Day 15

英文重現

Some observers have attributed the dramatic growth in temporary employment that occurred in the United States during the 1980s to increased participation in the workforce by certain groups, such as first-time or reentering workers, who supposedly prefer such arrangements. However, statistical analyses reveal that demographic changes in the workforce did not correlate with variations in the total number of temporary workers. Instead, these analyses suggest that factors affecting employers account for the rise in temporary employment. One factor is product demand: temporary employment is favored by employers who are adapting to fluctuating demand for products while at the same time seeking to reduce overall labor costs. Another factor is labor's reduced bargaining strength, which allows employers more control over the terms of employment.

——GMAT OG 2015, Reading Comprehension, Passage 12

解析

1.“demographic”意思是“人口統計的”，大家需要對人口統計學有一定理解，百度上給出的定義是：人口統計學是從數量上研究人口的各種生物特征（如年齡、性別構成）和社會特征（如職業、文化及經濟狀況分布等）的現狀、變動及其發展趨勢的一門學科。此處的指標應該是“職業”（長期工/臨時工）。單詞所在句的意思應該是：臨時工的總體人數上升比例和長期工與臨時工比例的變動不相符（表示它們之間不一定存在因果關系）。

2.第一個句子很長，但大家抓住“attributed A to B”這個詞組后就會簡單許多。

“attributed A to B”的意思是“把A歸結于B”，那么B就應該是A的原因，A是B的結果。在第一個句子中，A就是“the dramatic growth in temporary employment”（“that”引導的定語從句修飾“dramatic growth”，B就是“increased participation in the workforce by certain groups”（“such as first-time or reentering workers”作“certain groups”的定語，“who supposedly prefer such arrangements”為定語從句，修飾“workers”或者“certain groups”），于是第一個句子可以簡化為“Some observers have attributed dramatic growth in temporary employment to increased participation in the workforce by certain groups”，“dramatic growth in temporary employment”的原因就是“increased participation in the workforce by certain groups”。

3.“such as”意為“例如；諸如此類；像……那樣”，相當于“like”或“for example”，“such as”后面不能接句子和代詞，只能接名詞/名詞短語的縮略形式或動名詞（即“-ing”形式）。這類結構既能以“名詞+ such as +例子”的形式出現，也可表現為“such +名詞+ as +例子”（如“such book as this one”）。另外，請大家注意，在“such...as”這個表達中，“as”可以用作關系代詞，引導定語從句，“as”?在定語從句中作主語或賓語，例如：

I don't like such books as he recommends.

我不喜歡他推薦的那類書。（“as”在從句中作賓語）

4.詞組“correlate with”意為“使……一一對應；使……相互關聯”，“account for”意為“說明（原因、緣由等）”。

5.最后一個句子中的“while”連接兩個動作（或平行結構）“are adapting to...”和

“(are) seeking to...”（“are”被省略了），注意平行結構要保持前后結構和詞性一致，所以后面的“seeking”必須用“-ing”形式，和前面的“adapting”保持一致。

詞義辨析

參考翻譯

一些觀察者把20世紀80年代美國臨時性工作的大幅增長歸因于某些特殊人群的增長，例如首次就業或是再次就業的人群，他們認為這些人群喜歡這樣的臨時工作。但是，數據統計顯示，勞動力中的人口組成變化和臨時工的總體人數變化并不一致。相反，這些分析顯示，影響雇主的因素（才）是臨時工作增長的原因。一個因素是產品需求：臨時工作受到某些雇主的喜愛，這類雇主正在適應產品的波動需求，同時也在試圖降低總體的勞動成本。另一個因素是勞動力的談判能力降低，這使得雇主在雇用條款上擁有更多的控制力。

實戰演練

Some observers have attributed the dramatic growth in temporary employment that occurred in the United States during the 1980s to increased participation in the workforce by certain groups, such as first-time or reentering workers, who supposedly prefer such arrangements. However, statistical analyses reveal that demographic changes in the workforce did not correlate with variations in the total number of temporary workers. Instead, these analyses suggest that factors affecting employers account for the rise in temporary employment. One factor is product demand: temporary employment is favored by employers who are adapting to fluctuating demand for products while at the same time seeking to reduce overall labor costs. Another factor is labor's reduced bargaining strength, which allows employers more control over the terms of employment. Given the analyses, which reveal that growth in temporary employment now far exceeds the level explainable by recent workforce entry rates of groups said to prefer temporary jobs, firms should be discouraged from creating excessive numbers of temporary positions. Government policymakers should consider mandating benefit coverage for temporary employees, promoting pay equity between temporary and permanent workers, assisting labor unions in organizing temporary workers, and encouraging firms to assign temporary jobs primarily to employees who explicitly indicate that preference.

The passage suggests which of the following about the use of temporary employment by firms during the 1980s?

(A) It enabled firms to deal with fluctuating product demand far more efficiently than they did before the 1980s.

(B) It increased as a result of increased participation in the workforce by certain demographic groups.

(C) It was discouraged by government-mandated policies.

(D) It was a response to preferences indicated by certain employees for more flexible working arrangements.

(E) It increased partly as a result of workers’ reduced ability to control the terms of their employment.

答案：E

答案解析

首先，在讀文章過程中，一定要注意表示“轉折”的詞匯，因為它往往表示前后兩個觀點是不同的。原文的第一句話是一個觀點句“20世紀80年代美國臨時性工作的大幅增長歸因于某些特殊人群的增長”，后面的轉折詞“However”表明該觀點受到了否定，并且否定者提出了另一種觀點“影響雇主的因素（才）是臨時工作增長的原因”，隨后闡述了兩種因素（產品需求和勞動力的談判能力降低）。所以，做題第一步是理清文章的結構。

選項A“它使公司比20世紀80年代之前能更有效地應對產品需求波動”，文中并沒有提到或者暗示20世紀80年代前的效率，所以這個比較不成立，因此選項A錯誤。

選項B“它的增長是因為某些人口群體在勞動人口中的參與度上升了”，這是文中第一句話提出的觀點，也是文章反駁的觀點，因此錯誤。

選項C“政府制定的政策不鼓勵它（使用臨時工）”在文中并未提及，錯誤。

選項D“它反映了某些雇員的喜好，這些雇員喜歡彈性更大的工作安排”，這也是“However”前面的內容，也是文章反駁的內容，因此錯誤。

選項E“它增長的一部分原因是勞動者控制雇用條款的能力下降了”和文中的第二個因素“勞動力的談判能力降低”對應，雇主在雇用條款上擁有更多的掌控力就意味著雇員的掌控力下降了，因此選項E正確。