单选题
Despite a cooling of the economy, high technology companies are still crying out for skilled workers. The Information Technology Association of America projects that more than 800000 technology jobs will go unfilled next year. The lack of qualified workers poses a huge threat to the U. S. economy. The most commonly cited reason for this state of affairs is that the country's agrarian-age education system, separated from the needs of the business world, fails to prepare students in the primary and secondary grades for twenty-first-century work. Yet an inadequate and outmoded education system is only part of the problem. A less tangible but equally powerful cause is an antique classification system that divides the workforce into two camps: white-collar knowledge workers and blue-collar manual laborers. Blue-collar workers emerged in the United States during the Industrial Age as work migrated from farms to factories. White-collar office workers became a significant class in the twentieth century, outnumbering their blue-collar brethren by mid-century. But the white or blue paradigm has clearly outlived its utility. Corporations increasingly require a new layer of knowledge worker: a highly skilled multi-disciplinarian who combines the mind of the white-collar worker with the hands of the blue-collar employee. Armed with a solid grounding in mathematics and science (physics, chemistry and biology), these "gold-collar" workers—so named for their contributions to their companies and to the economy, as well as for their personal earning ability—apply that knowledge to technology. Of course, the gold-collar worker already exists in a wide range of jobs across a wide range of businesses: think of the maintenance technician who tests and repairs aircraft systems at American Airlines; the network administrator who manages systems and network operations at P＆G; the advanced-manufacturing technician at Intel. But until American business recognizes these people as a new class of worker, one whose collar is neither blue nor white, demands that schools do a better job of preparing employees for the twenty-first-century workforce will be futile. Certainly, polytechnic high schools, colleges, and universities have made heroic efforts to teach workers new skills. But because many people see these initiatives as primarily training blue-collar workers, adequate funds are not invested in such programs, leaving them short of state-of-the-art tools and experienced teachers. And because gold-collar workers need to constantly update their skills to stay current with emerging technology, learning must be a continuous process, one that is funded by companies as well as by taxpayers.
单选题
According to the passage the lack of qualified workers ______. A. makes a cooling of the economy B. decreases the costs of high technology companies C. emphasizes the importance of unfilled jobs D. hinders the development of U. S. economy
单选题
From the second paragraph we learn that ______. A. the workforce classification is as serious as the reason of education system B. twenty-first-century work are separated from the needs of the business world C. white-collar worker is only part of the problem of education system D. blue-collar manual laborers are needed in agrarian-aged America
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据A答案中的关键词workforce classfication，可以把相关信息定位到第二段倒数第一句：一个不太明显但影响同样重要的原因是劳动力划分方法，再回读前文寻找另一个原因：然而，不适当的、陈旧的教育体制只是一部分原因，由此可以推断出划分方法和教育体制是同等重要的两个原因，所以A为正确答案；B错在第二段第一句话中separated from the needs of the business world是表语从句的过去分词，其逻辑主语是education system，也就是说，是教育体制脱离了商业的需要，而不是21世纪的工作，此答案偷换了主语。C答案的错误是同样的，原文是说教育体制是部分原因，而不是白领工人是教育体制的部分问题。D项并未提及。
单选题
It can be inferred that the gold-collar workers differ from white-collar and blue-collar workers in that they ______. A. wear gold-collar working clothes when they are on duty B. do better in combining their contributions and earning abilities C. grasp the knowledge and engage in labor work as well D. apply the arts knowledge to technology
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 文章第三段都在论述金领工人与白领工人和蓝领工人的区别。A的内容并未提及。根据B中的关键词contributions和earning abilities，可在第三段中间找到相关信息：这些金领工人是以对公司和经济所做的贡献和他们个人的工资收入能力，被冠以“金领”工人的名号，而不是说他们更擅长于把贡献和收入更好地结合起来，所以B不对。根据本段第四句话和第五句话：金领工人结合了白领的头脑和蓝领的手艺，把坚实的数理知识应用于技术中，可以推断出金领工人就是既懂得知识，又能用知识劳动的人，正是C答案的内容。D答案错在原文讲到金领工人是应用mathematics and science，而不是arts。
单选题
To increase the number of gold-collar workers, ______. A. the schools should assume the major responsibilities B. experienced teachers should not be short of current tools C. the society should consider them as new layer of working classes D. the taxpayer should pay more money to afford the continuous training
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 文章第四段讲述了提高金领工人数量面临的困难，所以反向推断，如果要增加其数目，这些困难就不存在。最后一段指出：除了学校之外，公司和纳税人也应为培训金领工人出力，所以A中的学校承担主要的责任是错误的。根据B答案中的关键词experienced teachers和be short of current tools，查找到相关信息，原文leaving them short of state-of-the-art tools，其中的them指代的是programs，也就是基础培训缺乏工具，而不是教师缺乏工具，偷换了主语，所以B也错误。第四段第一句话指出：除非美国商业界承认这些人是一个新的工人阶层，学校才能更有效地为21世纪的劳动力培养合格人才多做工作，所以C答案就是增加金领工人数量的条件之一。D答案错在原文最后一句说的是纳税人的钱需用于资助这些培训，而不是让纳税人缴纳更多的钱。
单选题
The best title for the 'text may be ______. A. 800000 Technology Jobs Unfilled B. Gold-collar Workers Needed C. U. S. Economy Threatened D. Schools Fail to Train Gold-collar Workers