Question

    For most of us, work is the central, dominating fact of life. We spend more than half our conscious hours at work, preparing for work, traveling to and from work. What we do there largely determines our standard of living and our status to a considerable extent. It is sometimes said that because leisure has become more important, the injustices of work can be pushed into a corner, and that because most work is pretty intolerable, the people who do it should compensate for its boredom, frustrations and humiliations by concentrating their hopes on the other parts of their lives. For the foreseeable future, however, the material and psychological rewards which work can provide will continue to play a vital part in determining the satisfaction that life can offer.

Yet only a small minority can control the pace at which they work or the conditions where their work is done; only for a small minority does work offer scope for creativity, imagination or initiative.

Inequality at work is still one of the most glaring (明显的) forms of inequality in our society. We cannot hope to solve the more obvious problems of industrial life, many of which arise from the frustrations created by inequality at work, unless we handle it determinedly.

The most glaring inequality is that between managers and the rest. For most managers, work is an opportunity and a challenge. Their jobs engage their interest and allow them to develop their abilities. They are constantly learning. They are able to exercise responsibility. They have a considerable degree of control over their own and others’ working lives. Most important of all, they have opportunities to initiate. By contrast, for most manual workers, work is a boring, dull, even painful experience. They spend all their working lives in intolerable conditions. The majority have little control over their work. It provides them with no opportunity for personal development. Many jobs are so routine that workers feel themselves to be mere cogs (齿轮) in the bureaucratic machine. As a direct consequence of their work experience, many workers feel alienated (疏远) from their work and their firm.

1.In the writer’s opinion, people judge others mainly by ________.

A.the type of work they do B.the place where they work

C.the time they spend at work D.the amount of money they earn

2.According to the writer, to solve problems in an industrial society, we ________.

A.should create more working opportunities for the poor

B.have to get rid of the unequal aspects in work

C.had better cancel all managing positions in a company

D.should encourage the manual workers to promote efficiency

3.What advantage does the writer say managers have over workers?

A.They won’t be out of work.

B.They get time off to learn constantly.

C.They can work at what interests them.

D.They have complete control over themselves.

Answer

1.A

2.B

3.C

【解析】

本文是议论文。工作的人们生活的中心和主导，工作也给人们带来很多的问题。文章论述了这些问题。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段的第二句话What we do there largely determines our standard of living and our status to a considerable extent.（我们在那里的所作所为在很大程度上决定了我们的生活水平和地位）可推知，别人会根据我们的工作来评判我们。故选A。

2.细节理解题。根据第三段中的We cannot hope to solve the more obvious problems of industrial life, many of which arise from the frustrations created by inequality at work, unless we handle it determinedly.（我们不能指望解决工业生活中更明显的问题，其中许多问题是由工作中的不平等造成的挫折引起的，除非我们坚决地处理它）可知，我们的工作存在很多不公平的现象，除非我们坚决抵制。这里inequality 与 unequal同义替换，handle it determinedly与get rid of 同义替换。故选B。

3.细节理解题。根据最后一段Their jobs engage their interest and allow them to develop their abilities.（他们的工作激发了他们的兴趣，使他们得以发展自己的能力）可知，他们可以从事自己感兴趣的工作。A选项无中生有，B选项没有说they will get time off, D选项原文是to a large extent而非complete control.故选C。