英語四級閱讀練習(xí)附答案-74 橫空出世的裝窮族

　　The Rise of the Poorgeoise

 

　　Brooks dubbed them "BoBos," the "bourgeois bohemians" who created a new antiestablishment establishment. They were the specialty-cheese-eating, sport-utility vehicle-driving environmentalists who railed against the elite even as they became one of themselves.

　　They were, in a sense, the antirich rich.

　　Now, they are calling them the "Poorgeoise," affluent entrepreneurs and executives who prefer to look like starving artists. An article in the Guardian says the financial crisis has made the Poorgeoise more common than ever.

　　"They're rich and they love to spend, but they like to pretend they're having as hard a time as the rest of us," the article says.

　　It's the latest must-have term, fresh in from Brooklyn and Portland where the streets are paved anew with poorgeoise hipsters.The poorgeoisie are the countercultural rich who have adopted a form of consumerism look as though they haven't spent. It's a new way for rich people who don't want to seem rich to buy their way out of the guilt and shame of having money at a time of mass economic woe.

　　According to the article, they drive hybrids, have creative jobs and grow their own vegetables.

　　I wonder, though, whether the Poorgeoise are all that new, or all that real. Even before the crisis, many of the wealthy liked to drape themselves in the camouflage of the proletariat-boarding tbe G5 jet in jeans, T-shirts and sneakers. They preferred to be around "thought leaders" and creative artists rather than other rich people.

　　They were the Google guys or the art-buying hedge-fund managers in Greenwich, Conn.

　　Bobos and Poorgeoise and those who pretend to be less wealthy have been with us for years. What has changed is that many of them no longer have to pretend.

　　橫空出世的裝窮族

　　布魯克斯稱他們?yōu)?ldquo;披波族(又譯布波族)”，即“中產(chǎn)階級波希米亞人”，他們創(chuàng)建了新的反正統(tǒng)的正統(tǒng)體制。他們吃著特制的奶醋、開著SUV，還標(biāo)榜自己是環(huán)保主義者，他們苛責(zé)精英階層，即便自己就是其中之一。

　　在某種意義上，他們是仇富的富人。

　　現(xiàn)在，他們稱自己為“裝窮族”，本是富有的企業(yè)家和公司高管，卻喜歡裝的像是忍饑挨餓的藝術(shù)家?！缎l(wèi)報(bào)》的一篇文章說，金融危機(jī)令裝窮族比以往任何時候都常見。

　　文章中說，他們很有錢，也喜歡花錢，但他們卻樂于假裝自己跟其他人一樣也在艱難度日。

　　文章中說，這是最新的必備術(shù)語，剛剛在布魯克林和波特蘭流行開來，那里的街道如同換了副新氣象，滿是想趕裝窮族這個時髦的人。裝窮族是反文化的富人，表面上反對消費(fèi)主義，實(shí)際上他們自己的所做所為仍然是消費(fèi)主義的一種形式，他們花錢把自己弄成好像沒錢花的樣子。在許多人都陷入經(jīng)濟(jì)困境的情況下，富人因?yàn)樽约河绣X而產(chǎn)生罪惡感和愧疚感，不想露富的富人通過這種方式，花錢讓自己擺脫這種感覺。

　　文章中說，富人轉(zhuǎn)而開混合動力車，從事創(chuàng)造性的工作，還自己種菜。

　　不過我很懷疑裝窮族是不是最近才出現(xiàn)，或者有沒有那么真實(shí)。即便在危機(jī)之前，許多富人也喜歡把自己打扮成下層階級的樣子——穿著牛仔褲、T恤和運(yùn)動鞋登上G5私人飛機(jī)。他們喜歡跟“精神領(lǐng)袖”和有創(chuàng)見的藝術(shù)家在一起，而不是跟其他的富人一塊兒。

　　谷歌那幫高管以及在康涅狄格州格林威治購買藝術(shù)晶的那幫對~基金經(jīng)理，這些人都屬于這個行列。

　　波波族，裝窮族，還有假裝自己沒那么有錢的那些人，全都已經(jīng)存在了很多年。真正發(fā)生改變的地方在于：他們中的很多人現(xiàn)在確實(shí)沒錢了，不必再裝了。

　　句型講解：

　　1. They were the specialty-cheese-eating, sport-utility vehicle-driving environmentalists who railed against the elite even as they became one of themselves.

　　本句是一個復(fù)合句，主句是They were...environmentalists。其中the specialty-cheese-eating和 sport-utility vehicle-driving兩個現(xiàn)在分詞短語作前置定語修飾environmentalists o who引導(dǎo)限制性定語從句，修飾environmentalists。even as引導(dǎo)時間狀語從句。

　　語法重點(diǎn)：分詞短語作定語，定語從句，時間狀語從句

　　2. The poorgeoisie are the countercultural rich who have adopted a form of consumerism against consumerism, a way of spending to make themselves look as though they haven't spent.

　　本句是一個復(fù)合句，主句是The poorgeoisie are the countercultural rich o who引導(dǎo)限制性定語從句，修飾the countercultural rich。其中 a way of...spent是a form of consumerism的同位語。其中as though引導(dǎo)方式狀語從句。

　　語法重點(diǎn)：定語從句，同位語，方式狀語從句