Question

Before 1815 producing in the United States had been done in homes or shops by skilled artisans(工匠). As master craft workers, they passed on the knowledge of their trades to apprentices and journeymen. In addition, women often worked in their homes part­time, making finished articles from raw material supplied by merchant capitalists. After 1815 this older form of producing began to give way to factories with machinery tended by unskilled or semiskilled laborers. Cheap transportation networks, the rise of cities, and the availability of capital and credit all stimulated(刺激) the shift to factory production.

The factory changed that. Goods produced by factories were not as finished or elegant as those done by hand, and pride in craftsmanship(工艺) gave way to the pressure to increase rates of productivity. The new methods of doing business involved a new and stricter sense of time. Factory life necessitated a more rigid schedule, where work began at the sound of a bell and workers kept machines going at a constant pace.

The first generation to experience these changes did not adopt the new attitudes easily. The factory clock became the symbol of the new work rules. One mill worker who finally quit complained revealingly about “obedience(服从) to the ding­dong of the bell­just as though we are so many living machines”. With the loss of personal freedom also came the loss of standing in the community.

In this newly appearing economic order, workers sometimes organized to protect their rights and traditional ways of life. Craft workers such as carpenters, printers, and tailors formed unions, and in 1834 individual unions came together in the National Trades' Union. The labor movement made progress in the decade before the Panic of 1837, but in the depression that followed, labor's strength collapsed. During hard times, few workers were willing to strike or engage in collective action. And skilled craft workers, who led the union movement, did not feel a particularly strong bond with semiskilled factory workers and unskilled laborers. More than a decade of agitation(抗议) did finally bring a workday shortened to 10 hours to most industries by the 1850's, and the courts also recognized workers' right to strike, but these gains had little immediate impact.

Workers were united in feeling angry or upset about the industrial system and their loss of status, but they were divided by ethnic and racial antagonisms(对立), gender, conflicting religious perspectives, occupational differences, political party loyalties, and disagreements over tactics(策略). For them, the factory and industrialism were not agents of opportunity but reminders of their loss of independence and a measure of control over their lives. As United States society became more specialized and differentiated, greater extremes of wealth began to appear. And as the new markets created fortunes for the few, the factory system lowered the wages of workers by dividing labor into smaller and less skilled tasks.

1.What can be inferred from the passage about articles produced before 1815?

A. They were primarily produced by women.

B. They were generally produced in shops rather than in homes.

C. They were produced mostly in large cities with large transportation networks.

D. They were produced with more concern for quality than for speed of production.

2.What does the complaint from a mill worker in Paragraph 3 convey?

A. Clocks did not have a useful function in factories.

B. It was difficult for workers to adjust to working in factories.

C. Factories were most successful when workers revealed their complaints.

D. Workers sometimes quit because of the loud noise made by factory machinery.

3.The author identifies political party loyalties, and disagreements over tactics as two of several factors that ________.

A. created divisions among workers

B. caused work to become more specialized

C. encouraged workers to demand higher wages

D. increased worker's complaint of the industrial system

Answer

1. D

2. B

3. A

【解析】

本文是一篇议论文，在19世纪很多生产活动都是由技术纯熟的工匠完成的，他们注重产品的质量而不是速度。随着工业体系的发展，生产模式发生了巨大的变化，也给人们带来了很大的困扰。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段前两句“Before 1815 producing in the United States had been done in homes or shops by skilled artisans(工匠). As master craft workers, they passed on the knowledge of their trades to apprentices and journeymen.”可以看出在1815年之前的生产都是有技术娴熟的工匠来做，注重的是质量而不是生产的速度，因此选择D

2.推理判断题。由题干定位到第三段中员工们的抱怨，从第三段的第一句和最后一句“The first generation to experience these changes did not adopt the new attitudes easily. …With the loss of personal freedom also came the loss of standing in the community.”中可以看出随着自由的失去，员工们对于工作逐渐变得不适应，因为选择B

3.判断推理题。根据最后一段第一句“Workers were united in feeling angry or upset about the industrial system and their loss of status, but they were divided by ethnic and racial antagonisms(对立), gender, conflicting religious perspectives, occupational differences, political party loyalties, and disagreements over tactics(策略).”中的几个例子列举突出员工们在种族、政党、性别、宗教观念等方面持有不同的意见，这些原因导致了工人们之间出现了分歧。故选A