考研英語閱讀理解命題思路透析和真題揭秘(29)

1993年Passage 2

In general, our society is becoming one of giant enterprises directed by a bureaucratic (官僚主義的) management in which man becomes a small , well-oiled cog in the machinery. The oiling is done with higher wages, well-ventilated factories and piped music, and by psychologists and "human-relations" experts; yet all this oiling does not alter the fact that man has become powerless, that he does not wholeheartedly participate in his work and that he is bored with it. In fact, the blue-and the white-collar workers have become economic puppets who dance to the tune of automated machines and bureaucratic management.

The worker and employee are anxious, not only because they might find themselves out of a job; they are anxious also because they are unable to acquire any real satisfaction or interest in life. They live and die without ever having confronted the fundamental realities of human existence as emotionally and intellectually independent and productive human beings.

Those higher up on the social ladder are no less anxious. Their lives are no less empty than those of their subordinates. They are even more insecure in some respects. They are in a highly competitive race. To be promoted or to fall behind is not a matter of salary but even more a matter of self-respect. When they apply for their first job, they are tested for intelligence as well as for the tight mixture of submissiveness and independence. From that moment on they are tested again and again-by the psychologists, for whom testing is a big business, and by their superiors, who judge their behavior, sociability, capacity to get along, etc. This constant need to prove that one is as good as or better than one' s fellow-competitor creates constant anxiety and stress, the very causes of unhappiness and illness.

Am I suggesting that we should return to the preindustrial mode of production or to nineteenth-century "free enterprise" capitalism? Certainly not. Problems are never solved by returning to a stage which one has already outgrown. I suggest transforming our social system from a bureaucratically managed industrialism in which maximal production and consumption are ends in themselves into a humanist industrialism in which man and full development of his potentialities-those of love and of reason-are the aims of all social arrangements. Production and consumption should serve only as means to this end, and should be prevented from ruling man.

36. By "a well-oiled cog in the machinery" the author intends to render the idea that man is
[A] a necessary part of the society though each individual's function is negligible
[B] working in complete harmony with the rest of the society
[C] an unimportant part in comparison with the rest of the society, though functioning smoothly
[D] a humble component of the society, especially when working smoothly

[答案] C

[解題思路]

本題可以采用排除法。題干的引文出現(xiàn)在文章的第一句話"In general, our society is becoming one of giant enterprises directed by a bureaucratic (官僚主義的) management in which man becomes a small , well-oiled cog in the machinery"，此外，該段第二句話的后半句進一步指出"yet all this oiling does not alter the fact that man has become powerless, that he does not wholeheartedly participate in his work and that he is bored with it"（然而，這種潤滑并未改變這樣一個事實：人已變得無能為力，不再全心全意投入到工作，并對工作感到厭煩）。首先，A選項的"individual's function is negligible"在原文沒有提到，B的"complete harmony"與第三句話的基調不符合。D選項"humble"這個詞在文章中沒有體現(xiàn)出來，因此也可以排除。而C選項與原句"總的來說，我們的社會正在變成一個由官僚主義管理方式來統(tǒng)治的大企業(yè)。在這一企業(yè)中，人成了機器中潤滑良好的小齒輪"的意思較為吻合。

[題目譯文]

作者用"a well-oiled cog in the machinery"要表達的意思是人
[A] 是社會不可或缺的一部分，盡管個人的作用幾乎是可以忽略的
[B] 與社會的其他部分和諧地一起運作
[C] 與社會其他部分相比是不重要的，盡管運作良好
[D] 社會的一個卑賤部分，特別是運作良好的時候

37. The real cause of the anxiety of the workers and employees is that
[A] they are likely to lose their jobs
[B] they have no genuine satisfaction or interest in life
[C] they are faced with the fundamental realities of human existence
[D] they are deprtved of their individuality and independence

[答案] D

[解題思路]

本題對應于文章的第二段"The worker and employee are anxious, not only because they might find themselves out of a job; they are anxious also because they are unable to acquire any real satisfaction or interest in life. They live and die without ever having confronted the fundamental realities of human existence as emotionally and intellectually independent and productive human beings"（工人與雇員心情焦慮不僅僅是因為他們可能失業(yè)，而且因為他們不能在生活中獲得真正的滿足和興趣。在他們一生中，沒有作為情感上與智力上獨立的、具有創(chuàng)造性的人去面對人類生存中的根本現(xiàn)實），其中A選項是第一句話中提到的表面原因，不是真正的原因。B選項雖然與原文的說法吻合，但是沒有具體指出真正的原因，也可以排除。C選項C與文章意思有出入，這些人總是要面對人類生存的根本現(xiàn)實，但是只是面對的方式有所不同。而D選項對應于最后一句的"as emotionally and intellectually independent and productive human beings"，是正確答案。

[題目譯文]

工人和雇員焦慮的真正原因是
[A] 他們可能會丟掉工作
[B] 他們生活中沒有真正的滿足和興趣
[C] 他們面對著人類生存的根本現(xiàn)實
[D] 他們被剝奪了個性和獨立性