单选题：Questions are based on the following passage．This year marke

Questions are based on the following passage．
This year marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of EP Thompson’sTheMaking of the English Working Class，which revolutionized the study of history．Untilthen，history had been mainly about the powerful--the ruling order of kings and queens，aristocrats．industrialists，soldiers，politicians and landowners--and theinterpretation of
the world through their culture and belief systems．
With Thompson’s book．this was turned upside down一“history from below”was a new way of seeing the world through the eyes of the new rising working class of the early19th century and the movements and ideas that it and its allies created．He sought“to rescue thepoor stockinger,the Luddite cropper,the"obsolete’(被淘汰的)hand-loomweaver,the'utopian’artisan, and even the easy—cheatedfollower ofJoanna Southcott,from the enormous arrogance ofoffspring'’．
This approach to history is now under attack fl’om the theorist of the new right and from coalition education ministers．But why does this matter?There are at least two reasons why this issue has direct relevance．
First,the current dominance of neoliberal(新自由主义者)，elitist ideology threatensto create a culturally totalitarian(极乐主义)Orwellian society with no space for alternative conceptions．The gap between the rich and powerful and the rest is accompanied by a similar gulf in political perceptions．The result is that the political process becomes more and more discredited．This closing down of the discussion of alternative analysesis exemplified by the revolt of economics students against being taught exclusively the neoclassical orthodoxies，and their demands that alternative theories--those of Marx，Adam Smith and Keynes--should be included in their curriculums．
Second，Thompson showed how fundamental social and political change camefrom movements of the“common people”．He had little time for political parties andtheir bureaucratized processes．still less for the belief that history was predetermined：he believed in the human agency of ordinary people making their own history．As he put it，
“The working class did not rise like the sun at an appointed time．It was present at its own making．”In this sense，his position prefigures the non—aligned progressive left of the early 2 l st century--exemplified by the Greens，the Occupy movement，UK Uncut，and the opposition to the renewal of Trident．
The consequences of forgetting these Iessons would be profound．Political disillusionment and alienation may increase．A vacuum in democratic politics is likely tolead to the rise of the populist，xenophobic(恐惧外国人的)right，as can be seen in the current politics of both the UK and other European societies．The stakes could hardly be higher．
What does "this" (Line 1, Para.2) refer to? A．"History from below" was a new way of seeing the world.
B．The current history study is mostly about the working class.
C．Neoclassic historians allow no alternatives but orthodoxies.
D．History had been predominantly about the powerful class.