American farmers have been complaining of labor shortages for several years now. Given a multi-year decline in illegal immigration, and a similarly sustained pickup in the U.S. job market, the complaints are unlikely to stop without an overhaul of immigration rules for farm workers.
Efforts to create a more straightforward agricultural-workers visa that would enable foreign workers to stay longer in the U.S. and change jobs within the industry have so far failed in Congress. If this doesn’t change, American businesses, communities and consumers will be the losers.
Perhaps half of U.S. farm laborers are undocumented immigrants. As fewer such workers enter the U.S., the characteristics of the agricultural workforce are changing. Today’s farm laborers, while still predominantly born in Mexico, are more likely to be settled, rather than migrating, and more likely to be married than single. They are also aging. At the start of this century, about one-third of crop workers were over the age of 35. Now, more than half are. And crop picking is hard on older bodies.
One of the debated cure for this labor shortage remains as implausible as it has been all along: Native U.S. workers won’t be returning to the farm.
Mechanization is not the answer either—not yet at least. Production of com, cotton, rice, soybeans and wheat have been largely mechanized, but many high-value, labor-intensive crops, such as strawberries, need labor. Even dairy farms, where robots currently do only a small share of milking, have a long way to go before they are automated.
As a result, farms have grown increasingly reliant on temporary guest workers using the H-2A visa to fill the gaps in the agricultural workforce. Starting around 2012, requests for the visas rose sharply; from 2011 to 2016 the number of visas issued more than doubled.
The H-2A visa has no numerical cap, unlike the H-2B visa for non-agricultural work, which is limited to 66,000 annually. Even so, employers frequently complain that they aren’t allotted all the workers they need. The process is cumbersome, expensive and unreliable. One survey found that bureaucratic delays led H-2A workers to arrive on the job an average of 22 days late. And the shortage is compounded by federal immigration raids, which remove some workers and drive others underground.
In effect, the U.S. can import food or it can import the workers who pick it. The U.S. needs a simpler, streamlined, multi-year visa for agricultural workers, accompanied by measures to guard against exploitation and a viable path to U.S. residency for workers who meet the requirements. Otherwise growers will continue to struggle with shortages and uncertainty, and the country as a whole will lose out.
1.What problem should be addressed according to the first two paragraphs?
2.One trouble with U.S. agricultural workforce is（ ）.
3.What is the much-argued solution to the labor shortage in U.S. farming?
4.Agricultural employers complain about the H-2A visa for its （ ）.
5.Which of the following could be the best title for this text?
问题1选项
A.Discrimination against foreign workers in the U.S.
B.Biased laws in favor of some American businesses.
C.Flaws in U.S. immigration rules for farm workers.
D.Decline of job opportunities in U.S. agriculture.
问题2选项
A.the rising number of illegal immigrants
B.the high mobility of crop workers
C.the lack of experienced laborers
D.the aging of immigrant farm workers
问题3选项
A.To attract younger laborers to farm work.
B.To get native U.S. workers back farming.
C.To use more robots to grow high-value crops.
D.To strengthen financial support for farmers.
问题4选项
A.slow granting procedures
B.limit on duration of stay
C.tightened requirements
D.control of annual admissions
问题5选项
A.U.S. Agriculture in Decline?
B.Import Food or Labor?
C.America Saved by Mexico?
D.Manpower vs. Automation?
第1题:C
第2题:D
第3题:B
第4题:A
第5题:B
第1题:
【选项释义】
What problem should be addressed according to the first two paragraphs? 根据前两段，应该解决什么问题？
