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  3. Even though the number of legal and illegal immigrants in the United States has risen sharply since the early 1990s, the size an

Even though the number of legal and illegal immigrants in the United States has risen sharply since the early 1990s, the size an

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问题     Even though the number of legal and illegal immigrants in the United States has risen sharply since the early 1990s, the size and condition of the economic underclass has not. In fact, by several measures the number of people in America living on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder has been in a long term decline. Moreover, those immigrants who populate the underclass appear on the whole to be more socially functional than their native-born counterparts.
    Consider the most basic measure of the underclass: the number of people subsisting below the official poverty line as measured by the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey(which measures all individuals residing in the United States, regardless of status). Between 1993 and 2007—that is, before the current recession took hold- the number of individuals living in poverty declined from 39 million to 37 million. The number of immigrants living in poverty increased by a million, but this was offset by a drop of 3 million in the number of native-born Americans in poverty. The period saw an increase of 1. 8 million in the number of Hispanics living in poverty, but this was dwarfed by the 3. 8 million decline among non-Hispanics, including a 1. 6 million decline among blacks.
    Another measure of the underclass is the number of adults without a high-school diploma. An adult or a head of household without a high-school education is almost invariably confined to lower-wage occupations with limited prospects for advancement. Sure enough, the trend in education follows that of poverty. From 1993 through 2006, the number of adults in America age 25 and older without a diploma declined from 32 million to 28 million. The number of adult Hispanic dropouts rose by 3. 9 million, much of that due to the progeny of low-skilled illegal immigrants from Mexico and Central America. Rut among the rest of the population, the number of dropouts plunged by 8. 1 million.
    Educational attainment by citizenship status covers a slightly different period but confirms the trend. From 1995 to 2004, the number of adults without a high-school diploma declined by 2. 9 million. An increase of 2. 4 million in the number of immigrant dropouts was overwhelmed by a decline of 5. 3 million in native horn dropouts. As a result of these underlying trends, the underclass in our society has been shrinking as its face has become more Hispanic and foreign-born.
Which of the following contributes to the shrinkage of the underclass in the U. S. ?
选项 A、The confirmation of the educational trend.
B、The increase of Hispanic and foreign-born.
C、The tendency in both poverty and education.
D、The period covered by educational attainment.
答案C
解析 根据全文最后一句“As a result of these underlying trends，the underclass in our society hasbeen shrinking…”可知，“these underlying trends”即本文所讨论的“贫困人数的减少和中途辍学人数的减少这两个趋势”对于社会下层的缩小起了作用。所以，C应为答案。
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