Passage 31
The “deindustrialization” thesis of Bluestone and Harrison asserts that the replacement of domestic with foreign manufacturing begun by United States corporations in the late 1960s resulted in a “hollowing out” of American industry, whereby workers displaced from manufacturing jobs through massive plant closings found themselves moving more or less permanently into lower-paying, less secure jobs or into unemployment. Critics of the deindustrialization thesis have argued that new service and high-technology sectors of the United States economy have recently created a substantial number of jobs. While these critics do not deny the painful aspects of this transition from an industrial to a service- and information-based economy, they argue that it will be short-term, and a necessary evil if the United States is to have long-term increases in living standards. Critics of the emerging economy, however, point to disturbing evidence of an “hourglass” effect: a shrinking middle tier of managerial and blue-collar unionized workers and consequent polarization of incomes. The emergence of a technical and financial elite, they argue, has brought forth a host of low-wage jobs to service the new economy, and it is this service sector that many ex-industrial workers must seek.
1. The purpose of the passage is to
A. analyze the events that contributed to an economic phenomenon
B. present different views on the nature and impact of an economic phenomenon
C. distinguish between the short-term and long-term effects of an economic phenomenon
D. challenge a dominant theory about how to solve the problems created by an economic phenomenon
E. present new evidence to suggest that an economic phenomenon is more complex than had previously been believed
2. Which of the following, if true, would most tend to weaken the deindustrialization thesis of Bluestone and Harrison?
A. a survey of the spouses of former industrial workers reveals a significant increase in the number of working spouses since the mid-1960s.
B. data from the most recent United States census show that fewer individuals list their occupation as industrial worker than in the census from ten years earlier.
C. a random survey of United States consumers indicates that a majority of those surveyed would prefer to buy United States-manufacturing goods if given the opportunity.
D. A recent study indicates that large numbers of former industrial workers have retrained and found employment as skilled, highly-paid computer workers.
E. Interviews with representatives at major agencies for temporary employment in the United States suggest that they value the skills of former industrial workers.
3. It can be inferred from the passage that the highlighted “critics” believe which of the following about “hourglass” effect?
A. It involves the relegation of industrial workers to less desirable jobs.
B. It requires that workers make short-term sacrifices to achieve long-term gains.
C. It affects non-unionized workers more strongly than it does unionized workers.
D. It represents an increase in unemployment for those in the service sector.
E. It threatens the status of the technological and financial elite.
答案：B D A