In the last 12 years total employment in the United States grew faster than at any time in the peacetime history of any country – from 82 to 110 million between 1973 and 1985 – that is, by a full one third. The entire growth, however, was in manufacturing, and especially in no – blue-collar jobs…

This trend is the same in all developed countries, and is, indeed, even more pronounced in Japan. It is therefore highly probable that in 25 years developed countries such as the United States and Japan will employ no larger a proportion of the labor force I n manufacturing than developed countries now employ in farming – at most, 10 percent. Today the United States employs around 18 million people in blue-collar jobs in manufacturing industries. By 2010, the number is likely to be no more than 12 million. In some major industries the drop will be even sharper. It is quite unrealistic, for instance, to expect that the American automobile industry will employ more than one –third of its present blue-collar force 25 years hence, even though production might be 50 percent higher.

If a company, an industry or a country does not in the next quarter century sharply increase manufacturing production and at the same time sharply reduce the blue-collar work force, it cannot hope to remain competitive – or even to remain “developed.” The attempt to preserve such blue – collar jobs is actually a prescription for unemployment…

This is not a conclusion that American politicians, labor leaders or indeed the general public can easily understand or accept. What confuses the issue even more it that the United States is experiencing several separate and different shifts in the manufacturing economy. One is the acceleration of the substitution of knowledge and capital for manual labor. Where we spoke of mechanization a few decades ago, we now speak of “robotization “ or “automation.” This is actually more a change in terminology than a change in reality. When Henry Ford introduced the assembly line in 1909, he cut the number of man – hours required to produce a motor car by some 80 percent in two or three years –far more than anyone expects to result from even the most complete robotization. But there is no doubt that we are facing a new, sharp acceleration in the replacement of manual workers by machines –that is, by the products of knowledge.

1.According to the author, the shrinkage in the manufacturing labor force demonstrates______.

A.the degree to which a country’s production is robotized

B.a reduction in a country’s manufacturing industries

C.a worsening relationship between labor and management

D.the difference between a developed country and a developing country

2.According to the author, in coming 25years, a developed country or industry, in order t remain competitive, ought to ______.

A.reduce the percentage of the blue-collar work force

B.preserve blue – collar jobs for international competition

C.accelerate motor – can manufacturing in Henry Ford’s style

D.solve the problem of unemployment

3.American politicians and labor leaders tend to dislike_____.

A.confusion in manufacturing economy

B.an increase in blue – collar work force

C.internal competition in manufacturing production

D.a drop in the blue – collar job opportunities

4.The word “prescription” in “a prescription for unemployment” may be the equivalent to ______

A.something recommended as medical treatment

B.a way suggested to overcome some difficulty

C.some measures taken in advance

D.a device to dire

5.This passage may have been excepted from ________

A.a magazine about capital investment

B.an article on automation

C.a motor-car magazine

D.an article on global economy

PartIIICloze

Directions:Therearetwentyblanksinthefollowingpassage.Foreachblanktherearefourchoices.ChoosetheonethatbestfitsintothepassageandthenmarksyouranswerontheAnswerSheet.

Whatmakesachildspeakalanguagehaslongbeenapuzzletolinguists.61speaking,therearetwoschoolsoflinguists,bothofwhomtrytoexplain62achildpicksupalanguagesoeasily.Thefactthatachildpicksalanguage63is64:Atoneyearold,achildisabletosay“bye-bye”;attwo,heisabletousefifty;bytherehebeginsto65tenses.ThefamousAmericanlinguistNoamChomsky66thathumanbeinghaveasortofbuilt-insystemforlanguageuse,andthatthe67is68.Childrenarenottaughtlanguage69theyaretaughtarithmetic.Otherlinguists,70,holdtheviewthatachildlearns71ofhislanguagefromthehintsintheenvironment.72,theoristsofbothschools73thatthereisabiologicalbasisforlanguageuse.The74iswhichismoreimportant,theinnerabilityortheenvironment.Thisiscertainlyafield75tobeexplored.Researchersfrombothschoolsarebusyfindingevidenceto76theirowntheory,but77sideispersuadingtheother.

Itseemsthatinorderto78whyachildlearnsalanguagesoeasily,wehaveto79thejointeffortsofbothschools.Somelinguist,likeDeVilliers,hasrecognizedthevalueofcooperation,and80linguistsofbothsidestoworktogether.

