Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (35 minutes) Directions: There are four passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center. Passage One Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage. Even if all the technical and intellectual problems can be solved, there are major social problems inherent in the computer revolution. The most obvious is unemployment, since the basic purpose of commercial computerization is to get more work done by fewer people. One British study predicts that “automation induced unemployment” in Western Europe could reach 16% in the next decade, but most analyses are more optimistic. The general rule seems to be that new technology eventually creates as many jobs as it destroys, and often more. “People who put in computers usually increase their staffs as well,” says CPT’s Scheff. “Of course,” he adds,“ one industry may kill another industry. That’s tough on some people.”Theoretically, all unemployed workers can be retrained, but retraining programs are not high on the nation’s agenda(议程). Many new jobs, moreover, will require an ability in using computers, and the retraining needed to use them will have to be repeated as the technology keeps improving. Says a chilling report by the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment: “Lifelong retraining is expected to become the standard for many people.” There is already considerable evidence that the school children now being educated in the use of computers are generally the children of the white middle class. Young blacks, whose unemployment rate stands today at 50%, will find another barrier in front of them. Such social problems are not the fault of the computer, of course, but a consequence of the way the American society might use the computer. “Even in the days of the big, main-frame computers, when they were a machine for the few,” says Katherine Davis Fishman, author of The Computer Establishment, “it was a tool to help the rich get richer. It still is to a large extent. One of the great values lot the personal computer is that smaller firms, smaller organizations can now have some of the advantages of the bigger, organizations.” 21. The closest restatement of “one industry may kill another industry”. (Line. 12, Para.1). is that ____. A) industries tend to compete with one another B) industries tend to combine into bigger ones C) one industry may increase its staff at the expense of another D) one industry might be driven out of business by another industry
22. The word “chilling” (Line. 6, Para. 2) most probably means ____. A) discouraging B) convincing C) misleading D) interesting
23. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage? A) Computers are efficient in retraining unemployed workers. B) Computers may offer more working opportunities than they destroy. C) Computers will increase the unemployment rate of young blacks. D) Computers can help smaller organizations to function more effectively. 24. From the passage it can be inferred that ____. A) all school children are offered a course in the use of computer B) all unemployed workers are being retrained C) in reality only a certain portion of unemployed workers will be retrained D) retraining programmes are considered very important by the government
25. The major problem discussed in the passage is____. A) the importance of lifelong retraining of the unemployed workers B) the social consequences of the widespread use of computers in the United States C) the barrier to the employment of young people D) the general rule of the advancement of technology