基础提升考研真题阅读每日一篇(2)(2013.3.8)解析

1998 Passage 2

Well, no gain without pain, they say. But what about pain without gain? Everywhere you go in America, you

hear tales of corporate revival. What is harder to establish is whether the productivity revolution that businessmen

assume they are presiding over is for real.

The

official

statistics are

mildly

discouraging.

They

show

that,

if

you

lump

manufacturing

and

services

together, productivity has grown on average by 1.2% since 1987. That is somewhat faster than the average during

the previous decade. And since 1991, productivity has increased by about 2% a year, which is more than twice the

1978-1987 average. The trouble is that part of the recent acceleration is due to the usual rebound that occurs at this

point in a business cycle, and so is not conclusive evidence of a revival in the underlying trend. There is, as Robert

Rubin, the treasury secretary, says, a

productivity and the picture reflected by the statistics.

Some of this can be easily explained. New ways of organizing the workplace

—

all that re-engineering and

downsizing

—

are only one contribution to the overall productivity of an economy

, which is driven by many other

factors such as joint investment in equipment and machinery

, new technology

, and investment in education and

training. Moreover, most of the changes that companies make are intended to keep them profitable, and this need

not always mean increasing productivity: switching to new markets or improving quality can matter just as much.

Two other explanations are more speculative. First, some of the business restructuring of recent years may

have been ineptly done. Second, even if it was well done, it may have spread much less widely than people

suppose.

Leonard Schlesinger, a Harvard academic and former chief executive of Au Bong Pain, a rapidly growing

chain of bakery cafes, says that much

revenue

has

been

greater

than

the

reductions

in

cost.

His

colleague,

Michael

Beer,

says

that

far

too

many

companies have applied re-engineering in a mechanistic fashion, chopping out costs without giving sufficient

thought

to

long-term

profitability

.

BBDO's

Al

Rosenshine

is

blunter.

He

dismisses

a

lot

of

the

work

of

re-engineering consultants as mere rubbish

—

55. According to the author, the American economic situation is ________.

[A] not as good as it seems

[B] at its turning point

[C] much better than it seems

[D] near to complete recovery

56. The official statistics on productivity growth ________.

[A] exclude the usual rebound in a business cycle

[B] fall short of businessmen's anticipation

[C] meet the expectation of business people

[D] fail to reflect the true state of economy

57. The author raises the question

[A] he questions the truth of

[B] he does not think the productivity revolution works

[C] he wonders if the official statistics are misleading

[D] he has conclusive evidence for the revival of businesses

58. Which of the following statements is NOT mentioned in the passage?

[A] Radical reforms are essential for the increase of productivity

.

[B] New ways of organizing workplaces may help to increase productivity

.

[C] The reduction of costs is not a sure way to gain long- term profitability

.

[D] The consultants are a bunch of good-for-nothings.

试题解析：

55.

[A]

意为：并不像表面看上去那样好。

第一段第三、

四句指出，

(tales of corporate revival)

，

但是，

商界自

认为正在进行的所谓生产率革命究竟是否名符其实

(for

real)

，这一点却很难确定。该句实际上是 全文的

主旨，从反面提出了下文旨在回答的问题，所谓生产率革命根本不存在，官方的统 计数字也并不怎么乐

观；该段第四句指出，问题是；最近显示出的增长部分是由商业领域 里此时出现的正常的反弹

(rebound)

造成的，因此，不 能将它看作是更深层的（当指生产率）振兴的证据。由题目能够定位到第一段的这一

句：

What is harder to establish is whether the productivity revolution that businessmen assume they are presiding

over is for r eal.

其意思是：

商人们自认为的他们所领导的生产力革命是 否确有其事，

这一点更加难以确定。

因此可以看出作者觉得美国 经济形式并不像商人们说的那样好，因此联系到了

A

选项。

最后一段引 用了几个专家的评价，

对目前进行的促进生产率发展的措施进行了否定，

特别是罗森伯

格的评价，

在他看来，

< br>目前负责调整经济的顾问们所做的工作，

多数都是垃圾

（ 没有成效）

，

是典型的

“

于

事无补

”(ambulance

< br>-chasing)

。

B

意为：处于转折阶段。文章中只是 说经济发展并不乐观，但是还没有达到转折的地步，因此该选

项属于夸张类干扰项。

C