单选题 In an essay, entitled "Making It in America," in the latest issue of The Atlantic , the author Adam Davidson relates a joke from cotton country about just how much a modern textile mill has been automated: The average mill has only two employees today, "a man and a dog. The man is there to feed the dog, and the dog is there to keep the man away from the machines."
Davidson"s article is one of a number of pieces that have recently appeared making the point that the reason we have such stubbornly high unemployment and sagging middle-class incomes today is largely because of the big drop in demand because of the Great Recession, but it is also because of the quantum advances in both globalization and the information technology revolution, which are more rapidly than ever replacing labor with machines or foreign workers.
Yes, new technology has been eating jobs forever, and always will. As they say, if horses could have voted, there never would have been cars. But there"s been an acceleration. As Davidson notes, "In the 10 years ending in 2009, factories shed workers so fast that roughly one out of every three manufacturing jobs—about 6 million in total—disappeared."
Besides, what the new technology won"t do in an above average way a Chinese worker will. Consider this paragraph from an article in The Times about why Apple does so much of its manufacturing in China: "Apple had redesigned the iPhone"s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly-line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the Chinese plant near midnight. A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company"s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within haft an hour started a 12-hour shift. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day. "The speed and flexibility is breathtaking," the executive said. "There"s no American plant that can match that.""
There will always be change—new jobs, new products, new services. But the one thing we know for sure is that with each advance in globalization and the I. T. revolution, the best jobs will require workers to have more and better education to make themselves above average. Here are the latest unemployment rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for Americans over 25 years old: those with less than a high school degree, 13.8 percent; those with a high school degree and no college, 8.7 percent; those with some college or associate degree, 7.7 percent; and those with bachelor"s degree or higher, 4.1 percent.
In a world where average is officially over, there are many things we need to do to buttress employment, but nothing would be more important than passing some kind of G. I. Bill for the 21st century that ensures that every American has access to post-high school education.

单选题 The joke quoted in Paragraph 1 is used to highlight ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】例证题
[解析] 文章第一段以一则笑话引入，这个笑话的内容是，如今，一家普通纺织厂只有两名员工，“一人，一狗。人负责喂狗，狗负责让人远离机器”。这则笑话揭示了现代纺织业自动化程度之高。A选项明显错误。B选项具有一定的迷惑性，这则笑话本身只是说明自动化程度高这个问题，当然自动化程度高有可能会引起劳动力剩余，但是这属于引申含义，并不是这个笑话可以直接反映的内容。C选项正确。D选项错误，工厂的自动化程度高，但人类并不一定在其中就扮演次要角色，人类还是工厂的控制者。

单选题 It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】推理题
[解析] 第二段作者点明文章主旨大意。居高不下的失业率除了受到内需的影响之外，和信息技术带来的生产率的突飞猛进和全球化带来的海外廉价劳动力也有着千丝万缕的关系。A选项为正确答案，技术进步和全球化进程都是被广泛认可的经济趋势，但是却给美国带来了就业率降低的后果，这是人们未曾料想到的。B选项错误，全球化进程使得美国的高技能高薪水的劳动力被放置到了全球的环境中与发展中国家同样技能而低薪水的劳动力竞争，因此美国的失业率恶化，而发展中国家的就业率却会提升。C选项错误，第二段提到了drop in demand，但是内需的降低是就业率降低的原因，不是企业去海外寻找廉价劳动力的原因，企业去海外寻找廉价劳动力是全球化推动的结果。D选项夸大其词，技术进步确实有一定的负面影响，例如加深了失业率，但是说毁灭性的后果难免夸大其词。

单选题 What does the author mean by saying "if horses could have voted, there never would have been cars"?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】句子理解题
[解析] 题干中的这句话出现在文章的第三段，第三段第一句话就点明了这一段的主旨，“new technology has been eating jobs forever, and always will”，“新技术是吞噬工作的宿敌，从前如此，今后亦然”。“如果当初马能够投票，就不可能出现汽车了”表面上看是在说技术进步的历史偶然性，但仔细阅读不难发现这是一句反讽之语，因为马投票是永远不可能出现的事情，也就是说汽车出现代替马这种劳动力是必然会发生，且无法阻挡的事情。因此正确答案应该选D，而不能选A。B选项错误，虽然第三段中提到了“...there"s been an acceleration”，“新技术取代旧劳动力的进程在现代社会加快了步伐”，但是这并不是题干中的这句话要说明的问题。C选项以偏概全，对于技术的进步总会有强烈的抵制，但是这种抵制也无法阻挡技术进步的步伐，这才是整句话的完整内涵。

单选题 The Apple"s example in Paragraph 4 is used to ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】例证题
[解析] 第三段讲的是技术进步对于就业率的冲击，第四段接着讲全球化进程对于美国就业率的冲击，作者举了苹果中国工厂的例子。苹果中国工厂在最后关头接到需要对iPhone屏幕设计进行修改的通知，然后在96个小时内，就完成了所有的修改任务。中国工厂的速度和灵活性令美国工厂望尘莫及，这也是为什么苹果公司会将生产任务放到中国完成的原因。作者举这个例子是为了让美国人意识到为什么美国的劳动力市场会受到来自中国等发展中国家的冲击。A选项错误，虽然有很多关于苹果中国工厂的负面报道，但这里它是作为正面案例被作者引用的。B选项错误，作者举苹果的例子并不是想要证明苹果有多么成功。C选项不够全面，作者赞扬中国工人的纪律性和高效的目的还是要与美国工厂作对比，让美国人意识到来自海外廉价劳动力的威胁，因此正确答案是D。

单选题 In the author"s opinion, in order to boost employment, the most important thing to do is ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】作者观点题
[解析] 本题考查对文章最后两段内容的理解，作者在最后两段中具体阐述了要改变美国现状，提升美国就业率的办法。作者认为，在这样一个内忧外患的时代，唯一可以确定的就是“the best jobs will require workers to have more and better education to make themselves above average”，“最好的工作要求员工具有超出一般劳动力的知识和技能”。并且列举了一系列的数据说明学历高的人比学历低的人就业率高。最后一段中作者也明确指出“...but nothing would be more important than passing some kind of G.I. Bill for the 21st century that ensures that every American has access to post-high school education”；“……没有什么比通过《退伍军人权利法案》等诸如此类的法律法规，以确保在21世纪每个美国人都有机会接受高等教育更为重要的了。”G.I. Bill即《退伍军人权利法案》，最先于二战末期起草生效，给退伍美军军人提供免费的大学或者技校教育，以及一年的失业补助。因此，在作者的眼中，要提升就业率的最重要的事情就是保证美国公民接受高等教育的途径。正确答案选C。