It was once common to regard Britain as a society with class distinction. Each class had unique characteristics.

In recent years, many writers have begun to speak of the ‘decline of class’ and ‘classless society’ in Britain. And in modern day consumer society everyone is considered to be middle class.

But pronouncing the death of class is too early. A recent wide­-ranging study of public opinion found 90 percent of people still placing themselves in a particular class; 73 percent agreed that class was still a vital part of British society; and 52 percent thought there were still sharp class differences. Thus, class may not be culturally and politically obvious, yet it remains an important part of British society. Britain seems to have a love of stratification.

One unchanging aspect of a British person's class position is accent. The words a person speaks tell her or his class. A study of British accents during the 1970s found that a voice sounding like a BBC newsreader was viewed as the most attractive voice, Most people said this accent sounded ‘educated’ and ‘soft’. The accents placed at the bottom in this study, on the other hand, were regional(地区的)city accents. These accents were seen as ‘common’ and ‘ugly’. However, a similar study of British accents in the US turned these results upside down and placed some regional accents as the most attractive and BBC English as the least.This suggests that British attitudes towards accent have deep roots and are based on class prejudice.

In recent years, however, young upper middle-­class people in London, have begun to adopt some regional accents, in order to hide their class origins. This is an indication of class becoming unnoticed.However, the 1995 pop song ‘Common People’ puts forward the view that though a middle­class person may ‘want to live like common people’ they can never appreciate the reality of a working-­class life.

1.A recent study of public opinion shows that in modern Britain _______.

A it is time to end class distinction

B most people belong to middle class

C it is easy to recognize a person's class

D people regard themselves socially different

解析：选D。D.细节理解题。根据短文第三段的内容可知，关于“阶级消亡”的说法，在英国对大众进行了一个调查，结果发现90%的人们仍然把自己划分在一定的阶层中；73%的人认为阶级是英国社会一个必不可少的部分。由此可知人们仍然认为他们在社会中是有区别的，故选D。

2.The word “stratification” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _______.

A variety

B division

C authority

D qualification

解析：选B。B。词义猜测题。A. 种类；B. 划分；C. 权力； D. 资格。英国人好像对阶级划分非常热衷。stratification划分，跟B选项是同义词，故选B。

3.The study in the US showed that BBC English was regarded as _______.

A regional

B educated

C prejudiced

D unattractive

解析：选D。D。细节理解题。A. 地区的； B. 有文化的；C. 有偏见的；D.不吸引人的。根据第四段 美国关于英语口音的调查结果正好和英国的调查结果相反，他们认为一些地方口音是最吸引人的，而BBC的英语是最不吸引人的，故选D。

4.British attitudes towards accent ________.

A have a long tradition

B are based on regional status

C are shared by the Americans

D have changed in recent years

解析：选D。D。推理判断题。根据短文的最后一段的内容可知，In recent years, however, young upper middle-class people in London, have begun to adopt some regional accents，可见，现在英国人对待口音的态度开始改变了。故选D。

5.What is the main idea of the passage?

A The middle class is expanding

B A person's accent reflects his class

C Class is a key part of British society

D Each class has unique characteristics.

解析：选C。C 主旨大意题。这篇短文给我们讲述了在英国社会中，阶级划分是重要的一部分。作者在短文中给我们介绍了两项调查，其中一项告诉我们大多数人们觉得阶级是英国社会必不可少的一部分；另一项调查是关于人们说好的口音，英国和美国的调查结果正好相反，也说明了英国阶级划分的根源非常深。由此可知C选项：阶级是英国社会中的一个重要部分符合短文的大意。故选C。