Day 16

英文重现

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.

——GMAT OG 2015, Reading Comprehension, Passage 12

解析

1.“Given”在意思上相当于“take into consideration”、“considering”，即“考虑到”；要注意“analyses”是“analysis”的复数形式。

2.“which”引导的长定语从句修饰前面的“the analyses”。我们在分析句子时，可以先将该定语从句放在一边，分析比较主要的部分，随后再掉过头来分析其他的修饰性成分。因此，我们可以理解“Given the analyses, firms should be discouraged from creating excessive numbers of temporary positions”，再理解“which”引导的定语从句。

3. 在“which”引导的定语从句中，“that”引导的宾语从句“that growth in temporary employment … prefer temporary jobs”要单独分析。该宾语从句的主干部分是“growth exceeds the level”；“explainable by recent workforce entry rates of groups”是形容词短语作后置定语，修饰“the level”，相当于定语从句“which can be explained by …”；“said to prefer temporary jobs”是过去分词短语作定语，修饰“groups”，相当于定语从句“who are said to prefer temporary jobs”。

4.词组“discouraged from doing”表示“不鼓励/阻止做某事”。

词义辨析

参考翻译

考虑到这些分析（这些分析显示，现在临时工作的增长远远超过了可以被解释的水平——可以被据说喜欢临时工作的群体的入职率所能解释的水平），公司应该受到劝阻，不要创造太多的临时职位。

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…

In the context of the passage, the word “excessive” most closely corresponds to which of the following phrases?

(A) Far more than can be justified by worker preferences.

(B) Far more than can be explained by fluctuations in product demand.

(C) Far more than can be beneficial to the success of the firms themselves.

(D) Far more than can be accounted for by an expanding national economy.

(E) Far more than can be attributed to increases in the total number of people in

the workforce.

答案：A

答案解析

根据“excessive”所在的句子“Given the analyses, …temporary position”可知，作者根据统计分析来劝阻公司不要创造过多的临时职位，而这个分析显示了临时工作的增长远远超过了可以被据说喜欢临时工作的群体的入职率所能解释的水平，所以我们应该清楚“excessive”指的就是“临时工作的增长”远远超过“据说喜欢临时工作的群体的入职率”，与此对应的是选项A“远超过工人的喜好所能解释的（水平）”。事实上，文章刚开始的部分提到了一种观点，该观点将临时工作的增长归因于喜欢临时工的群体积极参与到工

作中，此处其实是在驳斥该观点：既然临时工作的增长远远超过喜欢临时工的人的入职率，那就说明临时工作的增长并不是喜欢临时工的人群增长而造成的。

其他几个选项的意思为：

B.远超过产品需求的波动所能解释的（水平）。

C.远超过对公司的成功有益的（水平）。

D.远超过国家经济的扩张所能解释的（水平）。

E.远超过全部员工增长的数量所能解释的（水平）。