公共英语四级考试阅读练习：技术的力量

        Technology has been an encouragement of historical change. It acted as such a force in England beginning in the eighteenth century, and across the entire Western World in the nineteenth. Rapid advances were made in the use of scientific findings in the manufacture(制造)of goods, which has changed ideas about work. One of the first changes was that other forms of energy have taken the place of human power. Along with this came the increased use of machines to manufacture products in less time.

        People also developed machines that could produce the same parts for a product: each nail was exactly like every other nail, meaning that each nail could be changed for every other nail. This means that goods could be mass produced, though mass production required breaking production down into smaller and smaller tasks.

        Once this was done, workers no longer started on the product and labored to complete it. Instead, they might work only one thousandth of it, other workers completing their own parts in cer- tain order. There is nothing strange about this manufacturing work by today' s standards. Highly skilled workers were unable to compare with the new production techniques, as mass production al- lowed goods of high standard to be produced in greater number than could ever be done by hand. But the skilled worker wasn' t the only loser, the common workers lost too. Similar changes forced farmers away. The increased mechanization(机械化)of agriculture freed masses of workers from ploughing the land and harvesting its crops. They had little choice but to stream toward the rapidly developing industrial centers. Increasingly, standards were set by machines. Workers no longer owned their own tools, their skill was no longer valued, and pride in their work was no longer pos- sible. Workers fed, looked after and repaired the machines that could work faster than humans at greatly reduced cost.

        1. In this passage, which of the following is NOT considered as a change caused by the use of scientific findings in the production of goods?

        A. Other forms of energy have taken the place of human power.

        B. The increased exploitation of workers in the 19th century.

        C. The increased use of machines to make products in less time.

        D. The use of machines producing parts of the same standard.

        2. The underlined word "this" in the fLrSt paragraph refers to

        A. the use of scientific findings

        B. the practice of producing the same parts for a product

        C. the human power being replaced by other forms of energy

        D. the technology becoming the encouragement of historical change

        3. The underlined word "this" in the second paragraph refers to the change that

        A. each nail could be taken the place of by every other nail

        B. each nail was exactly like every other nail

        C. producing tasks became smaller and smaller

        D. goods could be mass produced

        4. According to the writer, highly skilled workers

        A. completely disappeared with the coming of the factory system

        B. were dismissed by the boss

        C. were unable to produce goods of high standard

        D. were unable to produce fine goods at that same speed as machines

        5. According to the passage, what did the farmers have to do with the coming of mechanization of agriculture?

        A. Many of them had to leave their farmland for industrial centers.

        B. They stuck to their farm work.

        C. They refused to use machines.

        D. They did their best to learn how to use the machines.

        答案及解析

        1. B【解析】细节题。原文中并未说l9世纪开始对工人剥削的增加。其余三项均在第一段中间出现。所以此题选择B.

        2. C【解析】理解题。单词this指上文"0ther forms of energy have taken the place of human power."(其他形式的能源已经代替了人类的劳动力)的内容。所以此题选择c.

        3. D【解析】理解题。在条件句中，this指下文"goods could be mass produced"(货物大批生产)。所以此题选择D

        4. D【解析】判断推理题。可从第三段第四句"Highly skilled workers were unable to compare with the new production techniques."(技术高超的工人也无法和新的生产技术相比)可知答案。所以此题选择D.

        5. A【解析】判断推理题。可根据第三段中的"Similar changes forcedfarmers away."(类似的改变赶走了农民)及"They had littlechoice but to stream toward the rapidly developing industrial cen-ters."(除了慢慢向工业中心转移，他们没有其他选择)。所以此题选择A.