Section II Store Your Bricks Wealth Gap Wealth inequality, also known as the wealth gap, refers to the unequal distribution of financial assets among residents. Wealth includes the values of homes, automobiles, personal valuables, businesses, savings, and investments.

Section II Store Your Bricks China is on the road to common prosperity. However, new surveys reveal that in China the rural-urban wealth gap has increased by 50 percent. The yawning wealth gap in China continues to expand, which causes the disquiet of the ruling Communist Party.

Section II Store Your Bricks Another survey conducted by the Income Distribution Research Centre, affiliated with the Zhongnan University of Economic and Law, reflected that the wealth gap among rural residents was expanding, too. Separately, a green book published by Social Sciences Academic Press said that while incomes of the rural Chinese had grown faster than those of their urban counterparts for the last three years, the gap among rural residents was larger than that of the urbanites.

Section II Store Your Bricks The State-run Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese urban residents earned 24,565 yuan （about USD 3,967.25） annual per capita income in 2012, while their rural counterparts earned 7,917 yuan （USD 1,275）per capita income. The survey said authorities should make more efforts to adjust the income redistribution system.

Section II Store Your Bricks The expanding wealth gap between the rich and the poor, according to the Gini coefficient index , has already been higher than the warning levels. Ma Jiantang, Director of the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS）, said early this year that the index reached 0.474 in China in 2012, higher than the warning level of 0.4 set by the United Nations.

Section II Store Your Bricks Although income disparities rose rapidly in China, the overall level of inequality in China had still been lower than that in nearly all the emerging countries by the end of the past decade, with only Turkey showing a marginally lower level. Inequality now remains higher, however, than the advanced countries in Europe and the United States.

Section II Store Your Bricks Besides developing countries like China, wealth inequality is also across the advanced countries. A 2011 study found that US citizens across the political spectrum dramatically underestimated the current US wealth inequality and would prefer a far more egalitarian distribution of wealth.

Section II Store Your Bricks Just prior to President Obama’s 2014 State of the Union Address, media reported that the top wealthiest 1 percent possessed 40 percent of the nation’s wealth; the bottom 80 percent owned 7 percent. The gap between the top 10 percent and the middle class was over 1000 percent and the gap between the top 1 percent and the middle class increased another 1000 percent. The average employee needed to work more than a month to earn what the CEO earned in one hour.

Section II Store Your Bricks Although different from income inequality, the two are related. In Inequality for All—a 2013 documentary with Robert Reich in which he argued that income inequality was the defining issue for the United States. Reich stated that 95 percent of economic gains had gone to the top 1 percent of the earning population since 2009 when the recovery allegedly started.

Section II Store Your Bricks Wealth gap is creating a social time bomb. A new United Nations report on the urban environment said that growing inequality could lead to widespread social unrest and increase mortality.

Section II Store Your Bricks 贫富差距 贫富不均，或称为贫富差距，指的是经济资源在居民间的不平等分配。（这里所指的）财富包括房产、汽车、个人贵重物品、生意、存款和投资。

Section II Store Your Bricks 中国正处于共同富裕的进程当中。然而，新的调查显示，中国的城乡贫富差距已经增加50%，巨大的贫富差距仍在不断地扩大，令执政的共产党十分忧虑。

Section II Store Your Bricks 中南财经政法大学中国收入分配研究中心进行的另一项调查显示，农村居民之间的贫富差距也在不断扩大。此外，社会科学文献出版社出版的绿皮书显示，尽管中国农村居民过去三年来收入增长速度高于城市居民，但是农村居民间的贫富差距比城市居民的更大。

Section II Store Your Bricks 据官方媒体新华社报道，中国城市居民2012年人均年收入达24565元人民币，相当于3967.25美元，而农村居民的人均年收入仅为7917元人民币，约1275美元。调查提到，中国政府应进一步调整收入的再分配制度。

Section II Store Your Bricks 按照基尼系数的标准，不断扩大的贫富差距已经超出警戒线。中国国家统计局局长马建堂在今年早些时候透露，2012年中国基尼系数达到了0.474，高于联合国指定的0.4的警戒线。

Section II Store Your Bricks 虽然中国人的收入差距不断快速增大，但过去十年来，中国总体的收入不均指数水平仍要低于几乎所有的新兴国家，只略微高于土耳其的水平。然而，现在的收入不均问题仍然比欧洲发达国家和美国严重。

