Passage 47
¡¡¡¡In Forces of Production£¬ David Noble examines the transformation of the machine-tool industry as the industry£ moved from reliance on skilled artisans to automation.
¡¡¡¡Noble writes from a Marxist perspective£¬and his central£¨5£©argument is that management£¬in its decisions to automate£¬conspired against labor£ºthe power that the skilled machin-£ ists wielded in the industry was intolerable to management.
¡¡¡¡Noble fails to substantiate this claim£¬ although his argu-ment is impressive when he applies the Marxist concept of£¨10£©¡°de-skilling¡±-the use of technology to replace skilled labor-to the automation of the machine-tool industry. In£ automating£¬the industry moved to computer-based£¬ digi-talized ¡°numerical-control¡±£¨N/C£©technology£¬ rather than to artisan-generated ¡°record-playback¡±£¨R/P£©technology.£¨15£©Although both systems reduced reliance on skilled labor£¬Noble clearly prefers R/P£¬with its inherent acknowledg-ment of workers¡® skills£ºunlike N/C£¬its programs were produced not by engineers at their computers£¬but by skilled machinists£¬who recorded their own movements to£¨20£©¡°teach¡± machines to duplicate those movements. However£¬Noble¡¯s only evidence of conspiracy is that£¬ although the two approaches were roughly equal in technical merit£¬management chose N/C. From this he concludes that auto-£ mation is undertaken not because efficiency demands it or£¨25£©scientific advances allow it£¬but because it is a tool in£ the ceaseless war of capitalists against labor.
¡¡¡¡1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with
¡¡¡¡£ £¨A£© reexamining a political position and defending its validity
¡¡¡¡£ £¨B£© examining a management decision and defending its necessity
¡¡¡¡£ £¨C£© analyzing a scholarly study and pointing out a central weakness
¡¡¡¡£ £¨D£© explaining a trend in automation and warning about its dangers
¡¡¡¡£ £¨E£© chronicling the history of an industry and criticizing its development
¡¡¡¡2. According to information in the passage£¬ the term ¡°de-skilling¡± refers to the
¡¡¡¡£ £¨A£© loss of skills to industry when skilled workers are replaced by unskilled laborers
¡¡¡¡£ £¨B£© substitution of mechanized processes for labor formerly performed by skilled workers
¡¡¡¡£ £¨C£© labor theory that automation is technologically comparable to skilled labor
¡¡¡¡£ £¨D£© process by which skilled machinists¡°teach¡± machines to perform certain tasks
¡¡¡¡£ £¨E£© exclusion of skilled workers from participation in the development of automated technology
¡¡¡¡3. Which of the following best characterizes the function of the second paragraph of the passage£¿
¡¡¡¡£ £¨A£© It develops a topic introduced in the first paragraph.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨B£© It provides evidence to refute a claim presented in the first paragraph.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨C£© It gives examples of a phenomenon mentioned in the first paragraph.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨D£© It presents a generalization about examples given in the first paragraph.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨E£© It suggests two possible solutions to a problem presented in the first paragraph.
¡¡¡¡4. The passage suggests which of the following about N automation in the machine-tool industry£¿
¡¡¡¡£ £¨A£© It displaced fewer skilled workers than R/P automation did.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨B£© It could have been implemented either by experienced machinists or by computer engineers.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨C£© It was designed without the active involvement skilled machinists.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨D£© It was more difficult to design than R/P automation was.
¡¡¡¡£ £¨E£© It was technically superior to R/P automation.
¡¡¡¡5. Which of the following phrases most clearly reveals the attitude of the author of the passage toward Noble¡®s central argument£¿
¡¡¡¡£ £¨A£© ¡°conspired against¡±£¨line 6£©
¡¡¡¡£ £¨B£© ¡°intolerable to management¡±£¨line 7£©
¡¡¡¡£ £¨C£© ¡°impressive when he applies the Marxist concept¡±£¨line 9£©
¡¡¡¡£ £¨D£© ¡°clearly prefers¡±£¨line 16£©
¡¡¡¡£ £¨E£© ¡°only evidence of conspiracy¡±£¨line 21£©
¡¡¡¡6. The author of the passage commends Noble¡®s book for which of the following£¿
¡¡¡¡£ £¨A£© Concentrating on skilled as opposed to unskilled workers in its discussion of the machine-tool industry
¡¡¡¡£ £¨B£© Offering a generalization about the motives behind the machine-tool industry¡®s decision to automate
¡¡¡¡£ £¨C£© Making an essential distinction between two kinds of technology employed in the machine-tool industry
¡¡¡¡£ £¨D£© Calling into question the notion that managers conspired against labor in the automation of the machine-tool industry
¡¡¡¡£ £¨E£© Applying the concept of de-skilling to the machine-tool industry
¡¡¡¡7. Which of the following best characterizes Forces of Production as it is described in the passage£¿
¡¡¡¡£ £¨A£© A comparison of two interpretations of how a particular industry evolved
¡¡¡¡£ £¨B£© An examination of the origin of a particular concept in industrial economics
¡¡¡¡£ £¨C£© A study that points out the weakness of a particular interpretation of an industrial phenomenon
¡¡¡¡£ £¨D£© A history of a particular industry from an ideological point of view
¡¡¡¡£ £¨E£© An attempt to relate an industrial phenomenon in one industry to a similar phenomenon in another industry
