(A)
If American customs seem strange, remember that Americans feel the same way when they visit another country. People living in different cultures do many daily things differently from one another. What a dull the world would be if this were not true!
Some differences are small, and one soon becomes accustomed to them. For example, many people find it strange that Americans move from place to place so often. Born in one city, they may attend school in a second, enter business in a third, and perhaps move several more times during their lives. Today, most Americans fully expect and accept the fact that they will move frequently.
Nevertheless, houses are of GREat interest to American. They spend a lot of time thinking, reading and talking about their homes and how to improve them. They also enjoy looking at other people’s houses, since they would enjoy visiting and examining a house in another country, they may assume that you will probably have the same desire when you visit the
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1. The first paragraph implies that ________ .
A. only American customs prove to be strange
B. customs vary with the times
C. customs vary from country to country
D. Americans feel uneasy when they visit another country
2. According to the passage, the world would be terribly dull if ________ .
A. people living in different countries did a lot of daily things in the same way
B. people living in various regions in the world did a few daily things in the same way
C. the people all over the world spoke the same language
D. most of the world people did daily things differently from one another
3. Most Americans take it for granted that ________ .
A. they will move frequently
B. they do many daily things differently from one another
C. the world is not dull
D. customs vary with different cultures
4. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Americans perhaps move several times during their lives.
B. Americans enjoy visiting others’ houses.
C. It takes Americans much time to think, read and talk about their houses and how to perfect them.
D. You are shown all the rooms in the house except the bathroom when you visit an American family.
(B)
Automation refers to the introduction of electronic control and automatic operation of productive machinery. It reduces the human factors, mental and physical, in production, and is designed to make possible the manufacture of more goods with fewer workers. The development of automation in American industry has been called the “Second Industrial Revolution”.
Labour’s concern over automation arises out of major changes in jobs. In the main, labour has taken the view that resistance to technical change is unfruitful. Eventually, the result of automation may well be an increase in employment, since it is expected that vast industries will grow up around manufacturing, maintaining, and repairing automatic equipment. The interest of labour lies in bringing about the transition with a minimum of inconvenience and distress to the workers involved. Also, union spokesmen emphasize that the benefit of the increased production and lower costs made it possible by automation that it should be shared by workers in the form of higher wages, more leisure, and improved living standards.
To protect the interests of their members in the era of automation, unions have adopted a number of new policies. One of these is the promotion of supplementary unemployment benefit plans. It is emphasized that since the employer involved in such a plan has a direct financial interest in preventing unemployment, he will have a strong drive for planning new installations so as to cause the least possible problems in job assignments. Some unions are working for dismissal pay aGREements, requiring that permanently dismissed workers be paid a sum of money based on length of service. Another approach is the idea of the “improvement factor”, which calls for wage increases based on increase in productivity. It is possible, however, that labour will rely mainly on reduction working hours in order to gain a full share in the fruits of automation.
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5. Though labour worries about the effects of automation, it never doubts that automation ________ .
A. will eventually prevent unemployment
B. will help workers acquire new skills
C. will eventually benefit the workers no less than the employers
D. is a trend which cannot be stopped
6. The idea of the “improvement factor ” (in the third paragraph) implies roughly________ .
A. wages should be paid on the basis of length of service
B. the benefit of the increased production and lower costs should be shared by workers
C. supplementary unemployment benefit plans should be promoted
D. the transition with the minimum of inconvenience and distress to workers should be brought about
7. In order to get the full benefits of automation, labour will depend mostly on ________ .
A. additional payment to the permanently dismissed workers
B. the increase of wages in proportion to the increase in productivity
C. shorter working hours and more leisure time
D. strong drive for planning new installations
8. Which of the following can best sum up the passage?
A. Advantages and disadvantage of automation.
B. Labour and the effects of automation.
C. Unemployment benefit plans and automation.
D. Social benefits of automation.
key:
1. C。该题为推理题,从第一段第二句可以推断出来。 2. A。该题为细节题,从第一段最后一句可以看出。 3. A。 推理判断题,从第二段可以判断出来。 4. D。该题为细节题,从最后一段最后一句可以看出。 5. D。该题为细节题,从第二段第二句可以推断出来。 6. B。该题为推断题,从“...which calls for wage increases based on increase in productivity,”可以得出。 7. C。从最后一段最后一句话可以得出。 8. B。该题为逻辑推断题,整篇文章都是围绕着“Labour and the effects of automation”的关系展开论述的。
