单选题
A truly informed diner would choose a restaurant based on the quality of the menu and the chef"s experience. The discerning investor would decide which company to back after studying the business plan and meeting the founders. In reality, people often copy the choices of others. Diners pick the crowded restaurant over the empty one. Investors go with the company that already has multiple backers. Such bandwagon effects are not necessarily irrational. Often, the buyer knows less about a product than the seller; the collective wisdom of the crowd can correct for such "
asymmetric information
".
Scholars are now asking whether herd behavior also prevails in labor markets. To find out, Kory Kroft of the University of Toronto devised an experiment in which they applied for 3,000 clerical, administrative, sales and customer-service jobs advertised online by submitting 12,000 fictitious CVs. The submissions were designed so that applicants with similar backgrounds, education and experience went for the same job. The only difference was how long the applicant had been jobless, a period that ranged from no time at all to as much as 36 months.
They found that the odds of an applicant being called back by an employer declined steadily as the duration of unemployment rose, from 7.4% after one month without work down to 4-5% at the eight-month mark, where the call-back rate stabilized.
These results, the authors say, cannot be because employers found some qualitative flaw in the longer-term unemployed that was hidden from outsiders, since the applicants were similar in other respects. Another explanation for long-term unemployment—that people make less effort to find work as their time out of the labor force lengthens—is also not applicable here.
A third possibility is that employers equate lengthening unemployment with atrophying skills and thus falling productivity. But this should be true whether the economy is booming or in recession. The decline in call-back rates was much more pronounced in cities with tight labour markets; call-back rates changed relatively little when higher unemployment prevailed locally. From this, the authors infer that employers are more likely to overlook a long period of unemployment if overall economic conditions are stacked against candidates.
These results strongly suggest that long-term unemployment is at least partly self-fulfilling. Like patrons who avoid restaurants purely because they are empty, employers were reluctant to hire someone other employers didn"t want.
单选题
By saying "asymmetric information" (Para. 1), what does the author mean?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 含义题。根据题干关键词asymmetric information定位到文章第一段。最后提到Often, the buyer knows less about a product than the seller; the collective wisdom of the crowd can correct for such "asymmetric information". 由such可知“asymmetric information”指的就是前文的the buyer knows less about a product than the seller, 因此D项“卖方对产品信息的了解多于买方”为正确答案。A项“大众智慧高于个人”并非其所指。B项“大众对产品了解得更多”、C项“卖家比买家聪明”,均与原文不符。
单选题
Kory Kroft of the University of Toronto devised an experiment to ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据题干关键词Kory Kroft,devised an experiment定位到第二段。由本段第一、二句Scholars are now asking whether herd behavior also prevails in labor markets. To find out, Kory Kroft of the University of Toronto devised an experiment... ,可知实验的目的是to find out whether herd behavior also prevails in labor markets,由此可知A项为正确答案,figure out,bandwagon behavior,popular分别是对原文find out,herd behavior,prevail的同义复现。B项“测试这些有相似背景、学历和经验的申请者的不同”、C项“测试3000份应聘办事员、管理人员、销售人员以及客服人员的虚假简历”均不是实验目的。D项“探索从众行为如何影响面试者的选择”,与原文不符,原文是探索从众行为对雇主招聘的影响。
单选题
One reasonable explanation for the research results may be ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据题干关键词reasonable explanation,the research results定位到第四、五段。本题要求找出能够合理解释实验结果的选项。由第五段的第一、二句可以得出C项“长时间失业等同于工作效率的下降”为正确答案。根据第四段These results...cannot be because...可知A项不对。根据第四段Another explanation for...is also not, applicable here可知B项不对。D项declined clearly与原文表述不符,且不属于对实验结果原因的解释,也排除。
单选题
The research results convey the message that ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据题干关键词research results,convey the message定位到最后一段。首句指出These results strongly suggest that long-term unemployment is at least partly self-fulfilling,因此B项为正确答案。A项“长期失业与回应率没有任何关系”,显然与原文表述不符。C项“常客因为餐馆门庭冷落而避免去此类餐馆”,这在实验之前就存在。D项“雇主愿意雇佣那些别人不想要的人”,与原文表述相反。
单选题
Generally speaking, the author"s attitude towards bandwagon behavior is ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 态度题。此题考查作者对从众行为的态度,需结合全文做出判断。首段指出Such bandwagon effects are not necessarily irrational...the collective wisdom of the crowd can correct for such "asymmetric information" ,即从众效应不一定是非理性的,因为一般来说,买方对商品的了解要少于卖方,因而大众的集体智慧可以作为这种“不对称信息”的修正而存在。中间四段研究了从众效应对招聘市场的影响,最后一段指出,长期失业至少有一部分原因是自己造成的,雇主在招聘时候也不愿意雇佣那些别人不想要的人。可见作者认为从众效应是有一定道理的。因此D项。favorable“赞成的”为正确答案。