单选题
An industrial society, especially one as centralized and
concentrated as that of Britain, is heavily dependent on certain essential
services; for instance, electricity supply, water, rail and road transport, and
harbors. The area of dependency has widened to include removing rubbish,
hospital and ambulance services, and, as the economy develops, central computer
and information services as well. If any of these services ceases to operate,
the whole economic system is in danger. It is this economic
interdependence of the economic system which makes the power of trade unions
such an important issue. Single trade unions have the ability to cut off many
countries' economic blood supply. This can happen more easily in Britain than in
some other countries, in part because the labor force is highly organized. About
55 percent of British workers belong to unions, compared to under a quarter in
the United States. For historical reasons, Britain's unions have tended to
develop along trade and occupational lines, rather than on an
industry-by-industry basis, which makes a wages policy, democracy in industry
and the improvement of procedure for fixing wage levels difficult to
achieve. There are considerable strains and tensions in the
trade union movement, some of them arising from their outdated and inefficient
structure. Some unions have lost many members because of their industrial
changes. Others are involved in arguments about who should represent workers in
new trades. Unions for skilled trades are separate from general unions, which
means that different levels of wages for certain jobs are often a source of bad
feeling between unions. In traditional trades which are being pushed out of
existence by advancing technologies, unions can fight for their members'
disappointing jobs to the point where the jobs of other union members are
threatened or destroyed. The printing of newspapers both in the United States
and in Britain has frequently been halted by the efforts of printer to hold on
to their traditional highly-paid jobs. Trade unions have
problems of internal communication just as managers in companies do, problems
which multiply in very large unions or in those which bring workers in very
different industries together into a single general union. Some trade union
officials have to be re-elected regularly; others are elected, or even
appointed, for life. Trade union officials have to work with a system of "shop
stewards" in many unions, "shop stewards" being workers elected by other workers
as their representatives at factory or works level.
单选题
Britain especially depends upon certain essential services partly
because ______.
A. its industry is highly centralized and concentrated
B. its transport system often fails
C. its economic system is at high risk
D. its electricity supply is inadequate
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[考点] 原因分析题
[解析] 根据题干信号词Britain especially depends upon certain essential services可回文定位到首段首句An industrial society, especially one as centralized and concentrated as that of Britain, is heavily dependent on certain essential services...(工业社会，尤其是像英国这样高度集中的工业社会，会对某些基础服务行业特别依赖)。鉴于原因分析题通常需要在回文定位信息的上文或下文中寻找原因线索，故考生可关注定位信息(画线表达)的上文信息，即双逗号之间的表达，此处讲到英国作为工业化社会的特点是“高度集中”，这无疑就是英国对某些基础服务行业特别依赖的原因。A项与此处表达语义一致，是正确项。
单选题
The author mentions Britain's economic interdependency in the first
paragraph in order to ______.
A. depict the UK's state of danger
B. reveal the UK's dependency on certain essential services
C. explain the various areas of dependency in Britain
D. introduce the topic under discussion
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[考点] 篇章结构题
[解析] 篇章结构题需关注句与句之间或段与段之间的衔接性表达。
既然题目询问第一段提及“英国经济相互依赖”的目的，整个第一段又都在讲述这种“相互依赖”。根据行文结构的规律，其目的应体现在第二段，故考生可重点关注第二段首句(一、二段的衔接性表达)：It is this economic interdependency of the economic system that makes the power of trade unions such an important issue(正是这种经济上的相互依赖才使得工会力量成为重要议题)。本句中的this economic interdependency指代上文第一段内容，而它的目的，根据makes可知，是要引出下文或本文的话题(issue)：the power of trade unions(工会的力量)，因此本题答案选D：“导出探讨的话题”。
单选题
The different proportions of workers in Britain and America are
mentioned in paragraph 2 so as to ______.
A. indicate that 55% of British workers belong to unions
B. reveal that Britain and America have different developing lines
C. show the highly organized workforce in Britain
D. manifest that British unions are much stronger than those in
U.S.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[考点] 例证题
[解析] 根据题干信号词different proportions of workers in Britain and America以及出处提示paragraph 2可回文定位到第二段第四句About 55 percent of British workers belong to unions, compared to under a quarter in the United States(大约55%的英国工人加入了工会，相比之下，美国还不到四分之一)。考虑到例证题的解题思路是跳出例子，在其上文或下文中(尤其上文)找寻例子所证明的观点，考生可锁定本段第三句作为本题目的“题眼”：This can happen more easily in Britain than in some other countries, in part because the labor force is highly organized(这在英国而非其他一些国家更容易发生，因为那里的劳动力是高度组织化的)。据此可知“本段第四句提及英国和美国不同的工人比例”是为了解释第三句的观点：英国的劳动力是高度组织化的，故答案为C。
单选题
According to the text, some traditional trades are vanishing because of
______.
A. the emergence of new trades
B. technological advances
C. the considerable strains and tensions in the trade union movement
D. the prevalence of skilled trades
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[考点] 原因分析题
[解析] 根据题干信号词traditional trades are vanishing可回文定位到第三段第五句In traditional trades which are being pushed out of existence by advancing technologies, ...(由于技术进步，传统行业正趋于消亡，在这些行业中……)。本句中的介词短语by...与其前面的be pushed out of existence形成被动语态(be done by...)，在本质上等同“因果关系”：被技术进步逼向消亡，即消亡的原因是由于“技术进步”，故答案为B。
单选题
The most appropriate title for this text could be ______.
A. British Heavy Dependency on Certain Services
B. The Power of the Trade Unions in UK
C. The British Trade Unions' Power and Problems
D. The British Trade Unions' Problems and Their Solutions