If sustainable competitive advantage depends on workforce skills, American firms have a problem. Human-resource management is not traditionally seen as 【B1】______ to the competitive survival of the firm in the United States. Labour is simply another factor of production to be hired or【B2】______at the lowest possible cost— much 【B3】______ one buys raw materials or equipment. The lack of importance 【B4】______ to human-resource management can be seen in the corporate hierarchy. In an American firm the chief financial officer is almost always second 【B5】______ command. The 【B6】______ of head of human-resource management is usually a specialized job, off at the edge of the corporate hierarchy. The executive who 【B7】______ it is never consulted on major strategic decisions and has no chance to 【B8】______ to Chief Executive Officer (CEO).【B9】______, in Japan the head of human-resource management is central—usually the second most important executive, after the CEO, in the firm' s【B10】______. As a【B11】______, problems【B12】______when new breakthrough technologies arrive. If American workers, for example, take much longer to learn【B13】______to operate new flexible manufacturing stations than workers in Germany (as they do), the effective cost of those stations is【B14】______in Germany than it is in the United States. More time is required before equipment is up and running at capacity, and the need for【B15】______retraining【B16】______costs and creates bottlenecks that【B17】______the speed with【B18】______new equipment can be employed. The result is a slower pace of technological【B19】______. And in the end the skills of the bottom half of the population【B20】______the wages of the top half. If the bottom half can't effectively staff the processes that have to be operated, the management and professional jobs that go with these processes will disappear.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：考查动词辨析。根据语境可知，空格处所在句意为：对人力资源缺乏重视从企业的等级制度中就可以看出来。B．attached(to)意为“与…有关的，附属于”，符合语境。compared(to)“与…相比较”；detached(to)“与…分离”；entitled(to)“有资格，有权利”，均不符合题意。故答案为B．attached。

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：考查动词短语辨析。pick up“捡起，学会，恢复”；start up“开始”；put up“建造，公布，提高(价格)，提名…为候选人”；move up“升级，升迁”。根据语境可知，此处意在表达“人力资源管理的责任人没有机会晋升至首席执行官的位置”，因此D．move up正确。

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】解析：考查形容词辨析。空格处所在句子的意思为：如果美国工人需要花费比德国工人长得多的时间去学习如何操作新的多用途制造设备，那么这种设备的有效成本在德国就比在美国要______。根据这个条件句可以判断出空格处表达的意思是“比…低”，故选D．lower。

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：考查形容词辨析。本题可运用对应成分分析法来找出答案。More time is required before equipment is up and running at capacity，and the need for______retraining…在这个句子中，required与the need对应；More time与空格处单词对应。More time表示数量上的概念，A．extensive“大量的”，符合对应条件，代入句中，表示“需要大量的重新培训”，符合文意。intensive“密集的，集中的”；excessive“过分的，过量的”；decisive“果断的，决定性的”，均不符合题意。

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】解析：考查动词辨析。空格处谓语动词的主语为“bottlenecks(瓶颈)”，宾语为“the speed(速度)”，B．limit“限制”，代入句中，表示“瓶颈制约了新设备被应用的速度”，符合文意。promote“提升”；confine“限制，禁闭，管制”，多指“使用外力控制自由”，不如limit贴切；accelerate“加快”，三项均不符合题意。

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】解析：考查名词辨析。空格处所在句意为：“其结果就是技术______的速度降低了。”四个选项，innovation意为“创新”，常和“technological”搭配，technological innovation意为“技术进步”，符合文意；recession“衰退”，显然不对；progression“进步”，可以用于此处，但没有innovation贴切；adaptation“调整”，语义不明，故排除。因此，本题最佳选项为A．innovation。