单选题

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If sustainable competitive advantage depends on work-force skills, American firms have a problem. Human-resource management is not traditionally seen as central to the competitive survival of the firm in the United States. Skill acquisition is considered an individual responsibility. Labor is simply another factor of production to be hired-rented at the lowest possible cost-much as one buys raw materials or equipment.
The lack of importance attached to human-resource management can be seen in the corporate hierarchy. In an American firm the chief financial officer is almost always second in command. The post of head of human-resource management is usually a specialized job, off at the edge of the corporate hierarchy. The executive who holds it is never consulted on major strategic decisions and has no chance to move up to Chief Executive Officer(CEO). By way of contrast, in Japan the head of human-resource management is central-usually the second most important executive, after the CEO, in the firm's hierarchy.
While American firms often talk about the vast amounts spent on training their work forces, in fact they invest less in the skills of their employees than do either Japanese or German firms. The money they do invest is also more highly concentrated on professional and managerial employees. And the limited investments that are made in training workers are also much more narrowly focused on the specific skills necessary to do the next job rather than on the basic background skills that make it possible to absorb new technologies.
As a result, problems emerge when new breakthrough technologies arrive. If American workers, for example, take much longer to learn how to operate new flexible manufacturing stations than workers in Germany (as they do), the effective cost of those stations is lower in Germany than it is in the United States. More time is required before equipment is up and running at capacity, and the need for extensive retraining generates costs and creates bottlenecks that limit the speed with which new equipment can be employed. The result is a slower pace of technological change. And in the end the skills of the population affect the wages of the top haft. If the bottom half can't effectively staff the processes that have to be operated, the management and professional jobs that go with these processes will disappear.

单选题 Which of the following applies to the management of human-resources in American companies?
A. They hire people at the lowest cost regardless of their skills.
B. They see the gaining of skills as their employees' own business.
C. They attach more importance to workers than equipment.
D. They only hire skilled workers because of keen competition.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】细节判断题。本题问美国公司人力资源管理的情况。根据题干，问题指向第一段第二、三两句话：在美国公司看来，人力资源管理对公司在市场竞争中能否生存并不是非常重要的，学习技术被看成是工人个人的事情，因此选项[B]是正确答案。[B]中gaining of skills对应原文skill acquisition，their employees' own business对应individual responsibility。本段最后一句话说美国公司认为应该以尽可能低的价格雇佣工人，但并没有说可以不考虑工人的技术水平，所以A项错；最后一句话也提到美国公司就像购买原料和设备一样雇佣员工，可见其并不重视工人，所以[C]错；[D]文章没有提到。

单选题 What is the position of the head of human-resource management in an American firm?
A. He is one of the most important executives in the firms.
B. His post is likely to disappear when new technologies are introduced
C. He is directly under the chief financial executive.
D. He has no say in making important decisions in the firm.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】细节题。本题问美国公司中人力资源管理部门的负责人地位如何。关键词是position，问题可以定位到原文第二段第三、四句：人力资源管理部门的负责人的职位通常是一项专业化的工作，在公司等级制度中排位最低。公司高层从来不就重要的战略决策问题和人力资源管理部门的经理进行商讨，他们也永远没有机会晋升到公司的首席执行官。由此推断，[D]为正确答案。[A]与事实情况相反；[B]没有提到；由于文章中讲人力资源管理部门的经理远离权力核心，所以[C]也不对。

单选题 The money most American firms put in training mainly goes to______.
A. workers who can operate new equipment
B. technological and managerial staff
C. workers who lack basic background skills
D. top executives

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】细节题。本题问美国公司在培训上投入的资金主要用来培训哪些人。原文第一段就提到员工学习技术被看成是工人自己的事情，公司不太关心。第三段第三句话也说：他们投资于培训的资金主要集中在专业和管理人员身上(句子中more提示重点信息)。由此可见，[B]是正确答案。[A]、[C]不对；[D]文章没有谈及。

单选题 According to the passage, the decisive factor in maintaining a firm's competitive advantage is ______.
A. the introduction of new technologies
B. the improvement of worker's basic skills
C. the rational composition of professional and managerial employees
D. the attachment of importance to the bottom half of the employees

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】细节题。本题问保持公司的竞争优势的决定性因素是什么。关键词是decisive factors，competitive advantage，根据文章首句：如果可持续的竞争优势取决于工人的技术的话，美国公司就面临着问题了。反过来说，工人的技术对公司保持竞争优势很重要。第三段最后一句和第四段第一句说：培训工人的有限资金也仅仅用于完成新的工作必须的具体技术的培训上，而不是用在可以使工人适应未来新的生产工艺的基本技术的培训上。这样的做法结果是，新的突破性的工艺出现时，就会有许多问题出现(接着作者在下文举例说明到底是什么样的问题)。综上所述，正确答案应为[B]。文章虽然提到新工艺，但并没有说这对公司的竞争优势很重要，所以[A]错；[C]本文未提到；文章最后提到了bottom half，但是只是说bottom haft的技术水平会影响公司上层人员的利益，但[D]的意思太宽泛，没有提到技术因素，而这是文章中反复强调的内容，所以[D]不对。

单选题 What is the main idea of the passage?
A. American firms are different from Japanese and German firms in human-resource management.
B. Extensive retraining is indispensable to effective human-resource management.
C. The head to human-resource management must be in the central position in a firm's hierarchy.
D. The human-resource management strategies of American firms affect their competitive capacity.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】主旨题。本题问文章的中心思想。通过前面的解题过程，可见本文主要讨论的是美国公司在人力资源管理方面遇到的问题，及其对保持公司竞争优势的影响，也就是说，美国公司人力资源管理的策略影响公司的竞争力，所以[D]正确。[A]、[C]太具体化；[B]中“extensive retraining”文章中没有提到。