15.Among rich countries,people in the United States work the longest hours.They work much longer than in Europe.This difference is quite surprising because productivity(生產(chǎn)力) per hour worked is the same in the United States as it is in France,Spain and Germany,and it is growing at a similar speed.
In most countries and at most times in history,as people have become richer they have chosen to work less.In other words they have decided to"spend"a part of their extra income on a fuller personal life.Over the last fifty years Europeans have continued this pattern,and hours of work have fallen sharply.But not in the United States.We do not fully know why this is.One reason may be greatly lower taxes in America,which increase the rewards to work.Another may be more satisfying work,or less satisfying personal lives.
Longer hours do of course increase the GDP(國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值).So the United States has produced more per worker than,say,F(xiàn)rance.The United States also has more of its people at work,while in France many more mothers and older workers have decided to stay at home.The overall result is that American GDP per head is 40% higher than in France,even though productivity per hour worked is the same.
It is not clear which of the two situations is better.As we have seen,work has to be compared with other values like family life,which often get lost in its interest.It is too early to explain the different trends(趨勢)in happiness over time in different countries.But it is a disappointing idea that in the United States happiness has made no progress since 1975,while it has risen in Europe.Could this have anything to do with trends in the work-life balance?
29.Which of the following countries has more of its people at work?D
A.Spain.B.France.C.Germany.D.America.
30.What message can we get from the text?B
A.The GDP of Europe is higher than that of America.
B.Two possible reasons are given for working longer hours in the US.
C.People all over the world choose to work less when they are richer.
D.Americans are happier than Europeans.
31.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?D
A.Americans and Europeans
B.Staying at Home
C.Work and Productivity
D.Work and Happiness.
分析 盡管美國人工作時間長但是每小時的生產(chǎn)效率卻和其他一些富裕的歐洲國家相同,作者認(rèn)為美國人喜歡工作時間長是因?yàn)楣ぷ鲿o人帶來一種滿足感,因此美國也成為了工作人數(shù)最多的國家.在本文中作者通過對比的方法對此現(xiàn)象進(jìn)行了剖析.
解答 DBD
29 D 細(xì)節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)文章第三段The United States also has more of its people at work,可知美國工作的人數(shù)比別的國家要多,故答案選D.
30 B 細(xì)節(jié)理解題.文章第二段Over the last fifty years Europeans have continued this pattern,and hours of work have fallen sharply.But not in the United States.介紹了為什么在美國人們的工作時間要更長一些,給出了兩種可能的原因,由此判斷B選項內(nèi)容正確.
31 D 主旨大意題.在文中作者對比了美國和其他富裕國家人們的不同工作時間和工作效率,分析認(rèn)為工作帶來的滿足感可能是美國人喜歡工作的原因,但是最后提出盡管美國人喜歡長時間工作,但是人們的幸福感卻沒有像其他國家一樣增長,由此可知文中中心內(nèi)容是講述工作和幸福的關(guān)系,故D選項內(nèi)容更能反應(yīng)文章中心,答案選D.
點(diǎn)評 學(xué)生需要認(rèn)真閱讀原文,把握文章大意,對文章脈絡(luò)有整體的了解,能仔細(xì)查找文中細(xì)節(jié),并能根據(jù)文章內(nèi)容進(jìn)行合理的推測判斷.