Almost 15 years ago, in “The Work of Nations,” I described a three-tiered work force found in most advanced economies. At the bottom were workers who offer personal service, mainly in retail outlets, restaurants, hotels and hospitals. In the middle were production workers in factories or offices, performing simple, repetitive tasks. At the top were “symbolic analysts”, like engineers or lawyers, who manipulate information to solve problems. Educated to think critically, almost all have university degrees. They were the knowledge workers of the new economy.
I predicted that advances in technology, and globalization, would widen the gaps in income and opportunity between these tiers. What I didn’t predict was that the three tiers would change shape so dramatically. The top and bottom tiers are growing, and the middle shrinking, much faster than I expected. Symbolic analysts now make up more than a fifth of all jobs in advanced economies, up from about 15 percent 15 years ago. Their incomes in developing economies are soaring, relative to other workers’.
Two different groups of symbolic analysts are emerging: national and global. Most symbolic analysts still work within a national economy, manipulating various kinds of symbols with the aid of computers. They’re at the core of their nations’ middle class—accountants, engineers, lawyers, journalists and other university-trained professionals.
Yet a new group is emerging at the very top. They’re CEOs and CFOs of global corporations, and partners and executives in global investment banks, law firms and consultancies. Unlike most national symbolic analysts, these global symbolic analysts conduct almost all their work in English, and share with one another an increasingly similar cosmopolitan culture.
There’s a good economic reason that this group of global symbolic analysts emerged. Global commerce is now occurring on a scale and with a complexity that no commercial contract can adequately cover and no single legal system can sufficiently enforce. Hence, global dealmakers must rely to an ever greater extent on an extended network of people whom they trust.
The fears of national symbolic analysts are premature. The demand for their skills is still rising, notwithstanding the new competition. The earnings of university graduates in the United States and most advanced economies continue to outpace the earnings of those with only secondary-school diplomas, and the earnings of people with graduate and professional degrees are rising even faster. If demand for symbolic analysts were dropping, we would expect the opposite.
Yet unless the advanced economies invest more in education and basic R&D, they could lose their global lead in science, engineering and high-value-added production within a few decades. China and India are now graduating more engineers and computer scientists than are emerging from American and European universities. At some point, national symbolic analysts in advanced economies will lose ground. Their global brethren, meanwhile, will continue to dominate global commerce. The income and wealth gap between them will widen into a chasm. They will live, literally, in different cultures.
1. In what way is the prediction made by the author 15 years ago flawed?
2. In what way has the three tiers changed shape in developed countries?
3. The emergence of the global symbolic analysts is mainly attributable to the ______.
4. The author advises advanced countries that want to keep their competitive advantage to ______.
5. The author implies in the text that ______.
问题1选项
A.The income gaps between the tiers are not widening.
B.Advances in technology create a fourth tier on the top.
C.The income gap between the middle and top tiers is made wider.
D.The knowledge workers become the largest group of the workforce.
问题2选项
A.The number of manufacturing workers is on the decline.
B.The symbolic analysts have become the dominant work force.
C.The number of people in service industry remains stable.
D.The computer workers receive the larger salaries than other workers.
问题3选项
A.popularity of the English language
B.increased transnational business transaction
C.lack of suitable law applicable to global dealings
D.emergence of a global culture
问题4选项
A.narrow down the income gaps between tiers of the workforce
B.give national symbolic analysts cons
C.pay due attention to the rise of global symbolic analysts
D.stream more money into education and research
问题5选项
A.a four-tiered classification is more suitable for picturing the present work force
