Unit 3 Longing for a New Welfare System
I. Background Information
Social welfare：
Public assistance programs, commonly called “welfare”, provide cash or in-kind benefits for particular categories of the financially needy. The U.S. welfare system operates on both the federal and state levels. The federal welfare program is known as Social Security that provides benefits or assistance for child care, disability, food and medical assistance (also known as Medicaid). The state welfare programs, on the other hand, provide assistance to both individuals and local communities with state schooling and social insurance. U.S. welfare programs grew significantly in the decades following World War II, but increases in welfare costs during the 1960s and 1970s brought into question the extent and quality of public assistance. In the early 1980s the Reagan Administration reduced welfare expenditures and suggested turning responsibility for welfare funding over to the states. The cuts in federal funding that took effect during the Reagan Administration did in fact effectively place the responsibility for maintaining funding levels on the states — and, in some cases, on the larger cities. The result has been a widening of the already existing disparities in social services spending between states, and between cities and regions within a state. An example of the state welfare system can be seen at under the Health and Social Programs section.
Social welfare is an integrated part of a country's social policy. For an introduction on this topic, check out the website at. The website offers definitions of such concepts as welfare and welfare state and discussions on welfare systems of other countries (in addition to the U.S.).
II. Test structure analysis
What is the text mainly about?
The passage explores the problems of the present welfare system first and then expresses the desire to have a new system. According to the author, a disabled person with spinal cord injuries, he is forced to account for every penny while enduring lectures by the caseworkers. It is hard to have his wheelchair repaired and even harder to make a gradual shift away from welfare. That is why he longs for a new system under which the disabled like him can earn part or all of their own livings.
The reading passage explores the problems of the present welfare system and expresses the desire to have a new system. The passages can be broadly divided into three parts: how people behave under the present welfare system and what the problems are with it and what should be required of the new system.
1. The first part of the passage is made up of 3 paragraphs: from Paragraph 1 to Paragraph 3, focusing on how the people concerned behave under the present welfare system. Paragraph 1 is about the welfare clients: they are always cheating more out of the welfare. Paragraph 2 tells us, with one example offered, that there are welfare clients who choose to live a life of complete honesty, telling welfare caseworkers how much they make. Paragraph 3 is about the relationship between welfare clients and welfare caseworkers: Welfare clients have to bow to caseworkers respectfully, and the latter feel they deserve it. Welfare caseworkers, under the present welfare system, become detectives.
2. The second part of the passage consists of 11 paragraphs, from Paragraph 4 to Paragraph 14. This part deals with the problems of the present welfare system: welfare caseworkers, like detectives, trying to find anything unreported, welfare clients’ difficulties in obtaining help, the embarrassing situation for welfare clients when trying to make money and lastly the problem of the welfare system and the legal system. Paragraphs 4 to 8 are about welfare caseworkers like detectives trying to convict welfare clients of cheating, with one example offered. From Paragraphs 9 to 12 we learn how extremely difficult it is for welfare clients to have their wheelchairs repaired, with one example offered, too. Paragraph 13 describes the welfare clients’ embarrassing situation of being questioned to account for every penny when making money out of their own abilities. Paragraph 14 indicates the problem with the welfare system that the law does not encourage clients to work part time and make a gradual shift away from welfare.
3. The third part of the passage has 3 paragraphs, from Paragraph 15 to Paragraph 17, dealing with what should be done with the present welfare system. Paragraph 15 demands that welfare clients should have lawyers to protect their rights. Paragraph 16 suggests that the welfare system should help those who want to earn part or all of their own livings. And Paragraph 17 expresses a desire for a new system that will encourage welfare clients to develop their talents without feeling guilty or fearful, a new system that will not seek to convict welfare clients of cheating.
III. New words & Phrases
Raw =crude a. not processed, treated, or (of food)
未经加工或处理的，生的，未经烹饪的
raw material 原材料
I prefer to eat vegetables raw, not cooked. 我喜欢生吃蔬菜，不要煮。
She was wearing a jacket made of raw silk. 她穿一件生丝做的外套。
Rent n.
[C] a fixed amount of money sb. pays regularly for the use of a room, house, car, television, etc. that is owned by sb. else 租金，租费
I pay a higher rent / more rent than the other tenants because my room is bigger.
因为我的房间比较大，我付的租金比其他房客高。
v.pay or receive a fixed amount of money for the use of a room, car, television, etc.
租借，租用，出租，出借
I rented a car from a garage and drove all around the city.
我从车行租了辆车，满城兜风。
The old lady rented us her spare room for $50 a week.
老妇人把空房间以每周50美元的价格出租给我们。
Entitle:
1. (usu. passive) give (sb.) the right to do or have sth. 给……权利
Being unemployed entitles you to free medical treatment. 失业使你有权享有免费医疗。
The employer is entitled to ask for references. 雇主有权索阅推荐函。
2. (usu. passive) give a title to (a book, film, etc.) 给（书、电影等）定名，题名
She read a poem entitled "The Apple Tree". 她读了一首名为《苹果树》的诗歌。
face with meet (sth. bad or difficult) 面对
They were faced with financial difficulties. 他们面临经济困难。
Faced with the evidence, he had to confess. 面对证据，他不得不坦白。
drum up encourage the development of (sth.) 大力争取，大力招揽（顾客）
Manufacturers are offering big discounts to drum up business.
生产厂家正提供很大的折扣来招徕生意。
under the table in a secret way 背地里，私下
They were charged with taking money under the table.