Section II Store Your Bricks 除了像中国这样的发展中国家，财富不均在发达国家也很普遍。2011年的一项研究发现，美国具有各个不同政治背景的公民大大低估了目前美国财富不均的情况，该研究呼吁更为平均的财富分配。

Section II Store Your Bricks 就在美国总统奥巴马发表2014美国国情咨文前，媒体报道美国最富裕的1%人群拥有全国40%的财富，而最底层的80%人群只拥有7%的财富。最富的10%人群跟中产阶级的差距达到了1000%，若拿最富的1%人群与中产阶级相比，这个差距还要扩大1000%。普通雇员要工作一个多月才能赚到一个首席执行官在一个小时内赚的钱。

Section II Store Your Bricks 尽管这与收入不均的内涵有所不同，但实际上两者还是有关联的。在罗伯特•瑞奇拍摄的纪录片《不平等的时代》中，他大声疾呼收入不均是美国面临的重大问题。他谈到自2009年经济复苏开始以来，95%的经济收入为1%的人所获得。

Section II Store Your Bricks 贫富差距制造了一枚社会定时炸弹。一份联合国新的城市环境报告指出，日益严重的不均问题可能导致社会动荡和死亡人数上升。

Practice What You Learnt Section II Store Your Bricks Practice What You Learnt Task 1 Comprehension Check Choose the best answer according to the text.

Section II Store Your Bricks 1. According to the text, which of the following gaps doesn’t reflect the wealth distribution problem in China? The wealth gap among rural residents. The wealth gap between rural and urban residents. The rich-poor wealth gap. The old-young wealth gap. Answer D

Section II Store Your Bricks 2. Which of the following statements about the Gini coefficient index is NOT TRUE? Gini coefficient index reflects the gap between the rich and the poor. China’s Gini index is beyond the warning level in 2012. China’s Gini index is lower than Turkey’s. If a country’s Gini index reaches 0.2, that means the wealth gap in this country is quite narrow. Answer C

Section II Store Your Bricks 3. What can we learn from the text about the wealth gap in the United States? China’s Gini index is lower than America’s. Only a tiny portion of Americans own an overwhelmingly large amount of wealth. The expanding wealth gap is no longer a problem. An CEO does less work than an average worker. Answer B

Section II Store Your Bricks 4. Which of the following meanings of the underlined sentence in the last paragraph is NOT TRUE? Wealth gap may threaten the social stability. The expanding wealth gap is a warning to the authorities. The problem cannot be resolved and it will explode like a bomb. Wealth gap will lead to social unrest. Answer C

Section II Store Your Bricks 5. How to narrow the rural-urban wealth gap in China? Move the rural residents to cities. Increase the incomes of rural residents. Adjust the wealth distribution system. All of the above. Answer C

Section II Store Your Bricks Task 2 Vocabulary and Sentences （1）Match the words on the left with their meanings on the right.

Section II Store Your Bricks A. persons who exercise administrative control over others ① authorities B. a state of troubled or dissatisfied confusion, often with fighting ② adjust C. to guess too low a value for something ③ rural D. inequality or difference in some respect ④underestimate E. to change something to make it more effective or appropriate ⑤distribution ⑥ affiliate F. to join in or connect to a larger group ⑦ reflect G. the act of sharing things among a large group of people in a planned way ⑧ disparity H. when people have money and everything that is needed for a good life ⑨ unrest ⑩ conscious I. to express, make clear, or be a sign of; show J. concerning country or village life

Section II Store Your Bricks （2）Complete the sentences with the words from above . Change the form if necessary. 1. In order to attract foreign investors, China has _______ its tax and labor laws. 2. Cognitive differences can be _________ in writing, since it mirrors the way of thinking. 3. Agriculture forms the backbone of the _____ economy. 4. The city took on an air of __________. 5. There are signs of political ______ in the country. adjusted click reflected click click rural prosperity click click unrest

Section II Store Your Bricks 6. Our club is ________ with a national organization of similar clubs. 7. Rich and poor live side by side but in conditions of extraordinary _________. 8. They could not agree about the __________ of the profits. 9. We _____________ the cost of materials, and ended up making a loss. 10. The _________ took measures to roll commodity price back. click affiliated disparity click distribution click underestimated click authorities click

Section II Store Your Bricks （3）Complete the following sentences by translating Chinese into English, using the word in bold. Change the form if necessary. 1. common e.g. China is on the road to common prosperity. common adj. belonging to two or more people 共同的；共有的； 共用的 The people were united by ______________________ ___________________________.（争取国家独立的共同愿望）. their common desire to win the independence of their country Click

