大学英语3--期末考试题--阅读题题库急加DA-AN!(7)

Before, during and after the recession, demand for one sort of worker has been persistently stronger: jobs that involve assisting or caring for other people – from fast-food workers to home-health assistant to nail polishers.

These occupations have one thing in common: They aren't easily automated (使自动化) or outsourced (转包) abroad. “You can't send people to China or India for a haircut,” says Israel Kakuriev, 37 years old, who has been cutting hair in midtown Manhattan for the past 20 years. Nor is there, yet, a robot that can cut hair or hold the hand of an elderly woman with Alzheimer's(老人痴呆症) or do all the work that flight attendants do.

The U.S. government releases its latest report on the job market Friday morning

amid worrisome signs that economic growth is slowing well short of full employment.

But economists see a couple of longer-term trends. Dividing the workforce into high, medium and lower-skill workers, they note that around the world, demand for the most skilled and educated – from engineers to specialized factory workers – has been relatively strong. But globalization and technology have eroded demand for routine middle-skill, middle wage jobs: In factories, assembly jobs have been

eliminated by automation or moved overseas; in offices, tasks once done by humans are done by computers and voice-response software.

At the same time, Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist David Autor notes an increase in personal-service jobs – the ones that can’t be done remotely from overseas and can’t easily be done by machines. To measure this, Mr. Autor and MIT’s Daron Acemoglu sliced the U.S. workforce into 318 occupations, ranked by skill and education. Between 1989 and 2007 – just before the recession – they found a five percent increase in routinized production, machine-operator and office jobs – but a 36 percent increase in personal-service jobs and a 40 percent increase in top-of-the-pyramid jobs, such as managers, professionals and financial wizards (奇才).

16. Why has the demand been persistently strong for jobs that involve assisting or caring for other people, according to the passage? A) Because these jobs are high-skill occupations. B) Because these jobs are especially popular before, during and after the recession.

C) Because these jobs are common and not so many people compete for them.

D) Because these jobs cannot be replaced by machines or

be done in another country. √ 答案：D

17. Which of the following is a long-term trend, according to economists? A) The workforce gradually develop into high, medium and lower-skill workers.

B) Technology gives rise to strong demand for middle-skill, middle wage jobs

C) Lower-skill jobs will gradually be eliminated in the globalized world.

D) Demand for the most skilled has always been relatively strong. √ 答案：D

18. What was found by scholars from Massachusetts Institute of Technology? A) They found an increase of personal service jobs during the recession.

B) They found that most of the personal-service jobs will be done by machines.

C) They found that U.S workforce could be divided into 318 occupations based on their increase of wages. D) The found an increase of top-level jobs before the

recession. √ 答案：D

19. Which of the following occupation probably cannot be popular during recession?

A) fast-food workers. B) professionals. C) machine-operators. √ D) flight attendants. 答案：C

20. What can be inferred from the passage?

A) To find a personal-service job is superior to most skilled and educated workers.

B) Many assembly jobs are done by computers and voice-response software.

C) Managers and professionals can keep a good salary during recession.

D) Even the most intelligent robot could not take the

place of all human labor. √

答案：D

Some prominent businesswomen believe they are being asked to disclose more about their personal lives as they climb the career ladder than their male counterparts (对应的人或事). One seemingly innocent but frequently asked question illustrates the keen interest in the balance that women have to achieve between their professional and private lives – “how do you make it work?”

Campaigners say that this question would hardly ever be put to a man and that it implicitly raises doubts over women’s commitment to their professional lives.

Similarly, in a recent interview, one female chief executive declined to answer questions about her home life, saying her own achievements might then be

attributed to having a supportive husband and family – or to being single or childless. Deborah Meaden, the entrepreneur (企业家) whose profile rose dramatically when she began appearing on a BBC’s popular television show, has developed strict

boundaries around the parts of her life that she will and will not discuss. “I was fairly nervous about mentioning anything at the start, but I am clear now about what I will and won’t talk about,” she explains. “You will never see a picture of my home, but there are stories that I have decided I don’t mind talking about – like the fact that I keep pigs and sheep. Who my friends are and what I do in my private life is not public information,” she says.

But she believes that the scale of interest in her personal life is the result of her media career, as much as her gender. “There are more men in business and so it’s a fact that if you are a woman you are a rarity and therefore you will attract more interest. And there is interest in how your life works because the traditional form is that women look after the family. But a lot of business people go about their life without anyone being interested in their home life.” …… 此处隐藏：3992字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……