他们被指控私下拿钱。
get/ involved in be part of , included in, or deeply concerned with (sth. or doing sth.) 卷入，介入，参与
More than 100 people are involved in the project.
一百多人参与了这个项目。
I don't want to get involved in your family arguments.
我不想卷入你的家庭争论。
deep down in one's true feelings 在内心深处，在心底
Deep down (inside you), I know you love me really. 在你心底里，我知道你是真心爱我的。
Deep down, he knew he was at fault. 在心底里，他明白自己错了。
make a fool of sb.: trick sb. or make him or her appear stupid in some way 愚弄某人
He'd been made a fool of. 他被人耍了。
filll out: complete (sth. such as a form) 填写
To order, fill out the coupon on page 54. 想要订购此商品，请填好第54页上的优惠券。
account for: be or give a reason for (sth. or doing sth.) 解释，说明（原因等）
How do you account for this sudden disappearance of all the money?
你如何解释所有的钱一下子没了？
build up: develop or increase sth. gradually 逐步建立，逐步建设
She's built up a very successful business. 她建立起了一家非常成功的企业。
We've built up good relationships with our clients. 我们与客户建立了良好的关系。
go through: experience, endure or suffer (sth.) 经历，遭受，蒙受
She's been going through a bad patch recently. 最近她的日子很难过。
He's amazingly cheerful considering all he's had to go through.
考虑到他所经历的一切，他的乐观是令人惊讶的。
lend oneself/sth. to
be easily used for a particular activity or result
适宜于（某事），有助于（某事），会造成（某结果）
This hot weather lends itself to sleeping.
这种热天很容易让人昏昏欲睡。
Some novels quite readily lend themselves to adaptation as plays; others do not.
有些小说很适合改编成剧本，有些却不合适。
convict …of
declare (sb.) guilty of (a crime); persuade (sb.) to believe the truth of (sth. he or she has done wrong)
判决……有罪，使深感有罪，使服罪
The jury convicted the accused man of theft.
陪审团宣判被告犯有偷窃罪。
He was convicted of murder.
被判犯有谋杀罪。
Language Points
to long for…
Bitterly afflicted with many years of civil war, the whole nation longs for peace.
由于备受多年内战的煎熬，全民族都渴望和平。
to be faced with… (L.1)
When faced with various choices of career, you’d better choose one in which to exercise to full your specialty or talent.
面临各种职业选择时，你最好选择一个可以充分施展专长或才能的职业。
to bleed… for… (L. 2)
The profiteers who bleed consumers for money by hook or by crook are bound to come to grief in time.
不择手段榨取消费者钱财的奸商终将受到惩罚。
to drum up (L. 6)
) During the season of Christmas each year, traders use their own unique tricks to drum up their business.
每年圣诞节期间，商家们各显神通来招揽生意。
under the table (L. 8)
The focus of punishment should be on the traders who are mad about business under the table.
惩治的焦点应集中在热衷于私下交易的商人身上。
to get involved in… (L. 9)
Once she gets involved in a research, nothing can distract her mind from it.
她一旦潜心钻研某一课题，任何事情都无法使她分心。
deep down (L. 11)
He appeared optimistic and cheerful, but, deep down, he felt sad and lonely.
他看上去乐观开朗，但在内心深处却感到悲伤和孤独。
to make fools of sb. (L. 12)
Making fools of others is just the same as laying oneself open to ridicule.
愚弄他人就等于愚弄自己。
to be entitled to (do) sth. (L. 13)
You are not entitled to teach any one what is right or what is wrong.
你没有权利告诉任何人什么是对什么是错。
to talk back (L. 26)
When he found his two-year-old son learned to talk back, he felt angry and funny.
当他发现两岁的儿子学会顶嘴了，他觉得又好气又好笑。
to lecture sb. about sth. (L. 29)
If a leader tends to lecture his men about anything major or minor, that must be an expression of his incompetence.
如果一个领导不论大事小事都爱训人，那一定是他无能的表现。
to get around (L. 32)
Get around in the city and you will feel intensely the special simplicity and kindness in the citizens here.
在城里四处走走，你会强烈地感受到这里的居民特有的淳朴和善良。
to get the cheapest bid (L. 41)
Through open tender, we can not only get the cheapest bid but prevent business under the table as well.
通过公开招标，我们既可以拿到最低报价又可以杜绝暗箱操作。
to make a gradual shift away from… (L. 50)0)
Once one is addicted to smoke, it is also next to impossible for him/her to make a gradual shift away from its lure.
一旦吸烟成瘾，想渐渐摆脱其诱惑也是难上加难的。
to jump off (L. 51)
Strangely, the more urge you feel to jump off a fixed pattern of thinking, the harder you find it to make it.
说也奇怪，你越急于摆脱一种思维定式，你越难于如愿。
to act as a champion for… (L. 55)
Our society needs more and more officials to act as devoted champions for the interests of common people.
我们的社会需要越来越多的官员成为老百姓利益的忠实捍卫者。
to lend oneself to… (L. 56)
Those who never lend themselves to abuse of love are often the first to taste the fruits of true love.
从不亵渎爱情的人常常是第一个品尝真爱果实的人。
to convict sb. of doing sth. wrong (L. 66)
We have no right to order him to leave school unless there is enough evidence to convict him of cheating in the exam.
我们无权勒令他退学，除非有足够的证据证明他考试作弊。
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