2024年5月5日发(作者：名字设计签名免费软件)

2013英语二text1

In an essay

1

, entitled “Making It in America,” the author Adam Davidson relates

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a joke from

cotton country about just how much a modern textile mill

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has been automated

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: The average mill

has only two employees today, “a man and a dog. The man is there to feed

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the dog, and the dog is

there to keep the man away from

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the machines.”

Davidson’s article

1

is one of a number of pieces

1

that have recently appeared making the

point

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that the reason we have such stubbornly

8

high unemployment and declining middle-class

incomes today is largely because of the big drop in demand

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because of the Great Recession

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, but

it is also because of the advances

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in both globalization and the information technology

revolution, which are more rapidly than ever replacing labor with

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machines or foreign workers.

In the past, workers with average

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skills, doing an average job, could earn an average

lifestyle. But, today, average is officially

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over. Being average just won’t earn you what it used to.

It can’t when so many more employers have so much more access to

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so much more above

average cheap foreign labor, cheap robotics

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, cheap software, cheap automation and cheap

genius

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. Therefore, everyone needs to find their extra — their unique value contribution that

makes them stand out

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in whatever is their field

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of employment. Average is over.

Yes, new technology has been eating jobs forever, and always will. As they say, if horses

could have voted, there never would have been cars. But there’s been an acceleration

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. As

Davidson notes, “In the 10 years ending in 2009, [U.S.] factories shed

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workers so fast that they

erased

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almost all the gains of the previous 70 years; roughly

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one out of every three

manufacturing

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jobs—about 6 million in total—disappeared.”

There will always be change—new jobs, new products, new services. But the one thing we

know for sure is that with each advance in globalization and the I.T. revolution

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, the best jobs will

require

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workers to have more and better education to make themselves above average.

In a world where average is officially over, there are many things we need to do to support

employment, but nothing would be more important than passing some kind of G.I. Bill

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for the

21st century that ensures that every American has access to post-high school education

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.

21. The joke in Paragraph 1 is used to illustrate

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________.

[A] the impact

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of technological advances

[B] the alleviation

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of job pressure

[C] the shrinkage

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of textile mills

[D] the decline of middle-class incomes

22. According to Paragraph 3, to be a successful employee, one has to ________.

[A] work on cheap software

[B] ask for a moderate

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salary

[C] adopt

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an average lifestyle

[D] contribute something unique

23. The quotation

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in Paragraph 4 explains that ________.

[A] gains of technology have been erased

[B] job opportunities are disappearing at a high speed

[C] factories are making much less money than before

[D] new jobs and services have been offered

24. According to the author, to reduce unemployment, the most important is ________.

[A] to accelerate the I.T. revolution

[B] to ensure more education for people

[C] to advance economic globalization

[D] to pass more bills in the 21st century

25. Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the text?

[A] New Law Takes Effect

36

[B] Technology Goes Cheap

[C] Average Is Over

[D] Recession Is Bad

【干货笔记】

1. essay n. 论文；议论文 （=article = piece = paper = title）

2. relate v. 讲述；叙述；使互相关联

3. textile mill 纺织工厂

mill n. 磨坊；工厂

4. automated adj. 自动化的

5. feed v. 喂养

6. keep ... from ... 使 ... 远离 ...

7. making the point 持有这一观点

8. stubbornly adv. 顽固地

9. unemployment n. 就业；就业率

10. the big drop in demand 需求的极大下降

11. Great Recession 经济衰退

12. advance n. 前进，进步

13. replacing A with B 用B替代A

14. average adj. 平均的；中等的；普通的

15. officially n. 官方地；正式地

16. have access to ... 可以使用 ...

17. robotic n. 机器人

18. genius n. 天才

19. unique adj. 独特的，唯一的

20. value contribution 价值贡献

21. stand out 脱颖而出

22. field n. 田地；领域

23. acceleration n. 加速

accelerate v. 加速

24. shed v. 摆脱；去除

25. erase v. 擦除，抹去

26. roughly adv. 粗糙地；粗略地，大约；粗暴地，粗鲁地

smoothly adv.光滑地；平稳地；流畅地；顺利地

The company is running smoothly. 公司运转平稳。

27. manufacturing 制造业

28. the I.T. revolution IT革命

29. require v. 要求，需要

30. G.I. Bill 《退伍军人权利法案》

31. post-high school education 高中后教育，高等教育

32. ① illustrate v.（举例）说明，阐明

illustration n.举例说明；例证

② illuminate v. 照射，照亮；阐明，解释，使易懂

illumination n. 光亮，照明；阐述，解释

illuminating adj. 使清楚的，容易理解得

illuminated adj. 照亮的，发光的

33. impact v. 影响

34. alleviation n. 缓和; 减轻

35. shrinkage n. 缩水，萎缩

36. moderate adj. 适度的；适中的

37. adopt v. 采纳；收养

38. quotation n. 引用

39. take effect 生效

40. sag v. 下垂；下降

sagging adj. 下降的（ = decreasing / declining）

41. sentiment n. 情感；伤感；感想；情绪；(pl.) 意见