单项选择题

The Changing Middle Class The United States perceives itself to be a middle-class nation,However, middle class is not a real designation,nor does it carry privileges.It is more of a perception, which probably was as true as it ever could be rightafter World War II. The economy was growing,more and more people owned theirown homes,workers had solid contracts with the companies that employed them,and nearly everyone whowanted a higher education could have one. Successfulpeople enjoyed upward social mobility. They may have started out poor,but theycould become rich. Successful people also found that they had greatergeographic mobility. In other words,they found themselves moving to and livingin a variety of places. The middle class collectively holds several values and principles.One strong value is the need to earn enough money to feel that one candetermine one’s own economic fate. In addition,middle class morality embracesprinciples of individual responsibility, importance of family, obligations toothers,and believing in something outside oneself. But in the 1990s those in the middle class found that there was aprice for success. A U. S. News & World Report survey in 1994 indicatedthat 75 percent of Americans believed that middle class families could nolonger make ends meet. Both spouses now worked,as did some of the children;long commutes became routine; the need for child care put strains on the family;and public schools were not as good as they once were. Members of the middleclass were no longer financing their lifestyles through earnings but were usingcredit to stay afloat. The understanding of just what middle class meant was changing. The phrase "In other words" in the first paragraphmeans that the following statement is