单选题 . ① In 1919 Britain experienced its largest ever reduction in industrial working hours, to 48 per week. ②In Dowie's view the 48-hour week played a central role in Britain's poor economic performance during the 1920s. ③Dowie argued that the reduction, together with rapid wage growth, drove up prices. ④However, Greasly and Oxley found that the First World War (1914-1918) constituted a more powerful negative macroeconomic shock to Britain's competitiveness. ⑤And Scott argues that Dowie's thesis ignores considerable evidence that hourly productivity improves when hours are reduced from a high base level. ⑥Crucially, Dowie's thesis does not acknowledge that hours were reduced to around 48 hours a week for industrial workers in most industrialized nations at this time so far—undermining any potential impact of reduced hours on industrial productivity relative to other nations.39. Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest support for Scott's argument? ______

A、 Companies have generally found that part-time employees are less productive than full-time ones.
B、 When the total number of hours worked at a company increases owing to the addition of more employees, the usual result is improved productivity at the company.
C、 When the total hours worked by all employees per week in two companies are equivalent, hourly productivity tends to be equivalent as well.
D、 Companies whose employees usually work a high number of hours tend to have greater total costs than do similar companies whose employees work fewer hours.
E、 Companies have found that total output per employee is not necessarily changed by reductions in the number of hours worked per employee.

【正确答案】 E

【答案解析】 E：根据第⑤句，斯科特的观点认为工时的减少会提高单位时间的生产力。单位时间生产力=单位时间产出÷工时。根据选项E，工时下降，产出不变，这就意味着单位时间生产力提高，加强斯科特的观点，正确。
A：没提兼职和全职的区别。
B：斯科特的观点的核心在于单位时间生产力的升降，但是该选项只说明了总的生产力，无关。
C：讨论的是总工时和总生产力，与斯科特讨论的单位生产力无关。
D：成本和生产力没有必然联系。