题目内容
People in the United States in the nineteenth century were haunted by the prospect that unprecedented change in the nation's economy would bring social chaos. In the years following 1820 after several decades of relative stability the economy entered a period of sustained and extremely rapid growth that continued to the end of the nineteenth century. Accompanying that growth was a structural change that featured increasing economic diversification and a gradual shift in the nation's labor force from agriculture to manufacturing and other nonagricultural pursuits.
Although the birth rate continued to decline from its high level of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the population roughly doubled every generation during the rest of the nineteenth century. As the population grew, its make up also changed. Massive waves of immigration brought new ethnic groups into the country. Geographic and social mobility — downward as well as upward — touched almost everyone. Local studies indicate that nearly three quarters of the population in the North and South, in the emerging cities — the Northeast and in the restless rural counties of the West — changed their residence each decade. As a consequence, historian David Donald has written, "Social atomization affected every segment of society," and it seemed to many people that "all the recognized values of orderly civilization were gradually being eroded.
Rapid industrialization and increased geographic mobility in the nineteenth century had special implications for women because these changes tended to magnify social distinctions. As the roles of men and women played in society became more rigidly defined, so did the roles they played in the home. In the context of extreme competitiveness and dizzying social change, the household lost many of its earlier functions and the home came to serve as a haven of tranquility and order. As the size of families decreased, the roles of husband and wife became more clearly differentiated than ever before. In the middle class especially, men participated in the productive economy while women ruled the home and served as the custodians of civility and culture. The intimacy of marriage that was common in earlier periods was rent, and a gulf that at times seemed unbridgeable was created between husbands and wives.
What does the passage mainly discuss？
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The main idea of the business school academic is appealing. In a world where companies must adapt to new technologies and source of competition, it is much harder than it used to be to offer good employees the job security and an opportunity to climb the corporate ladder. Yet it is also more necessary than ever for employees to invest in better skills and sparkle with bright ideas. How can firms get the most out of people if they can no longer offer them protection and promotion？
Many bosses would love to have an answer. Sumatra Ghoshal of the London Business School and Christopher Bartlett of the Harvard Business School think they have one: "employability". If managers offer the right kinds of training and guidance, and change their attitude towards their undertakings, they will be able to reassure their employees that they will always have the skills and experience to find a good job — even if it .is with a different company.
Unfortunately, they promise more than they deliver. Their thoughts on what an ideal organization should accomplish are hard to quarrel with: encourage people to be creative, make sure the gains from creativity are shared with the pains of the business that can make the most of them, keep the organization from getting stale and so forth. The real disappointment comes when they attempt to show how firms might actually create such an environment. At its nub is the notion that companies can attain the elusive goals by changing their implicit contract with individual workers, and treating them as a source of value rather than a cog in a machine.
The authors offer a few inspiring examples of companies — they include Motorola, 3M and ABB — that have managed to go some way towards creating such organizations. But they offer little useful guidance on how to go about it, and leave the biggest questions unanswered. How do you continuously train people, without diverting them from their everyday job of making the business more profitable？ How do you train people to be successful elsewhere while still encouraging them to make big commitments to your own firm？ How do you get your newly liberated employees to spend their time on ideas that create value, and not simply on those they enjoy？ Most of their answers are platitudinous; and when they are not they are unconvincing.
We can infer from the passage that in the past an employee ______.
For many countries there are only two legal means for obtaining technology: to permit multinational companies to conduct business within their borders and the use of licensing agreements. Japan ranks high among the nations that have gone to some lengths to keep foreign-owned companies out of industries connected with national defense. And the case of Japan is commonly cited for the idea that such a policy is feasible. In this case, multinational ownership is not important for the efficient transfer of technological information between nations; the use of licensing agreements is just as efficient.
For over a hundred years Japan has consistently spent large sums of money and considerable human resources in an effort to obtain technology. Her ability to negotiate has been strengthened by the fact that most of the technology she wanted was not very secret. Japan's position has also been strengthened by the fact that her internal market was large, so that access to this market could be offered to multinational companies as an incentive for them to grant licenses. Besides, Japan's work force was literate and disciplined, so it was capable of applying the information it acquired. Finally, American and European companies might take a large share of the world market if they were not limited by licensing agreements. Conditions Of this sort, coming together in one nation, may well be unique, and the case of Japan may therefore not actually demonstrate that licensing is just as efficient as multinational ownership for the transfer of technology.
In fact, Japan may be finding this method of operation less effective than in the past, as her needs for outside technology now require information which belongs to only a few companies and is more closely held.
Furthermore, her need to use the markets of other countries is beginning to weaken its negotiating power she once had because of her control of her access to her internal market.
Which of the following is NOT a reason for foreign companies to be willing to license the use of their technology？
The way that people spend their money, and the objects on which they spend it, are the last【C1】______ where free choice and individuality can be expressed. The【C2】______ reflects personal taste, the way people see themselves and the fantasies they【C3】______ about their lives, the restrictions on money available【C4】______ them, the presence of others in the family with a【C5】______ on that money, and the influence of current convention,【C6】______ surroundings and locality. Shopping is an important human【C7】______ Yet shoppers are【C8】______ with a confusing situation and a (n)【C9】______ changing one. The confusion arises from the claims 【C10】______ advertising, from inadequate information about new products, new materials, new places to shop a confusion 【C11】______ by rising prices and a(n)【C12】______ choice of goods than ever before. The search【C13】______ the right purchase is based on ignorance of【C14】______ own needs and ignorance of the product's【C15】______ for those needs. When choosing any particular item, there arc several lines of communication which might provide some guidance.【C16】______ none of these is entirely satisfactory. For example, you can ask a shop assistant initially.【C17】______ you find one, she may quite 【C18】______ not know the answers. She may be a schoolgirl with a Saturday【C19】______ or a housewife【C20】______ part-time.
【C1】
SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST
Directions: In this section, you will hear several news items. Listen to them carefully and then answer the questions that follow.
听力原文： American-led Western powers and South Africa struck a deal Thursday on how to bring the troubled territory Namibia to independence. The South Africans, while going ahead with their own elections there, will reopen negotiations for later elections supervised by the United Nations. South Africa stopped short of a firm commitment to U. N elections, however, and the Westerners rejected the legitimacy of the South African-planned voting. Moreover, South African Minister Peter W. Botha raised a potentially major side issue, saying his country will not withdraw its troops from the mine-rich territory until the 12-year-old war with black nationalist guerrillas ends.
What is the news mainly about？
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