2015年同等学力英语专项练习(14)

　　To what extent are the unemployed failing in their duty to society to work, and how far has the state an obligation to ensure that they have work to do?

　　It is by now increasingly recognized that workers may be thrown out of work by industrial forces beyond their control, and that the unemployed are in some sense paying the price of the economic progress of the rest of the community. But concern with unemployment and the unemployed varies sharply. The issues of duty and responsibility were reopened and revitalized by the unemployment scare of 1971-2. Rising unemployment and increased sums paid out in benefits to the workless had reawakened controversies which had been inactive during most of the period of fuller employment since the war ended the depression. It looked as though in future there would again be too little work to go round, so there were arguments about how to produce more work, how the available work should be shared out, and who was responsible for unemployment and the unemployed.

　　In 1972 there were critics who said that the state's action in allowing unemployment to rise was a faithless act, a breaking of the social contract between society and the worker. Yet in the main any contribution by employers to unemployment such as laying off workers in order to introduce technological changes and maximize profits-tended to be ignored. And it was the unemployed who were accused of failing to honour the social contract, by not fulfilling their duty to society to work. In spite of general concern at the scale to the unemployment statistics, when the unemployed were considered as individuals, they tended to attract scorn and threats of punishment. Their capacities and motivation as workers and their value as members of society became suspect. Of all the myths of the welfare state, stories of the work-shy and borrowers have been the least well-founded on evidence, yet they have proved the most persistent. The unemployed were accused of being responsible for their own workless condition, and doubts were expressed about the state's obligation either to provide them with the security of work or to support them through social security.

　　Underlying the arguments about unemployment and the unemployed is a basic disagreement about the nature and meaning of work in society. To what extent can or should work be regarded as a service, not only performed by the worker for society but also made secure for the worker by the state, and supported if necessary? And apart from cash are there social pressures and satisfactions which cause individuals to seek and keep work, so that the workless need work rather than just cash?

　　1.It is the author's belief that .

　　a.unemployment must lead to inevitable depression of national economy

　　b.the unemployed are the victims of economical and social development

　　c.unemployment should be kept under the control of industrial forces

　　d.the unemployed are not entitled to share the benefits from technological progress

　　2.What the author proposes to examine is .

　　a.how far the unemployed are to blame for their failure in working and how far it is the state's fault

　　b.to what extent the state should insist on the unemployed working if they fail to do so

　　c.whether being at work is a social duty which the state should ensure everybody carries out

　　d.whether work should be obligatory, and if so, whether the state or the individual is responsible for enforced obligation

　　3.The effect of the 1971-2 unemployment scare was to .

　　a.make people think for the first time about the problem of the availability of work

　　b.make concern for unemployment and the unemployed vary

　　c.make the subject of unemployment controversial again

　　d.show that there would in future be too little work to go round

　　4.According to the author, in the 1971-2 crisis .

　　a.the state and the employers were equally to blame for allowing unemployment to rise

　　b.the unemployed did not fulfill their social duty to find jobs

　　c.the role played by the employers in creating unemployment was not recognized

　　d.the state was guilty of breaking the social contract by letting unemployment increase

　　5.The basic disagreement about the nature and meaning of work in society rests on the problem of whether or not .

　　a.the unemployed ought to be supported by society as a whole

　　b.the state should recognize that people work for more than just money

　　c.it is a service to provide people with work rather than cash

　　d.the state's duty to provide work is as great as the individual's duty to work

　　参考答案：

　　1.B B项与第2段第1句意思相符，其中victims of…(……的受害者)相当于该句的paying the price of (为……付出代价)。其余三项皆非作者之意。

　　2.A A项与起始句的内容一致，此问句点出了本文的主题。

　　3.C 此题出自第2段第3句，句中revitalize意为“使恢复活力”;unemployment scare是“失业大恐慌”。C项“使失业问题再起争论”符合该句中reopened and revitalized及下句中的reawakened controversies (重新引起争论)，故C为正确答案。

　　4.C 第3段第2句说雇主对失业的促成作用……往往被忽视(句中in the main意为“基本上;大体上”)。C项恰合此意，为正确答案。A项，文中无此说法。B项是对失业者的不正当指责。D项是一些critics (批评家)的说法，而非作者的意见。

　　5.D 此文末段第2句中not only performed by the worker for society but also made secure for the worker by the State“工作不仅是工人对社会应尽的义务，而且国家应保证工人能够工作着”，表明D项说法正确。A、B两项文中未提。C项只是论据之一。

本文选自新东方在线论坛。