B.national symbolic analysts will play a vital role in the upcoming globalization
C.graduates from Chinese and Indian universities will be valued in advanced economies
D.engineers and computer scientists will play different roles in different cultures
第1题:C
第2题:A
第3题:C
第4题:D
第5题:B
第1题:
【选项释义】
In what way is the prediction made by the author 15 years ago flawed? 作者15年前做出的预测有哪些缺陷？
A. The income gaps between the tiers are not widening. A. 阶层之间的收入差距并没有扩大。
B. Advances in technology create a fourth tier on the top. B. 技术的进步创造了比高层更高的第四层。
C. The income gap between the middle and top tiers is made wider. C. 中高层收入差距进一步扩大。
D. The knowledge workers become the largest group of the workforce. D. 知识工人成为劳动力的最大群体。
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】根据题干可定位答案所在区域为第二段。根据第二段前三句“我预测，技术进步和全球化将扩大这些阶层之间的收入和机会差距。我没有预料到的是，这三层的形状会发生如此巨大的变化。顶层和底层都在增长，而中层在萎缩，比我预期的要快得多”可知顶层在增长，中层在萎缩，因此可以推断出中高层阶级的收入差距变得更大了，这是作者没有预测到的，所以正确答案为C选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项：“阶层之间的收入差距并没有扩大”，根据第二段内容可知阶层之间的收入差距扩大了，该选项属于曲解原文；
B选项：“技术的进步创造了比高层更高的第四层”，原文没有提及，属于无中生有；
D选项：“知识工人成为劳动力的最大群体”，根据第一段最后三句“顶层是‘象征性分析师’，比如工程师或律师，他们操纵信息来解决问题。受过批判性思维教育的人，几乎都有大学学位。他们是新经济时代的知识工作者”，可知知识工作者是指顶层的劳动者，该选项属于曲解原文。
第2题:
【选项释义】
In what way has the three tiers changed shape in developed countries? 这三个等级在发达国家是如何变化的？
A. The number of manufacturing workers is on the decline. A. 制造业工人数量在下降。
B. The symbolic analysts have become the dominant work force. B. 象征性分析师已经成为主导的劳动力。
C. The number of people in service industry remains stable. C. 服务业从业人数保持稳定。
D. The computer workers receive the larger salaries than other workers. D. 计算机工人的工资比其他工人高。
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】根据题干和选项可定位答案所在区域为第二段。根据第二段最后三句“顶层和底层都在增长，而中层在萎缩，比我预期的要快得多。象征性分析师现在占据了发达经济体所有工作岗位的五分之一以上，而15年前这一比例约为15%。相对于其他工人，他们在发展中国家的收入正在飙升”，以及结合第一段第二句“排在最后的是提供个人服务的员工，主要是在零售店、餐馆、酒店和医院。中间是工厂或办公室的生产工人，从事简单、重复性的工作”可知，主制造业工人属于中层阶级，该句中提到中层阶级在萎缩，由此可推断制造业工人的数量在下降，所以正确答案为A选项。
【干扰项排除】
B选项：“象征性分析师已经成为主导的劳动力”，根据第二段后两句内容可知象征性分析师只占据了五分之一，并不是主导劳动力，该选项属于曲解原文；
C选项：“服务业从业人数保持稳定”，根据第二段后两句内容可知底层在增长，因此服务业的人数是在增加，该选项属于曲解原文；
D选项：“计算机工人的工资比其他工人高”，计算机工人属于顶层，即“象征性分析师”，根据第二段后两句内容可知他们在发展中国家的收入飙升，并没有说在发达国家工资比其他工人高，该选项属于曲解原文。
第3题:
【选项释义】
The emergence of the global symbolic analysts is mainly attributable to the ______. 全球符号分析师的出现主要归因于______。
A. popularity of the English language A. 英语语言的普及
B. increased transnational business transaction B. 跨国业务交易的增加
C. lack of suitable law applicable to global dealings C. 缺乏适用于全球交易的法律
D. emergence of a global culture D. 全球文化的出现
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】根据题干可以定位答案所在区域为第五段。根据第五段内容：这群全球符号分析师的出现有一个很好的经济原因。目前全球商业的规模和复杂性是任何商业合同都无法充分涵盖的，是任何单一的法律体系都无法充分执行的。因此，全球交易商必须在更大程度上依赖于他们所信任的扩大网络。由此可推断出全球符号分析师出现的根本原因是因为“任何单一的法律体系都无法充分执行”，也就是说缺乏适用于全球交易的法律，所以正确答案为C选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项：“英语语言的普及”，原文没有提及，属于无中生有；
B选项：“跨国业务交易的增加”，第五段提到了全球贸易，但并没有说贸易数量增加，该选项属于曲解原文；
D选项：“全球文化的出现”，原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
The author advises advanced countries that want to keep their competitive advantage to ______. 作者建议，发达国家要想保持自己的竞争优势，就要_____。
A. narrow down the income gaps between tiers of the workforce A. 缩小劳动阶层之间的收入差距
B. give national symbolic analysts cons B. 给国家象征分析家一些批评
C. pay due attention to the rise of global symbolic analysts C. 对全球符号分析者的崛起给予应有的关注
D. stream more money into education and research D. 加大对教育和研究的资金投入
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干可以定位答案所在区域为最后一段。根据最后一段第一句“然而，除非发达经济体加大对教育和基础研发的投资，否则它们可能在几十年内失去在科学、工程和高附加值生产方面的全球领先地位”可知：作者建议发达国家如果想要保持他们的竞争优势，就必须加大对教育和研究与开发方面的投资，所以正确答案为D选项。
【干扰项排除】A、B、C选项均属于曲解原文。
第5题:
【选项释义】
The author implies in the text that ______. 作者在文中暗示_____。
A. a four-tiered classification is more suitable for picturing the present work force A. 四级分类更适合描述目前的劳动力
B. national symbolic analysts will play a vital role in the upcoming globalization B. 国家象征分析家将在即将到来的全球化中扮演至关重要的角色
C. graduates from Chinese and Indian universities will be valued in advanced economies C. 中国和印度大学的毕业生将在发达经济体受到重视
D. engineers and computer scientists will play different roles in different cultures D. 工程师和计算机科学家将在不同的文化中扮演不同的角色
【考查点】判断推理题。
【解题思路】根据题干可以定位答案所在区域为最后一段。根据最后一段第二句至第四句内容：中国和印度现在毕业的工程师和计算机科学家比美国和欧洲大学毕业的还要多。在某个时候，发达经济体的国家象征性分析师将会失去优势。与此同时，他们的全球同胞将继续主宰全球商业。由此可推断出国家象征分析家将在即将到来的全球化中扮演至关重要的角色，因为他们会继续主宰全球商业。正确答案为B选项。
【干扰项排除】
A选项：“四级分类更适合描述目前的劳动力”，原文没有提及，属于无中生有；
C选项：“中国和印度大学的毕业生将在发达经济体受到重视”，根据最后一段第二句至第三句内容可知：文章没有提及说中国和印度大学的毕业生在发达经济体会怎样，该选项属于曲解原文；
D选项：“工程师和计算机科学家将在不同的文化中扮演不同的角色”，根据最后一段最后一句“他们将生活在不同的文化中”可知该选项属于曲解原文。
