英語專八考試閱讀每日一練

1、第 第 頁英語專八考試閱讀每日一練In the last 12 years total employment in the United States grew faster than at any time in the peacetime history of any country from 82 to 110 million between 1973 and 1985 that is, by a full one third. The entire growth, however, was in manufacturing, and especially in no blue-coll

2、ar jobsThis trend is the same in all developed countries, and is, indeed, even more pronounced in Japan. It is therefore highly probable that in 25 years developed countries such as the United States and Japan will employ no larger a proportion of the labor force I n manufacturing than developed cou

3、ntries now employ in farming at most, 10 percent. Today the United States employs around 18 million people in blue-collar jobs in manufacturing industries. By 2022, the number is likely to be no more than 12 million. In some major industries the drop will be even sharper. It is quite unrealistic, fo

4、r instance, to e*pect that the American automobile industry will employ more than one third of its present blue-collar force 25 years hence, even though production might be 50 percent higher.If a company, an industry or a country does not in the ne*t quarter century sharply increase manufacturing pr

5、oduction and at the same time sharply reduce the blue-collar work force, it cannot hope to remain competitive or even to remain developed. The attempt to preserve such blue collar jobs is actually a prescription for unemploymentThis is not a conclusion that American politicians, labor leaders or ind

6、eed the general public can easily understand or accept. What confuses the issue even more it that the United States is e*periencing several separate and different shifts in the manufacturing economy. One is the acceleration of the substitution of knowledge and capital for manual labor. Where we spok

7、e of mechanization a few decades ago, we now speak of robotization or automation. This is actually more a change in terminology than a change in reality. When Henry Ford introduced the assembly line in 1909, he cut the number of man hours required to produce a motor car by some 80 percent in two or

8、three years far more than anyone e*pects to result from even the most complete robotization. But there is no doubt that we are facing a new, sharp acceleration in the replacement of manual workers by machines that is, by the products of knowledge.1. According to the author, the shrinkage in the manu

9、facturing labor force demonstrates_.A. the degree to which a countrys production is robotizedB. a reduction in a countrys manufacturing industriesC. a worsening relationship between labor and managementD. the difference between a developed country and a developing country2. According to the author,

10、in coming 25years, a developed country or industry, in order t remain competitive, ought to _.A. reduce the percentage of the blue-collar work forceB. preserve blue collar jobs for international competitionC. accelerate motor can manufacturing in Henry Fords styleD. solve the problem of unemployment

11、3. American politicians and labor leaders tend to dislike_.A. confusion in manufacturing economyB. an increase in blue collar work forceC. internal competition in manufacturing productionD. a drop in the blue collar job opportunities4. The word prescription in a prescription for unemployment may be the equivalent to _A. something recommended as medical treatmentB. a way suggested to overcome some difficultyC. some measures taken in advanceD. a devic