Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension

Part A

Directions:

Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. （40 points）

Text 1

Among the annoying challenges facing the middle class is one that will probably go unmentioned in the next presidential campaign: What happens when the robots come for their jobs?

Don't dismiss that possibility entirely. About half of U.S. jobs are at high risk of being automated, according to a University of Oxford study, with the middle class disproportionately squeezed. Lower-income jobs like gardening or day care don't appeal to robots. But many middle-class occupations-trucking, financial advice, software engineering — have aroused their interest, or soon will. The rich own the robots, so they will be fine.

This isn't to be alarmist. Optimists point out that technological upheaval has benefited workers in the past. The Industrial Revolution didn't go so well for Luddites whose jobs were displaced by mechanized looms, but it eventually raised living standards and created more jobs than it destroyed. Likewise, automation should eventually boost productivity, stimulate demand by driving down prices, and free workers from hard, boring work. But in the medium term, middle-class workers may need a lot of help adjusting.

The first step, as Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee argue in The Second Machine Age, should be rethinking education and job training. Curriculums —from grammar school to college- should evolve to focus less on memorizing facts and more on creativity and complex communication. Vocational schools should do a better job of fostering problem-solving skills and helping students work alongside robots. Online education can supplement the traditional kind. It could make extra training and instruction affordable. Professionals trying to acquire new skills will be able to do so without going into debt.

The challenge of coping with automation underlines the need for the U.S. to revive its fading business dynamism: Starting new companies must be made easier. In previous eras of drastic technological change, entrepreneurs smoothed the transition by dreaming up ways to combine labor and machines. The best uses of 3D printers and virtual reality haven't been invented yet. The U.S. needs the new companies that will invent them.

Finally, because automation threatens to widen the gap between capital income and labor income, taxes and the safety net will have to be rethought. Taxes on low-wage labor need to be cut, and wage subsidies such as the earned income tax credit should be expanded: This would boost incomes, encourage work, reward companies for job creation, and reduce inequality.

Technology will improve society in ways big and small over the next few years, yet this will be little comfort to those who find their lives and careers upended by automation. Destroying the machines that are coming for our jobs would be nuts. But policies to help workers adapt will be indispensable.

21.【题干】Who will be most threatened by automation?

【选项】

A．Leading politicians.

B．Low-wage laborers.

C．Robot owners.

D．Middle-class workers.

21答案D Middle-class workers

这是一道具体细节题，题干问道“那些人受自动化威胁最大？”根据段落定位原则，第一题应该到第一段和第二段寻找答案，A选项主要的政治领导人，而原文只是在一段提到了presidential campaign，并未提到政治领导人受自动化影响；B选项低收入劳动者，在二段说道lower-income jobs don’t appeal to robots，说明不会受到影响；C选项机器人的所有者，在二段末句提到the rich own the robots, so they will be fine. 可以看到他们也是不受影响的；故选择C，可以从二段的But后找到根据。 

22 . 【题干】Which of the following best represent the author's view?

【选项】

A．Worries about automation are in fact groundless.

B．Optimists' opinions on new tech find little support.

C．Issues arising from automation need to be tackled

D．Negative consequences of new tech can be avoided

22答案C Issues arising from automation need to be tackled  

这是一道作者观点细节题，题干问道“下列哪项最能代表作者观点”根据上一题可知，这道题应该从第三段寻找答案，这种题一般到首句、末句或转折后寻找观点。首句就说到上面提到的威胁不是alarmist危言耸听的；末句提到中产阶级工人需要很多帮助来调整自己。根据这两部分可知选项C是正确的，A选项说对自动化的担心是groundless的和文意相反；B选项说乐观主义者对新技术的支持几乎没有找到支持不符合本段第二句和第三句，与原文相反；D选项新技术的负面影响可以避免与本段末句不符，既然需要中产阶级去适应，那就说明是不可避免的，也应排除。

23.【题干】Education in the age of automation should put more emphasis on_____.

【选项】

A．creative potential.

B．job-hunting skills.

C．individual needs.

D．cooperative spirit.

23答案A creative potential  

这是一道具体细节题，题干问到“自动化时代的教育应该重视什么”可定位到第四段，第一句就提到了应对这个时代的第一步就是rethinking education and job training。具体方法在后面也给出来了，curriculums should focus more on creativity and complex communication，更重视创新和复杂的交际，故A选项是正确的。这道题的对应非常直接，其他几个选项几乎不构成干扰。

24.【题干】The author suggests that tax policies be aimed at_____.

【选项】

A．encouraging the development of automation.

B．increasing the return on capital investment.

C．easing the hostility between rich and poor.

D．preventing the income gap from widening.

24.答案D．preventing the income gap from widening.

这是一道观点细节题，问作者认为税收政策应该以什么为目标。根据题干关键词定位至第六段，六段首句说因为自动化预示着劳资双方的收入在扩大，所以，税收和安全保障也将必须重新考虑。接着第二句就在具体解释税收政策该如何改变，如应该免去低工资工人的税，个人所得税应该增加，最后一句话指出，这将提高收入，鼓励就业，激励那些创造就业的公司，减少不平等。由此可得知，关于税收政策的目标就是阻止收入差距扩大，答案是D。

25. 【题干】In this text, the author presents a problem with_____.

【选项】

A．pposing views on it.

B．possible solutions to it.

C．its alarming impacts.

D．its major variations.

25. 答案B．possible solutions to it.

纵观全文，作者在前两段提出了一个问题，即自动化将威胁到中产阶级工人的工作，第三段指出乐观主义者认为这也许对工人们是有利的，只不过中产阶级工人可能需要做出一定的改变。从第四段到第六段就是作者给出的一些解决办法，如教育上要改变，培养学生的创造性和实际技能，以及对于税收政策的调整等，最后一段是概括总结，所以这是一篇提出问题，分析问题并解决问题的文章，所以，答案是B，作者提出了问题，并且给出了可能的解决措施。