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.
(1).Who will be most threatened by automation?
A. Leading politicians.
B.Low-wage laborers.
C.Robot owners.
D.Middle-class workers.
(2).Which of the following best represent the author’s view?
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
(3).Education in the age of automation should put more emphasis on
A. creative potential.
B.job-hunting skills.
C.individual needs.
D.cooperative spirit.
(4).The author suggests that tax policies be aimed at
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.
(5).In this text, the author presents a problem with
A. opposing views on it.
B.possible solutions to it.
C.its alarming impacts.
D.its major variations.
参考答案：DCADB
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