真题分析 五

2000年3月 section2 16－20

Reading Objectives: 熟悉先破后立的论证方式，巩固边读边做笔记的方法，重点是学会找主题句

Questions 16～20

Mitsubishi Motors just announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs. Last week Nissan, now owned by Renault and answering to its tough-minded foreign boss, pledged to slash 16,500. Similar reports from Tokyo for the past year have been greeted by American and British economists as signals that at last the famous Japanese practice of permanent employment is vanishing—a profound, traumatic transformation that they insist Japan needs.

本段中，由大公司的实例引出欧美学者的观点

But there is less to trend than meets the eye. Reading past the headlines, one discovers that Mitsubishi's cuts will not take full effect until March 2004. Even Nissan's new chief operating officer, Carlos Ghosn, known to the world as “The Cost Killer,” will spread out the downsizing over three years. And Japan's companies are making many of their adjustments through attrition, hiring freezes, voluntary retirement buyouts and reassignment of employees to subsidiaries. What is striking about what is happening now is not that is represents a change in the way companies deal with workers, but that it shows remarkable continuity in nearly desperate economic times.

But there is less to trend than meets the eye. Reading past the headlines

有强转折词，本句很有可能是主题句

第二句话很具体，不太可能是主题句

What is striking引导的内容需要重点读

17. Which of the following best paraphrases the statement “there is less to the

trend than meets the eye” (Para.2)

(A) Everything can be observed through the trend.

(B) The trend is superficial rather than fundamental.

(C) The trend shows the continuity of Japanese recruiting practice.?

(D) The trend tells us little about the Japanese employment system.?

For decades, American analysts have been predicting that a change in the Japanese ways of doing business was imminent. In good times, like the 60's or 80's, labor shortages and affluence were expected to lead employees to reject the status quo and start job hopping. In bad times, like the 70's or 90's, the pressure of the bottom line was expected to lead bosses “finally” to a proper market based system of employment.

Imminent：即将到来

In good times与In bad times的对应

job hopping：跳槽

The analysts who make these predictions do not understand the deep historical roots of Japan's employment practices, roots sunk in its legal system, the structure of schools, its systems of job recruiting and skill development, its decades-old cooperative relations between companies and unions, and the implicit expectations we call culture.

On the very day of the Nissan announcement, a back-page story in Japanese newspapers showed how firm the grip of these foots can be. The game maker Sega had fired a 35 -year-old man for “lack of ability”. He protested with a lawsuit, and the courts ruled in his favor. They called the termination an “abuse of the right to fire,”decided the company had made “insufficient effort to train the employee” and ordered Sega to pay back wages.

本段用实例证明作者观点，反驳欧美学者的观点。

20. The author uses the example of the game maker Sega to show ________.

(A) the importance of economic reform in Japan

(B) the progress of Japanese legal system

(C) the contradiction between labour and capital

(D) the cultural influence in employment practice

(A) the importance of economic reform in Japan ―― Japan does, of course, need economic reform. But the country's current crisis is rooted….

Japan does, of course, need economic reform. But the country's current crisis is rooted in a paralyzed financial system and stagnant consumer demand, especially at home. It is not a crisis of unproductive or lazy systems of industrial production. The financial system needs a thorough housecleaning, not only more transparent and effective regulation, but also internal reforms to insure that banks make more serious risk assessment when they start lending aggressively again. The country also needs public works spending and tax cuts to get commerce moving faster.?

（本段阐述了作者想要的解决方法）

But it is probably a good thing that the Japanese system resists the sort of change that would please the economic seers who thrill to misleading reports about huge employee cutbacks. A working person's prescription for change would first note that the cuts that have taken place, timid as they are by American standards, have shaken the confidence of consumers. Job security and stable wages, and public policies to insure them, could reduce fears and make people feel more comfortable about buying, increasing domestic demand and promoting recovery.?

It is worth remembering that for several decades, with the familiar employment system in place, the productivity of Japanese industrial organizations and their ability to cope with shocks—like the oil crises or the tripling of the value of the yen against the dollar—was the envy of the world.

cope with shocks：应付危机的能力

16. Which of the basic writing skills does the author mainly use in the passage?

(A) classification　分类法 (B) definition　定义法

(C) illustration 例证法 (D) argumentation　论证法

本文是先破后立的论证法的典型。

17. Which of the following best paraphrases the statement “there is less to the

trend than meets the eye”

(A) Everything can be observed through the trend.

(B) The trend is superficial rather than fundamental.

(C) The trend shows the continuity of Japanese recruiting practice.?

(D) The trend tells us little about the Japanese employment system.?

18. Which of the following shows the authors major concern??

(A) The necessity of reform of Japanese financial system.?

(B) American and British economists-view towards Japanese practice of permanent employment.?

(C) The justification of the continuity of Japanese employment practice.?

(D) The relationship between Japanese culture and its systems of job reruiting.?

19. According to the author, all of the following can be concluded from the passage EXCEPT that ________.

(A) Japanese system of employment is also applicable to western countries

(B) American analysts prediction is not well-grounded

(C) the “profound, traumatic transformation” in Japanese employment practice will not occur

(D) the Japanese employment system contributes greatly to its development of productivity

20. The author uses the example of the game maker Sega to show ________.

(A) the importance of economic reform in Japan

(B) the progress of Japanese legal system

(C) the contradiction between labour and capital

(D) the cultural influence in employment practice