Questions 1 to 10 are based on the following passage.
A new era is upon us. Call it what you will: the service economy, the information age, the Knowledge Society. It all translates to a fundamental (1) ________ in the way we work. Already we’re partly there.
The percentage of people who earn their living by making things has fallen (2) ________ in the western world. Today the(3) ________ of jobs in America, Europe and Japan (two thirds or more in many of these countries) are in the service industry, and the number is on the rise. More (4) ________ are in the work force than ever before. There’re more part- time jobs and the breadth of the economic (5) ________ is no longer being measured by numbers alone.
We have only to look behind us to get some sense of what may lie ahead. No one looking ahead 20 years possibly could have foreseen the ways in which a (6) ________ invention of the chip, would transform our world (7) ________ to its applications in personal computers, digital communications and factory robots. Tomorrow’s achievements in biotechnology artificial intelligence or even some still (8) ________ technology could produce a similar wave of dramatic change, but one thing is certain: information and knowledge will become even more vital, and the people who (9)________ it, whether they work in manufacturing or services, will have the advantage and produce the wealth. Computer knowledge will become as basic a requirement as the ability to read and write. The ability to solve problems by applying information instead of (10) ________ routine tasks will be valued above all else.
A. unimagined
B. predictable
C. majority
D. opportunities
E. women
F. thanks
G. recall
H. single
I. change
J. automatically
K. dramatically
L. performing
M. possess
N. general
O. utilizing
I
句意为“这一切都意味着我们工作方式的根本改变。 ”故应填change(变化, 改变) 。
K
分析句子成分, 基本成分主谓宾已有, 故缺定状补, 又跟在动词fall后面, 则该处应填副词。 automatically自动地; 机械地; 无意识地。 dramatically戏剧地; 显著地, 剧烈地。 只有dramatically与句意相符, 故选K。
C
the majority of表示“……的大多数”, 为固定用法。
E
显然此处缺少主语, 且为名词, 选项中只有women最为合适, 意为“职场中女性较以往越来越多”。
D
分析句子成分可知, 在此应填入名词, 与economic构成名词短语, 因此填入opportunities。
H
句意为“即使向后预测20年, 可能也没人可以预见到单一的一个发明——芯片”。 single在此表示“仅一个的, 单一的”。
F
由transform ... to(使……转化为……) 可知此处为名词, 选项中thanks较为符合题意, 表示“……因为它在个人电脑、 数字通信和生产机器上的应用而改变我们的世界”。
A
unimagined指“(好、 大得) 无法想象的, 想象不到的”, 在该句中用来表达未来技术的发展不可预料, 与后面的but one thing is certain对应。
M
该空后面的it指代information and knowledge, 则由题意此处possess最为合适, 表示“拥有, 具有(某品质或能力) ”。
L
instead of后面应该跟动词的-ing形式, 选项中只有performing和utilizing符合语法, 而根据后面routine tasks可得出performing更符合题意, 表示“执行日常任务, 履行日常工作”。