Day 16

英文重現

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.

——GMAT OG 2015, Reading Comprehension, Passage 12

解析

1.“Given”在意思上相當于“take into consideration”、“considering”，即“考慮到”；要注意“analyses”是“analysis”的復數形式。

2.“which”引導的長定語從句修飾前面的“the analyses”。我們在分析句子時，可以先將該定語從句放在一邊，分析比較主要的部分，隨后再掉過頭來分析其他的修飾性成分。因此，我們可以理解“Given the analyses, firms should be discouraged from creating excessive numbers of temporary positions”，再理解“which”引導的定語從句。

3. 在“which”引導的定語從句中，“that”引導的賓語從句“that growth in temporary employment … prefer temporary jobs”要單獨分析。該賓語從句的主干部分是“growth exceeds the level”；“explainable by recent workforce entry rates of groups”是形容詞短語作后置定語，修飾“the level”，相當于定語從句“which can be explained by …”；“said to prefer temporary jobs”是過去分詞短語作定語，修飾“groups”，相當于定語從句“who are said to prefer temporary jobs”。

4.詞組“discouraged from doing”表示“不鼓勵/阻止做某事”。

詞義辨析

參考翻譯

考慮到這些分析（這些分析顯示，現在臨時工作的增長遠遠超過了可以被解釋的水平——可以被據說喜歡臨時工作的群體的入職率所能解釋的水平），公司應該受到勸阻，不要創造太多的臨時職位。

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…

In the context of the passage, the word “excessive” most closely corresponds to which of the following phrases?

(A) Far more than can be justified by worker preferences.

(B) Far more than can be explained by fluctuations in product demand.

(C) Far more than can be beneficial to the success of the firms themselves.

(D) Far more than can be accounted for by an expanding national economy.

(E) Far more than can be attributed to increases in the total number of people in

the workforce.

答案：A

答案解析

根據“excessive”所在的句子“Given the analyses, …temporary position”可知，作者根據統計分析來勸阻公司不要創造過多的臨時職位，而這個分析顯示了臨時工作的增長遠遠超過了可以被據說喜歡臨時工作的群體的入職率所能解釋的水平，所以我們應該清楚“excessive”指的就是“臨時工作的增長”遠遠超過“據說喜歡臨時工作的群體的入職率”，與此對應的是選項A“遠超過工人的喜好所能解釋的（水平）”。事實上，文章剛開始的部分提到了一種觀點，該觀點將臨時工作的增長歸因于喜歡臨時工的群體積極參與到工

作中，此處其實是在駁斥該觀點：既然臨時工作的增長遠遠超過喜歡臨時工的人的入職率，那就說明臨時工作的增長并不是喜歡臨時工的人群增長而造成的。

其他幾個選項的意思為：

B.遠超過產品需求的波動所能解釋的（水平）。

C.遠超過對公司的成功有益的（水平）。

D.遠超過國家經濟的擴張所能解釋的（水平）。

E.遠超過全部員工增長的數量所能解釋的（水平）。