倒数第17天(5月20日)
(2013·陕西卷)According to sociologists(社会学家)，every modern industrial society has some form of social stratification(阶层)．Class，power and status are important in deciding people's rank in society.
Class means a person's economic position in society.A commonly used classification is lower class，middle class and upper class.While sociologists disagree on how these terms should be exactly defined，they do describe societies like the United States quite well.One study shows that 53% of Americans belong to the lower class,46% the middle class，and 1% the upper class.Interestingly，a surgeon earning $500,000 a year and a bus driver earning $50,000 a year both regard themselves as the middle class!