A. Discrimination against foreign workers in the U.S. A. 美国对外国工人的歧视。
B. Biased laws in favor of some American businesses. B. 偏袒某些美国企业的法律。
C. Flaws in U.S. immigration rules for farm workers. C. 美国针对农场工人的移民规定存在缺陷。
D. Decline of job opportunities in U.S. agriculture. D. 美国农业就业机会减少。
【答案】C
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到原文第一段第二句“考虑到多年来非法移民的减少，以及美国就业市场类似的持续回升，如果不全面改革针对农业工人（farm workers）的移民规定（immigration rules），这些抱怨（complaints）不太可能停止”，抱怨也就是存在的问题，与“移民规则”有关，所以选项C符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、D选项原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
One trouble with U.S. agricultural workforce is _____. 美国农业劳动力的一个问题是_____。
A. the rising number of illegal immigrants A. 不断增加的非法移民人数
B. the high mobility of crop workers B. 农作物工人的高流动性
C. the lack of experienced laborers C. 缺乏有经验的工人
D. the aging of immigrant farm workers D. 移民农场工人的老龄化
【答案】D
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到第三段最后四句“他们也在衰老（aging）。在本世纪初，大约三分之一的农作物工人年龄超过35岁。现在，超过一半（more than half）的人是这样。收割庄稼（crop picking）对老年人（older bodies）来说是很困难的”，由此可知，美国农业劳动问题是“老龄化”，选项D符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A、C选项原文没有提及，属于无中生有；
B选项“农作物工人的高流动性”，与第三段第三句“农场工人更有可能定居（more likely to be settled），而不是移民（rather than migrating）”不符，属于曲解原文。
第3题:
【选项释义】
What is the much-argued solution to the labor shortage in U.S. farming? 对于美国农业劳动力短缺，有什么备受争议的解决方案？
A. To attract younger laborers to farm work. A. 吸引年轻的劳动者从事农活。
B. To get native U.S. workers back farming. B. 让美国本土工人重新务农。
C. To use more robots to grow high-value crops. C. 使用更多的机器人种植高价值作物。
D. To strengthen financial support for farmers. D. 加强对农民的财政支持。
【答案】B
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到第四段“有争议的（debated）解决劳动力短缺（labor shortage）的方法之一仍然像过去一样令人难以置信：美国本土工人（Native U.S. workers）将不会重返农场（returning to the farm）”，由此可知，解决方案是“让美国本土工人重新务农”，选项B正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、D选项原文没有提及，属于无中生有；
C选项“使用更多的机器人种植高价值作物”，原文第五段最后两句提到“许多高价值（high-value）的劳动密集型作物，如草莓，需要劳动力（labor）”以及“在奶牛场（dairy farms），机器人（robots）目前只做一小部分的挤奶工作”，所以该选项表述是杂糅了两个内容，表述不对，属于曲解原文。
第4题:
【选项释义】
Agricultural employers complain about the H-2A visa for its _____. 农业雇主抱怨H-2A签证的_____。
A. slow granting procedures A. 缓慢的授予程序
B. limit on duration of stay B. 停留期限的限制
C. tightened requirements C. 严格要求
D. control of annual admissions D. 管制每年入场次数
【答案】A
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到原文第七段二、三句“即便如此，雇主们经常抱怨，他们没有得到所需的全部员工。该过程（process）繁琐（cumbersome）、昂贵并且不可靠”，由此可知，选项A符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
B、C选项原文没有提及，属于无中生有；
D选项“管制每年入场次数”，原文第七段第一句“H-2A签证没有数字上限……H-2B签证每年仅限66000人”，由此可知，该选项表述不符原文，属于曲解原文。
第5题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following could be the best title for this text? 下面哪个选项可能是这篇文章的最佳标题？
A. U.S. Agriculture in Decline? A. 美国农业衰退？
B. Import Food or Labor? B. 进口食品还是劳动力？
C. America Saved by Mexico? C. 墨西哥拯救了美国？
D. Manpower vs. Automation? D. 人力与自动化？
【答案】B
【考查点】主旨大意题。
【解题思路】本文第一段提到美国劳动力缺乏，后面以现状和解决方案展开，最后又进行总结，要么进口食品，要么进口劳动力。因此B选项符合题意。
【干扰项排除】
A、C、D选项原文都没有提及，属于无中生有。
【参考译文】
几年来，美国农民一直在抱怨劳动力短缺。鉴于非法移民人数多年来持续下降，美国就业市场也同样持续回升，如果不对农业工人的移民规则进行彻底改革，这些抱怨就不可能停止。
迄今为止，美国国会一直在努力创造一种更直接的农业工人签证，使外国工人能够在美国逗留更长的时间，并在该行业内更换工作，但这些努力都以失败告终。如果这种情况不改变，美国企业、社区和消费者将成为输家。
美国农场工人中可能有一半是非法移民。随着进入美国的非法移民越来越少，农业劳动力的特征也在发生变化。今天的农场劳工虽然仍主要出生在墨西哥，但他们更有可能定居而非移民，更有可能已婚而非单身。他们的年龄也在老化。本世纪初，约有三分之一的农场工人年龄在35岁以上。而现在，超过一半的人都在35岁以上。对老年人来说，采摘庄稼很困难。
一直以来，解决劳动力短缺问题的一个争论不休的解决方案仍然是不靠谱的： 美国本土工人不会重返农场。
机械化也不是解决办法——至少现在还不是。玉米、棉花、水稻、大豆和小麦的生产已基本实现机械化，但许多高价值、劳动密集型作物，如草莓，还需要劳动力。即使是奶牛场，目前也只有一小部分挤奶工作由机器人完成，距离实现自动化还有很长的路要走。
因此，农场越来越依赖使用H-2A签证的临时客籍工人来填补农业劳动力的缺口。大约从2012年开始，签证申请量急剧上升；从2011年到2016年，签发的签证数量增加了一倍多。
H-2A签证没有人数上限，这与非农业工作的H-2B签证不同，后者每年的人数限制为66000人。即便如此，雇主们还是经常抱怨他们没有得到所需的全部工人。申请过程繁琐、昂贵且不可靠。一项调查发现，官僚主义的拖延导致H-2A工人平均迟到22天。而联邦移民局的突袭行动又加剧了工人短缺的问题，这些突袭行动带走了一些工人，而另一些工人则转入地下。
实际上，美国可以进口食品，也可以进口采摘食品的工人。美国需要一种更简单、更简化的农业工人多年签证，同时采取措施防止剥削，并为符合要求的工人提供获得美国居留权的可行途径。否则，种植者将继续在短缺和不确定性中挣扎，整个国家都将蒙受损失。
【出处】《彭博新闻》2018.6.1
