Day 15

英文重现

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.

——GMAT OG 2015, Reading Comprehension, Passage 12

解析

1.“demographic”意思是“人口统计的”，大家需要对人口统计学有一定理解，百度上给出的定义是：人口统计学是从数量上研究人口的各种生物特征（如年龄、性别构成）和社会特征（如职业、文化及经济状况分布等）的现状、变动及其发展趋势的一门学科。此处的指标应该是“职业”（长期工/临时工）。单词所在句的意思应该是：临时工的总体人数上升比例和长期工与临时工比例的变动不相符（表示它们之间不一定存在因果关系）。

2.第一个句子很长，但大家抓住“attributed A to B”这个词组后就会简单许多。

“attributed A to B”的意思是“把A归结于B”，那么B就应该是A的原因，A是B的结果。在第一个句子中，A就是“the dramatic growth in temporary employment”（“that”引导的定语从句修饰“dramatic growth”，B就是“increased participation in the workforce by certain groups”（“such as first-time or reentering workers”作“certain groups”的定语，“who supposedly prefer such arrangements”为定语从句，修饰“workers”或者“certain groups”），于是第一个句子可以简化为“Some observers have attributed dramatic growth in temporary employment to increased participation in the workforce by certain groups”，“dramatic growth in temporary employment”的原因就是“increased participation in the workforce by certain groups”。

3.“such as”意为“例如；诸如此类；像……那样”，相当于“like”或“for example”，“such as”后面不能接句子和代词，只能接名词/名词短语的缩略形式或动名词（即“-ing”形式）。这类结构既能以“名词+ such as +例子”的形式出现，也可表现为“such +名词+ as +例子”（如“such book as this one”）。另外，请大家注意，在“such...as”这个表达中，“as”可以用作关系代词，引导定语从句，“as” 在定语从句中作主语或宾语，例如：

I don't like such books as he recommends.

我不喜欢他推荐的那类书。（“as”在从句中作宾语）

4.词组“correlate with”意为“使……一一对应；使……相互关联”，“account for”意为“说明（原因、缘由等）”。

5.最后一个句子中的“while”连接两个动作（或平行结构）“are adapting to...”和

“(are) seeking to...”（“are”被省略了），注意平行结构要保持前后结构和词性一致，所以后面的“seeking”必须用“-ing”形式，和前面的“adapting”保持一致。

词义辨析

参考翻译

一些观察者把20世纪80年代美国临时性工作的大幅增长归因于某些特殊人群的增长，例如首次就业或是再次就业的人群，他们认为这些人群喜欢这样的临时工作。但是，数据统计显示，劳动力中的人口组成变化和临时工的总体人数变化并不一致。相反，这些分析显示，影响雇主的因素（才）是临时工作增长的原因。一个因素是产品需求：临时工作受到某些雇主的喜爱，这类雇主正在适应产品的波动需求，同时也在试图降低总体的劳动成本。另一个因素是劳动力的谈判能力降低，这使得雇主在雇用条款上拥有更多的控制力。

实战演练

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. Government policymakers should consider mandating benefit coverage for temporary employees, promoting pay equity between temporary and permanent workers, assisting labor unions in organizing temporary workers, and encouraging firms to assign temporary jobs primarily to employees who explicitly indicate that preference.

The passage suggests which of the following about the use of temporary employment by firms during the 1980s?

(A) It enabled firms to deal with fluctuating product demand far more efficiently than they did before the 1980s.

(B) It increased as a result of increased participation in the workforce by certain demographic groups.

(C) It was discouraged by government-mandated policies.

(D) It was a response to preferences indicated by certain employees for more flexible working arrangements.

(E) It increased partly as a result of workers’ reduced ability to control the terms of their employment.

答案：E

答案解析

首先，在读文章过程中，一定要注意表示“转折”的词汇，因为它往往表示前后两个观点是不同的。原文的第一句话是一个观点句“20世纪80年代美国临时性工作的大幅增长归因于某些特殊人群的增长”，后面的转折词“However”表明该观点受到了否定，并且否定者提出了另一种观点“影响雇主的因素（才）是临时工作增长的原因”，随后阐述了两种因素（产品需求和劳动力的谈判能力降低）。所以，做题第一步是理清文章的结构。

选项A“它使公司比20世纪80年代之前能更有效地应对产品需求波动”，文中并没有提到或者暗示20世纪80年代前的效率，所以这个比较不成立，因此选项A错误。

选项B“它的增长是因为某些人口群体在劳动人口中的参与度上升了”，这是文中第一句话提出的观点，也是文章反驳的观点，因此错误。

选项C“政府制定的政策不鼓励它（使用临时工）”在文中并未提及，错误。

选项D“它反映了某些雇员的喜好，这些雇员喜欢弹性更大的工作安排”，这也是“However”前面的内容，也是文章反驳的内容，因此错误。

选项E“它增长的一部分原因是劳动者控制雇用条款的能力下降了”和文中的第二个因素“劳动力的谈判能力降低”对应，雇主在雇用条款上拥有更多的掌控力就意味着雇员的掌控力下降了，因此选项E正确。