61.A.SurprisinglyB.PersonallyC.ProperlyD.Roughly

62.A.thatB.whenC.whyD.how

63.A.independentlyB.naturallyC.withouthelpD.withease

64.A.confusingB.surprisingC.questionedD.suspected

65.A.masterB.studyC.haveD.get

66.A.doubtsB.believesC.realizesD.criticizes

67.A.helpB.teacherC.environmentD.hint

68.A.quiteessentialB.veryimportantC.notnecessaryD.onlysecondary

69.A.asB.forC.whenD.though

70.A.inparticularB.asaresultC.howeverD.therefore

71.A.alittleB.someC.nothingD.most

72.A.BeforeB.FromnowonC.JustnowD.Bynow

73.A.suspectB.disagreeC.agreeD.realize

74.A.caseB.argumentC.problemD.question

75.A.waitingB.planningC.neverD.unlikely

76.A.provideB.createC.supplyD.support

77.A.notaB.oneC.neitherD.either

78.A.findoutB.ruleoutC.searchforD.lookfor

79.A.getridofB.trustinC.relyonD.persistin

80.A.orderedB.criticizedC.challengedD.urged

Which is safer-staying at home， traveling to work on public transport， or working in the office? Surprisingly， each of these carries the same risk， which is very low. However， what about flying compared to working in the chemical industry? Unfortunately， the former is 65 times riskier than the latter! In fact， the accident rate of workers in the chemical industry is less than that of almost any of human activity， and almost as safe as staying at home.

The trouble with the chemical industry is that when things go wrong they often cause death to those living nearby. It is this which makes chemical accidents so newsworthy. Fortunately， they are extremely rare. The most famous ones happened at Texas City (1947)，Flixborough (1974)， Seveso (1976)， Pemex (1984) and Bhopal (1984)。

Some of these are always in the minds of the people even though the loss of life was small. No one died at Seveso， and only 28 workers at Flixborough. The worst accident of all was Bhopal， where up to 3，000 were killed. The Texas City explosion of fertilizer killed 552. The Pemex fire at a storage plant for natural gas in the suburbs of Mexico City took 542 lives， just a month before the unfortunate event at Bhopal.

Some experts have discussed these accidents and used each accident to illustrate a particular danger. Thus the Texas City explosion was caused by tons of ammonium nitrate(硝酸铵)，which is safe unless stored in great quantity. The Flixborough fireball was the fault of management， which took risks to keep production going during essential repairs. The Seveso accident shows what happens if the local authorities lack knowledge of the danger on their doorstep. When the poisonous gas drifted over the town， local leaders were incapable of taking effective action. The Pemex fire was made worse by an overloaded site in an overcrowded suburb. The fire set off a chain reaction os exploding storage tanks. Yet， by a miracle， the two largest tanks did not explode. Had these caught fire， then 3，000 strong rescue team and fire fighters would all have died.

1.Chemical accidents are usually important enough to be reported as news because ____.

A.they are very rare

B.they often cause loss of life

C.they always occur in big cities

D.they arouse the interest of all the readers

2.Which of the following statements is true?

A.Working at the office is safer than staying at home.

B.Traverlling to work on public transport is safer than working at the office.

C.Staying at home is safer than working in the chemical industry.

D.Working in the chemical industry is safer than traveling by air.

3.According to passage， the chemical accident that caused by the fault of management happened at ____.

A.Texas city B.Flixborough C.Seveso D.Mexico City

4.From the discussion among some experts we may coclude that ____.

A.to avoid any accidents we should not repair the facilities in chemical industry

B.the local authorities should not be concerned with the production of the chemical industry

C.all these accidents could have been avoided or controlled if effective measure had been taken

D.natural gas stored in very large tanks is always safe

5.From the passage we know that ammonium nitrate is a kind of ____.

A.natural gas， which can easily catch fire

B.fertilizer， which can't be stored in a great quantity

C.poisonous substance， which can't be used in overcrowded areas

D.fuel， which is stored in large tanks

While doing calculation for the project, the designers____a new solution to a geological problem.

Part IV Translation

Combined with the messaging service, the location service could help rescue teams to find stranded adventurers, the police to find stolen cars, exporters to follow the progress of cargoes, and haulage companies to check that drivers are not detouring the pub.(Passage Four)