问题详情：
President Obama’s second Inaugural Address used soaring language to stress America’s commitment to the dream of equality of opportunity: “We are true to our belief that a little girl born into __51__ knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American.”
The gap between ideal and reality could hardly be __52__. Today, the United States has less equality of opportunity than almost any other advanced industrial country. Study after study has __53__ the myth that America is a land of opportunity. A way of looking at equality of opportunity is to ask to what extent the life chances of a child are __54__ the education and income of his parents. Is it just as likely that a child of poor or poorly educated parents gets a good education and rises to the middle class as someone born to middle-class parents with college degrees? Even in a more democratic society, the answer would be no.
How do we explain this? Some of it has to do with persistent discrimination. Latinos and African-Americans still get paid less than whites, and women still get paid less than men, __55__ they recently surpassed men in the number of advanced degrees they obtain. Discrimination, however, is only a small part of the __56__. Probably the most important reason for __57__ of equality of opportunity is education. After World War II, we made a major effort to __58__ higher education to Americans across the country. But then we changed, in several ways. While racial segregation decreased, economic segregation increased. After 1980, the poor grew poorer, the middle stagnated(停滞不前), and the top did better and better. A result was a widening gap in educational performance – the __59__ gap between rich and poor kids born in 2001 was 30 to 40 percent larger than it was for those born 25 years earlier, a Stanford sociologist found. Of course, there are other forces ___60___. Children in rich families get more exposure to reading. Their families can afford enriching experiences like music lessons and summer camp. They get better nutrition and health care, which enhance their learning, directly and indirectly.
Now Americans are coming to realize that without substantial policy changes, their long cherished belief is only a myth. It is unreasonable that a rich country like the United States has made __61__ to higher education so difficult for those at the bottom and middle. There are many __62__ ways of providing chances for more to receive higher education, from Australia’s income-contingent loan program to the near-free system of universities in Europe. A more educated population yields greater innovation, and a robust economy. Those benefits are why we’ve long been __63__ to free public education through 12th grade. But while a 12th-grade education might have been enough a century ago, it isn’t today. Yet we haven’t __64__ our system to contemporary realities.
The steps I’ve outlined are not just affordable but necessary. Even more important, though， is that we cannot afford to let our country drift farther from __65__ that the vast majority of Americans share. We will never fully succeed in achieving Mr. Obama’s vision of a poor girl’s having exactly the same opportunities as a wealthy girl. But we could do much, much better, and must not rest until we do.
51. A. prejudice B. inferior C. poverty D. minority
52. A. narrower B. wider C. severer D. closer
53. A. conducted B. concluded C. excluded D. exposed
54. A. distinct from B. feasible by C. superior to D. dependent on
55. A. even though B. as though C. only if D. as if
56. A. photograph B. picture C. atmosphere D. condition
57. A. lack B. leak C. explosion D. extinction
58. A. exhibit B. explore C. extend D. exploit
59. A. scholarship B. satisfaction C. achievement D. ambition
60. A. at play B. under control C. in use D. on show
61. A. devotion B. familiarity C. application D. access
62. A. imaginative B. alternative C. initiative D. productive
63. A. admitted B. addicted C. committed D. restricted
64. A. abandoned B. adjusted C. altered D. applied
65. A. memories B. glory C. reality D. ideals
【回答】
CBDDA BACCA DBCBD
知识点：*经济文化类
题型：完型填空
