Adam Smith, writing in the 1770s, was the first person to see the importance of the division of labor and to explain part of its advantages. He gives as an example the process by which pins were made in England. "One man draws out the wire; another strengthens it; a third cuts it; a fourth points it; a fifth grinds it at the top to prepare it to receive the head. To make the head requires two or three operations. To put it on is a separate operation, to polish the pins is another. And the important business of making pins is, in this manner, divided into about eighteen operations, which in some factories are all performed by different people, though in others the same man will sometimes perform two or three of them." Ten men, Smith said, in this way, turned out twelve pounds of pins a day or about 4,800 pins per worker. But if all of them had worked separately and independently without division of labor, none of them could have made twenty pins in a day and perhaps not even one. There can be no doubt that division of labor is an efficient way of organizing work. Fewer people can make more pins. Adam Smith saw this but he also took it for granted that division of labor is in itself responsible for economic growth and development and that it accounts for the difference between expanding economies and those that stand still. But division of labor adds nothing new; it only enables people to produce more of what they already have.
单选题
According to the passage, Adam Smith was the first person to______ A. take advantage of the division of labor B. introduce the division of labor into England C. understand the effects of the division of labor D. explain the causes of the division of labor
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题的依据是文章第1段的第l句话“…was the first person to see the importance of the division of labor and to explain part of its advantages”。C项中的understand意同原文中的 see,因此C项为正确答案。
单选题
Adam Smith saw that the division of labor______ A. enabled each worker to make pins more quickly and more cheaply B. increased the possible output per worker C. increased the number of people employed in factories D. improved the quality of pins produced
单选题
Adam Smith mentioned the number 4,800 in order to______ A. show the advantages of the division of labor B. show the advantages of the old craft system C. emphasize how powerful the individual worker was D. emphasize the importance of increased production
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题可参照此句的下一句“without division of labor none ofthem could have made twenty pins in a day and perhaps not even one”。由此可知,作者用这一数字显示分工的优越性。 因此A项为正确答案。
单选题
According to the writer, Adam Smith's mistake was in believing that division of labor______ A. was an efficient way of organizing work B. was an important development in methods of production C. certainly led to economic development D. increased the production of existing goods
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题的依据是文章最后一段的第3句话“Adam Smith saw this but he also took it for granted that”和文章的最后一句话“But division of labor adds nothing new;it only enables people to produce more of what they already have”。因此C项是正确答案。
单选题
Which of the following could serve as an appropriate title for the passage? A. Adam Smith, the English Economist B. The Theory of Division of Labor C. Division of Labor, an Efficient Way of Organizing Work D. Adam Smith, the Last Discoverer of Division of Labor