose to live here, while middle and low-income families, if they can afford it, choose to move out of Washington D.C. to the Virginia and Maryland suburbs so that their kids can go to better schools," stated Garrison.
    "As rich families continue to move into D.C. and middle and low-income families are moving out, the poorest families are left with nowhere to move, or cannot afford to move. This creates the situation we face now: a huge income gap between the rich and poor."
    Tony Blalock, the spokesperson for Mayor Anthony Williams, said resignedly, "No matter what we seem to do to bring investment into the District, a certain population is not able to access the unique employment opportunities there. The gap between the rich and poor is the product of complex forces, and won’t be fixed overnight."
    Garrison believes that the D.C. government should attract high-income families. By doing so, the District’s tax base can grow, which in turn can help improve D.C.’s infrastructure. "But in the meantime, the District government should also take into consideration the rights of the poor, set up good schools for them, and provide sound social welfare. All these measures can alleviate the dire situation caused by income disparity."
The income disparity Washington D.C. confronts is not characterized by______.
选项 A、severity
B、resilience
C、persistence
D、arduousness
答案B
解析 属信息推断题。选项A的意思是“严重性”，从第一段作者列举的数据来看，华盛顿特区面临的贫富差距状况的确很严重，选项C的意思是“持续性”，文中倒数第二段也提到其贫富差距不是一夕之间就能改变的；选项D的意思是“艰巨性”，从第七段托尼·布拉克说的话来看解决贫富差距需要大量的工作，足以说明其艰巨性。选项B的意思是“弹性，恢复力”，不合题意。
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