Britain was a rich country a hundred and fifty years
进入查看：2022-2023学年英语周报八年级第40期答案及试题
以下内容仅作展示，图片上方文字进入查看。
Britain was a rich country a hundred and fifty years ago. There were a few very rich people who received money from land or investment, and did not need to work. They used to have large numbers of servants to look after them. There were also many middle-class people, who worked as businessmen or as doctors or lawyers. They usually had several servants to clean their houses and cook their meals. But there were also many poor people, and there was a big gap between the rich and the poor. The poor had very difficult lives. Many worked as servants. They used to be paid little, and they had to work long hours. But at least they lived in a warm house and were well fed.
Those who worked in factories were often less lucky. They used to work many hours a day, in dangerous and unhealthy conditions. But, even so, they did not use to earn enough to feed their families. They often lived in slums (贫民窟) which were built cheaply by the factory owners. The worst paid people were those who worked on the farms. At certain times of the year, they did not use to earn anything because there was no work for them to do.
Life for the poor was not always bad. There were kind farmers and factory owners who helped their workers. And many people cared for the poor. One of them was Charles Dickens, the famous British writer. When he was young, his family was always short of money. His father was a clerk, who used to spend more than he earned. When Dickens was eleven, his father was sent to prison; and Dickens had to work in a factory. At this time, very young children used to work in factories and mines (矿), and clean chimneys.
