Choose the correct word to fill in the gaps
a) lifestyle – living standard – walk of life − way of life
1. He confessed that he was completely disappointed in the luxurious ___ of a Hollywood star he had enjoyed so much at the beginning of his career.
2. Casual dress has become ___ in corporate Britain.
3. The club’s membership includes people from every ___.
4. The country has a very low ___.
5. Ron Brian spoke in favour of the British ___, its advantages in comparison with the American one with its focus on consumption.
b) affluent – prosperous − rich − wealthy – well-off – well-to-do
1. She is married to a ___ American businessman who owns a ___ textile factory.
2. Police statistics show that many of these thefts were carried out by people from respectful ___ families.
3. She comes of a very ___ family who own land and houses in London and Paris.
4. We drove through ___ suburbs with large houses in tree-lined streets.
5. You have to be ___ to afford anything in this shop.
6. The government claims that people are ___ now than they have ever been.
7. After the war Germany became one of Europe’s most ___ countries due to the rapid economic growth.
c) fees – income – pay − salary – wages
1. Jane’ husband gets his ___ each Friday.
2. They are negotiating for ___ increase.
3. Now that Ann is on her maternity leave the family’s ___ is not so high as it used to be.
4. Andrew was no longer concerned about the patient, only about the ___ he would get for the consultation.
5. Now I get my ___ paid into my bank account once a month and can draw it whenever I want. It’s very convenient.
12. Scan the text again and find words/ phrases which mean the same as:
- the most important and powerful people in the country, who are often thought of as being conservative and wanting to preserve their own power and influence
- a common name for the two oldest and most respected universities in the UK
- a house joined to another house by one wall that they share
- a hard round black hat, worn esp. by businessmen in the past
- the process of finding people to join an organization
- the nickname of a social class, traditionally having a disdain for any kind of trade and rich enough to have a lot of time to relax
- an extremely rich and powerful person, involved in business or industry
- any of British universities started in the late 19th century in cities outside London, as opposed to Oxford and Cambridge
- one who works in an office rather than doing physical work
- a widely accepted custom or principle which no longer has much meaning
- workers who do hard, usually manual, work
- a society where people seek fulfillment in consumption of products or services rather than spirituality, human relationships and other true values
- the belief, typical of protestant nations, that hard work is of crucial importance for one’s moral character
- the central part of a city, esp. an area with a high (usually poor) population, old buildings in bad condition, high level of crime etc
- low-paid, not quite prestigious jobs such as a waitress, a secretary or a hairdresser, usually taken by women
Comment on expand on the following sentences.
1) Traditionally (unlike some other countries such as the USA), class in Britain is more a matter of background, values and lifestyle … rather than purely money.
2) All this proves that accent still remains an unchanging aspect of British people’s class identity…
3) Remuneration replicates social stratification.
4) Though not so visible as the titled aristocracy that imposed standards and expected deference, representatives of the new upper class have never been more powerful.
5) Anyway, living standards of the lower middle-class people make at least part of them view themselves as members of the working class.
6) Aspiring to a higher social position, people of lower classes try to emulate the upper class’ tastes, lifestyles and preferences which trickle down to become the standard to follow, symbol of status and wealth.
7)The one source of collective working-class unity today is the purchase of a weekly National Lottery ticket.
8) This has led to a climate in which “we are what we buy”
9) … the greatest division within the working class is actually the gap between the employed and unemployed.
Find evidence in the text to confirm or to refute the following statements. Make use of the items mentioned in Ex. 12.
1) Britain is a class-ridden/ classless society.
2) Britain is a socially fragmented society.
3) Anyone can rise to the top of British society.
4) One unchanging aspect of class distinction in Britain is accent.
5) Social stratification of modern Britain is a question of living standards/ lifestyle.
Discussion
1) How can you account for the fact that a lot of people state “a decline of class” in British society? Why is credit for this transformation given to M. Thatcher?
2) Interpret the term “consumer society”? What benefits does the consumer society provide? How does it affect the living standards and morality of the people?
3) Name the positive and negative effects of the recent social changes in Britain.
4) Compare social stratification in Britain with that of present-day Russia. Do you think that we also have a socially fragmented society? Does the social structure of Russian society possess any peculiarities?