Section B: Information Matching

Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet.

The Place Where the Poor Once Thrived

[A] This is the land of opportunity. If that weren't already implied by the landscape—rolling green hills, palm trees, sun-kissed flowers—then it's evident in the many stories of people who grew up poor in these sleepy neighborhoods and rose to enormous success. People like Tri Tran, who fled Vietnam on a boat in 1986, showed up in San Jose with nothing, made it to MIT, and then founded the food-delivery start-up Munchery, which is valued at $300 million.

[B] Indeed, data suggests that this is one of the best places to grow up poor in America. A child born in the early 1980s into a low-income family in San Jose had a 12.9 percent chance of becoming a high earner as an adult, according to a landmark study released in 2014 by the economist Raj Chetty and his colleagues from Harvard and Berkeley. That number—12.9 percent—may not seem remarkable, but it was: Kids in San Jose whose families fell in the bottom quintile of income nationally had the best shot in the country at reaching the top quintile.

[C] By contrast, just 4.4 percent of poor kids in Charlotte moved up to the top; in Detroit the figure was 5.5 percent. San Jose had social mobility comparable to Denmark's and Canada's and higher than other progressive cities such as Boston and Minneapolis.

[D] The reasons kids in San Jose performed so well might seem obvious. Some of the world's most innovative companies are located here, providing opportunities such as the one seized by a 12-year-old Mountain View resident named Steve Jobs when he called William Hewlett to ask for spare parts and subsequently received a summer job. This is a city of immigrants—38 percent of the city's population today is foreign-born—and immigrants and their children have historically experienced significant upward mobility in America. The city has long had a large foreign-born population (26.5 percent in 1990), leading to broader diversity, which, the Harvard and Berkeley economists say, is a good predictor of mobility.

[E] Indeed, the streets of San Jose seem, in some ways, to embody the best of America. It's possible to drive in a matter of minutes from sleek office towers near the airport where people pitch ideas to investors, to single-family homes with orange trees in their yards, or to a Vietnamese mall. The libraries here offer programs in 17 languages, and there are areas filled with small businesses owned by Vietnamese immigrants, Mexican immigrants, Korean immigrants, and Filipino immigrants, to name a few.

[F] But researchers aren't sure exactly why poor kids in San Jose did so well. The city has a low prevalence of children growing up in single-parent families, and a low level of concentrated poverty, both factors that usually mean a city allows for good intergenerational mobility. But San Jose also performs poorly on some of the measures correlated with good mobility. It is one of the most unequal places out of the 741 that the researchers measured, and it has high degrees of racial and economic segregation. Its schools underperform based on how much money there is in the area, said Ben Scuderi, a predoctoral fellow at the Equality of Opportunity Project at Harvard. “There's a lot going on here which we don't totally understand,” he said. “It's interesting, because it kind of defies our expectations.”

[G] The Chetty data shows that neighborhoods and places mattered for children born in the San Jose area of the 1980s. Whether the city still allows for upward mobility of poor kids today, though, is up for debate. Some of the indicators such as income inequality, measured by the Equality of Opportunity Project for the year 2000, have only worsened in the past 16 years.

[H] Some San Jose residents say that as inequality has grown in recent years, upward mobility has become much more difficult to achieve. As Silicon Valley has become home to more successful companies, the flood of people to the area has caused housing prices to skyrocket. By most measures, San Jose is no longer a place where low-income, or even middle-income families, can afford to live. Rents in San Jose grew 42.6 percent between 2006 and 2014, which was the largest increase in the country during that time period. The city has a growing homelessness problem, which it tried to address by shutting down “The Jungle,” one of the largest homeless encampments in the nation, in 2014. Inequality is extreme. The Human Development Index—a measure of life expectancy, education and per capita income—gives East San Jose a score of 4.85 out of 10, while nearby Cupertino, where Apple's headquarters sits, receives a 9.26. San Jose used to have a happy mix of factors—cheap housing, closeness to a rapidly developing industry, tightly-knit immigrant communities—that together opened up the possibility of prosperity for even its poorest residents. But in recent years, housing prices have skyrocketed, the region's rich and poor have segregated, and middle-class jobs have disappeared. Given this, the future for the region's poor doesn't look nearly as bright as it once did.

