单选题 Society was fascinated by science and things scientific in the nineteenth century. Great breakthroughs in engineering, the use of steam power, and electricity were there for all to see, enjoy, and suffer. Science was fashionable and it is not surprising that, during this great period of industrial development, scientific methods should be applied to the activities of man, particularly to those involved in the processes of production. Towards the end of the nineteenth century international competition began to make itself felt. The three industrial giants of the day, Germany, America, and Great Britain, began to find that there was a limit to the purchasing power of the previously apparently inexhaustible markets. Science and competition therefore provided the means and the need to improve industrial efficiency.
Frederick Winslow Taylor is generally acknowledged as being the father of the scientific management approach, as a result of the publication of his book. The Principles of Scientific Management, published in 1911. However, numerous other academics and practitioners had been actively applying such approaches since the beginning of the century. Charles Babbage, and English academic, well-known for his invention of the mechanical computer (with the aid of a government grant as long as 1820) applied himself to the costing of processes, using scientific methods, and indeed might well be recognized as one of the fathers of cost accounting. Taylor was of well-to-do background and received an excellent education but, partly owing to troubles with his eyesight, decided to become an engineering apprentice. He spent some twenty-five years in the tough, sometimes brutal, environment of the US steel industry and carefully studied methods of work when he eventually attained supervisory status. He made various significant innovations in the area of steel processing, but his claim to fame is through his application of methods of science to methods of work, and his personal efforts that proved they could succeed in a hostile environment.
In 1901, Taylor left the steel industry and spent the rest of his life trying to promote the principles of managing scientifically and emphasizing the human aspects of the method, over the slavedriving methods common in his day. He died in 1915, leaving a huge school of followers to promote his approach worldwide.

单选题 According to the passage, what was badly needed to improve industrial efficiency?

A. Great breakthroughs.
B. Unlimited purchasing power.
C. Science and competition.
D. International competition.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 具体题。文章第一段主要谈的是科学给工业带来的巨大突破和工业巨头们开始感觉到竞争的必要性。所以要提高生产效率，科学和竞争是必需的。参阅第一段最后一句，A选项不全面。工业上的重大突破，如蒸汽机的问世，电的发明，科学管理方法的应用，都促进了工业的发展，但这只是一个方面。B选项不全面。工业的发展需要一个广阔的市场，而到19世纪末，国际竞争加剧，原来似乎取之不尽、用之不竭的 (inexhaustible)市场现已近枯竭，这时三大工业巨头更加感觉到，他们应该利用科学的方法提高生产效率，以加强其竞争力，占领有限的市场。D选项不全面。只竞争还不够，要占领市场还需要更新更好的产品，即科学的生产方式。

单选题 Taylor is most famous for ______.

A. his application of scientific methods to work
B. his book named The Principles of Scientific Management
C. his various innovations in steel processing
D. the spreading of his scientific management method

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 具体题。泰勒主要是以其科学的管理方法在工作中的应用而闻名于世。注意文章第二段最后一句中的关键词his claim to fame is through...，意为“他的成名是通过……”。这本书的出版使泰勒成了科学管理方法之父，并有一大批学术界人士和实践者追随，但他并不以此闻名于世。所以B项不对。第二段最后一句中转折词but的使用说明他并不是因为在炼钢领域进行了各种重大改革而成名的。所以C项不对。从文章的二、三段中了解到，泰勒是在成名后的有生之年，进行科学管理方法的推广工作的。所以D项是不对的。

单选题 Charles Babbage, an English academic,______.

A. tried to use computers in production processes
B. first used computers in the area of cost accounting
C. was the father of modern computers
D. tried a scientific management approach

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 具体题。文章的第二段谈到了从20世纪初，一大批学术界人士和实践者一直在积极地探索和应用科学管理方法，而英国的科学家Charles Babbage则成功地将科学管理方法运用于成本核算中，被认为是成本核算的鼻祖之一。A选项不正确。从文章第二段第四句了解到，曾以发明机械计算器闻名的英国科学家Charles Babbage致力于成本核算的研究工作，而不是把计算机用于生产中。apply oneself to意为“致力于”。B选项不正确。他在成本核算中运用了科学方法而不是计算机，D项符合题意。 C选项，computer这里意为“计算器”。因为在20世纪初还没有计算机，原文也并未指出他是计算机的发明者，所以C是错的。

单选题 Taylor's scientific management method was described as ______.

A. scientific and human
B. efficient but slave-driving
C. academic but practicable
D. brutal but highly successful

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 具体题。从文章的第三段第一句可看出，泰勒强调管理的科学性和人文因素(如老板和工人对工作的兴趣和积极性)，而不是当时普遍的赶鸭式的劳动方法。 emphasize A over B意为“与A相比更强调B”。slave-driving意为“严厉的监管和使工人过度工作”。B项意为“有效但赶鸭式的”，与文章内容不符。C项意为“学究气但实用的”，不具体。D项意为“残忍的但很成功”，与文章内容相矛盾。