Section II Store Your Bricks e.g. His name was Hansen, a common name in Norway. common adj. being found in large numbers or happens often 常见的 Oil pollution is ____________________________（最常见的死亡原因）for seabirds. the most common cause of death click

Section II Store Your Bricks 2. current e.g. A 2011 study found that US citizens across the political spectrum dramatically underestimate the current US wealth inequality. current adj. happening, being used, or being done at the present time 当前的 __________________________________ that in 1990（当前的形势与1990年大不相同）. The current situation is very different from click

Section II Store Your Bricks e.g. Under normal conditions, the ocean currents of the tropical Pacific travel from east to west. current n. a steady and continuous flow of water in a river, lake, or ocean 水流 The swimmer ____________________________（被激流卷走了）. was swept away by strong currents click

Section II Store Your Bricks 3. earn e.g. The average employee needs to work more than a month to earn what the CEO earns in one hour. earn v. to receive money in return for work 挣（钱） He sweats himself to ______________________（挣得尽可能多的钱）. earn as much as possible click

Section II Store Your Bricks e.g. Companies must earn a reputation for honesty. earn v. to get something good that you deserve 赢得 He ________________________________（博得了报界的不少好评）for the way he handled the strike. earned a lot of praise form the papers click

Section II Store Your Bricks Task 3 Translation (1)Translate the following English into Chinese. The Gini index ranges from 0, which represents（代表）perfect equality, to 1, for absolute（完全的）inequality. 基尼系数的范围从０到１，０代表完全平等，１代表完全不平等。 _________________________________________________________

Section II Store Your Bricks After the financial crisis in 2008, China’s Gini coefficient index gradually dropped from the peak（最高点） of 0.491 that year as the government took effective（有效的）measures to bring benefits for its people. 2008年金融危机之后，中国政府采取了有效的惠民措施，当年中国的基尼系数到达最高点0.491之后缓慢下降。 ____________________________________________________________________

Section II Store Your Bricks Unequal economic opportunity that restricts（限制）people’s ability to invest in the health and education of their children is economically harmful. 不平等的经济机会限制了人们在孩子健康和教育领域的投资，这对经济发展是不利的。 ____________________________________________________________________

Section II Store Your Bricks High levels of inequality can lead to negative social, economic and political consequences（后果）that have a destabilizing（不稳定的）effect on societies. 巨大的社会不平等会导致社会、经济和政治产生负面效应，并影响社会的稳定。 ____________________________________________________________________

Section II Store Your Bricks According to some official reports, race （种族） is one of the most important factors determining levels of inequality in the US and Canada. 根据一些官方报告，种族因素是决定美国和加拿大社会不平等的重要因素之一。 _________________________________________________________________

Section II Store Your Bricks (2)Translate the following Chinese into English. 这首诗歌当中冰轮指的是月亮。(ice wheel, refer to) The ice wheel refers to the moon in this poem. Click ____________________________________________________________________ 这场严重的争执可能导致武装冲突。(dispute, lead to) The severe dispute could lead to armed conflicts. Click ____________________________________________________________________ 所有安排都应该在我们出发之前完成。 （prior to, departure） All the arrangements should have been completed prior to our departure. Click ________________________________________________________________

Section II Store Your Bricks 这家公司进行了一项调查以了解当地对休闲中心的反响。（conduct, leisure center） The company conducted a survey to find out local reaction to the leisure center. Click ________________________________________________________________ 在他们同意出版他的第一本书后，他终于感到自己快要成功了。（on the road to, publish） He finally felt he was on the road to success after they agreed to publish his first book. Click ______________________________________________________________

Section II Store Your Bricks Task 4 Reading Aloud Read Paragraph 2 to 4 aloud until you have learned them by heart. Then try to complete the passage from memory. Wealth gap refers to the _______ distribution of assets among residents. The ________ wealth gap in China continues to _______，as new surveys revealed that the rural-urban wealth gap has _________ by 50 percent. Gini coefficient index, an index ________ the gap between the rich and the poor, reached 0.474 in China in 2012, higher than the warning level of 0.4 set by the United Nations. unequal click yawning click click expand increased click reflecting click

Section II Store Your Bricks Although income _________ rose rapidly in China, the overall level of inequality in China was still lower than that in nearly all the emerging countries, but _______ than the advanced countries in Europe and the United States. For the United States, 95 percent of economic gains has gone to the ____1 percent of the earning population since 2009. Income inequality is the _______ issue for the United States. disparities click click higher click top defining click