单选题 People have speculated for centuries about a future without work.Today is no different, with academics, writers, and activists once again1 that technology is replacing human workers. Some imagine that the coming work-free world will be defined by2 . A few wealthy people will own all the capital, and the masses will struggle in an impoverished wasteland.

A different and not mutually exclusive3 holds that the future will be a wasteland of a different sort, one4 by purposelessness: Without jobs to give their lives5 , people will simply become lazy and depressed. 6 today’s unemployed don’t seem to be having a great time. One Gallup poll found that 20 percent of Americans who have been unemployed for at least a year report having depression, double the rate for 7 Americans. Also, some research suggests that the8 for rising rates of mortality, mental-health problems, and addicting9poorly-educated middle-aged people is shortage of well-paid jobs. Perhaps this is why many 10 the agonizing dullness of a jobless future.

But it doesn’t 11 follow from findings like these that a world without work would be filled with unease. Such visions are based on the12 of being unemployed in a society built on the concept of employment. In the 13 of work, a society designed with other ends in mind could14 strikingly different circumstances for the future of labor and leisure. Today, the15of work may be a bit overblown. “Many jobs are boring, degrading, unhealthy, and a waste of human potential,” says John Danaher, a lecturer at the National University of Ireland in Galway.

These days, because leisure time is relatively16for most workers, people use their free time to counterbalance the intellectual and emotional17 of their jobs. “When I come home from a hard day’s work, I often feel18 ,” Danaher says, adding, “In a world in which I don’t have to work, I might feel rather different”—perhaps different enough to throw himself19 a hobby or a passion project with the intensity usually reserved for20matters.

16选?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】语义衔接题。空格所在句的后半句指出“人们通常利用空闲时间来平衡工作中智力及情感上的需要”,由此可以推出, 在空闲时间不足的情况下,人们只能遵循“首先处理工作上的需求”的原则。而且根据常识也可以判断,工作的人空闲的时间是较少的,因此 D 为正确答案。 lengthy “过长的;冗长的”与文意相反; tricky “狡猾的;棘手的” 和 mysterious “神秘的”不符合文意,故均排除。