[I] Leaders in San Jose are determined to make sure that the city regains its status as a place where even poor kids can access the resources to succeed. With Silicon Valley in its backyard, it certainly has the chance to do so. “I think there is a broad consciousness in the Valley that we can do better than to leave thousands of our neighbors behind through a period of extraordinary success,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said.

[J] But in today's America—a land of rising inequality, increasing segregation, and stagnating middle-class wages—can the San Jose region really once again become a place of opportunity?

[K] The idea that those at the bottom can rise to the top is central to America's ideas about itself. That such mobility has become more difficult in San Jose raises questions about the endurance of that foundational belief. After all, if the one-time land of opportunity can't be fixed, what does that say for the rest of America?

36. According to some people living in San Jose, it has become much harder for the poor to get ahead due to the increased inequality.

37. In American history, immigrants used to have a good chance to move upward in society.

38. If the problems of San Jose can't be solved, one of America's fundamental beliefs about itself can be shaken.

39. San Jose was among the best cities in America for poor kids to move up the social ladder.

40. Whether poor kids in San Jose today still have the chance to move upward is questionable.

41. San Jose's officials are resolved to give poor kids access to the resources necessary for success in life.

42. San Jose appears to manifest some of the best features of America.

43. As far as social mobility is concerned, San Jose beat many other progressive cities in America.

44. Due to some changes like increases in housing prices in San Jose, the prospects for its poor people have dimmed.

45. Researchers do not have a clear idea why poor children in San Jose achieved such great success several decades ago.

Answers & Explanations

36. H。解析：题干中的 people living in San Jose... much harder to get ahead due to increased inequality 对应 [H] 段开头的 Some San Jose residents say that as inequality has grown... upward mobility has become much more difficult to achieve（一些居民说随着不平等加剧，向上流动变得困难得多）。

37. D。解析：题干中的 immigrants used to have a good chance to move upward 对应 [D] 段中的 immigrants and their children have historically experienced significant upward mobility in America（历史上，移民及其子女在美国经历了显著的向上流动）。

38. K。解析：题干中的 one of America's fundamental beliefs... can be shaken 对应 [K] 段中的 raises questions about the endurance of that foundational belief（对这一基本信念的持久性提出了质疑）。

39. B。解析：题干中的 among the best cities... to move up 对应 [B] 段的 one of the best places to grow up poor... had the best shot in the country at reaching the top quintile（在美国最适合穷人长大的地方之一...在全国拥有进入最高五分之一阶层的最佳机会）。

40. G。解析：题干中的 Whether poor kids... today still have the chance... is questionable 对应 [G] 段的 Whether the city still allows for upward mobility of poor kids today, though, is up for debate（然而，这座城市今天是否仍允许贫困儿童向上流动，还有待争论）。

41. I。解析：题干中的 San Jose's officials are resolved... access to the resources 对应 [I] 段的 Leaders in San Jose are determined to make sure... poor kids can access the resources to succeed（圣何塞的领导人下定决心...让贫困儿童能够获得成功的资源）。

42. E。解析：题干中的 manifest some of the best features of America 对应 [E] 段的 the streets of San Jose seem... to embody the best of America（圣何塞的街道似乎在某些方面体现了美国最好的一面）。

43. C。解析：题干中的 beat many other progressive cities 对应 [C] 段的 social mobility... higher than other progressive cities such as Boston and Minneapolis（社会流动性高于波士顿等其他进步城市）。

44. H。解析：题干中的 increases in housing prices... prospects... have dimmed 对应 [H] 段末尾的 housing prices have skyrocketed... the future for the region's poor doesn't look nearly as bright（房价飙升...该地区穷人的未来看起来远不如过去光明）。

45. F。解析：题干中的 Researchers do not have a clear idea why... 对应 [F] 段的 researchers aren't sure exactly why poor kids in San Jose did so well... “There's a lot going on here which we don't totally understand”（研究人员不确定为什么...有很多我们不完全了解的情况）。