单选题 {{B}}第二篇{{/B}}

{{B}}Importance of Services{{/B}}
The United States has moved beyond the industrial economy stage to the point where it has become the world's first service economy. Almost three fourths of the non-farm labor force is employed in service industries, and over two-thirds of the nation's gross national product is accounted for by services. Also, service jobs typically hold up better during a recession than do jobs in industries producing tangible goods.
During the 20-year period of 1966 to 1986, about 36 million new jobs were created in the United States — far more than in Japan and Western Europe combined. About 90 per cent of these jobs were in service industries. During this same time span, some 22 million women joined the labor force — and 97 per cent of these women went to work in the service sector. These employment trends are expected to continue at least until the year 2000. For the period 1986—2000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that over 21 million new jobs will be created and 93 per cent of them will be in service industries.
Moreover, most of this explosive growth in services employment is not in low — paying jobs, contrary to the beliefs of many economists, business and labor leaders, and politicians. These people argue that manufacturing jobs, which have been the economic foundation of America's middle class, are vanishing. They claim that factory workers are being replaced with a host of low-wage earners. It is true that manufacturing jobs have declined, with many of them going to foreign countries. It is also true that there has been growth in some low-paying service jobs. Yet cooks and counter people still represent only 1 per cent of the US labor force today. Furthermore, for many years the fastest-growing occupational category has been "professional, technical, and related work." These jobs pay well above the average, and most are in service industries.
About one-half of consumer expenditures are for the purchase of services. Projections to the year 2000 indicate that services will attract all even larger share of consumer spending. A drawback of the service economy boom is that the prices of most services have been going up at a considerably faster rate than the prices of most tangible products. You are undoubtedly aware of this if you have had your car or TV set repaired, had your shoes half-soled, or paid a medical bill in recent years.
When we say that services account for close to one-half of consumer expenditures, we still grossly understate the economic importance of services. These figures do not include the vast amounts spent for business services. By all indications, spending for business services has increased even more rapidly than spending for consumer services.
gross national product 国民生产总值, 略作 GNP
tangible goods 有形商品
drawback n. 缺点; 不利条件

单选题 The first paragraph intends to tell US that ______.

单选题 Between 1966 and 1986, the United States created about______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 问题问“在1966到1986年间，美国创造了多少……工作”。利用题干中的特征结构 "between 1996 and 1986”作为答案线索，这杆在文章中找到答案相关句：During the 20-year period of 1966 to 1986，about 36 million new jobs were created in the United States — far more than in Japan and Western Europe combined．About 90 per cent of these jobs were in service industries．划线句的内容说“360万份工作中，有90%是服务行业”，因此通过计算得知A是答案。

单选题 Many economists, business and labor leaders and politicians believe that______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 问题问“许多经济学家、企业领导、劳动者领导和政治家相信……”利用题干中起指代作用的特征词conomists，business and labor leaders and politicians作为答案线索，这样在第3段的第一句中找到答案相关句：Moreover, most of this explosive growth in services employment is not in low — paying jobs, contrary to the beliefs of many economists，business and labor leaders，and politicians．划线句的内容说“服务行业就业率的高速增长不是发生在低收入的工作上，这一点与‘许多经济学家、企业领导、劳动者领导和政治家’的观点相反”，因此判断B是答案。

单选题 The importance of services can be shown______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 问题问“服务行业的重要性能通过什么被显示出来?”该题直接涉及到文章主题，因此关注文章结尾部分的内容，而且选项中涉及到的内容(除了D以外)也都出现在文章最后一段：When we say that services account for close to one-half of consumer expenditures．we still grossly understate the economic importance of services．These figures do not include the vast amounts spent for business services．By all indications，spending for business services has increased even more rapidly than spending for consumer services．因此判断最后一段是答案相关段落，这段的内容说“当我们说服务几乎占了消费支出的一半时，我们仍然没有充分表明服务行业的经济重要性，……根据所有的迹象来看，商业性的服务开支比消费性服务开支的增长更快些”，因此判断C是答案。