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  3. Everyone complains that corporate America is【C1】______to hire additional workers. Far【C2】______attention has been paid to the fl

Everyone complains that corporate America is【C1】______to hire additional workers. Far【C2】______attention has been paid to the fl

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问题     Everyone complains that corporate America is【C1】______to hire additional workers. Far【C2】______attention has been paid to the flip side of the jobless recovery: the【C3】______improvement in American productivity.
    When the economy【C4】______in 2008, there was little of the fall in labor productivity that normally【C5】______a recession, and this was not just a one-off "batting average" effect (in which average productivity rises because the worst performers are fired). Rather, it was a productivity boost that has continued【C6】______expert predictions that workers can only be【C7】______so hard for a short while.
    In the third quarter of 2011, American labor productivity was 2.3% higher than in the same period a year earlier. Manufacturing productivity in that quarter rose by 2. 9% compared with a year earlier. America’s productivity growth has been more【C8】______than most other rich countries’—a feat【C9】______to its flexible labor market and a culture of enterprise.
    Two things could keep productivity rising. First, workers are terrified of losing their jobs. This makes it easier to persuade them to put in extra hours or【C10】______new tasks. Second, tough times are forcing firms to【C11】______every brain cell to become more efficient. Sealed Air, for example, has made numerous incremental tweaks, such as【C12】______a machine that makes absorbent pads for supermarket meat trays so that its output increased from 400 units per hour three years ago to 550—with the same number of workers.
    The【C13】______of firms to invest in such enhancements has varied【C14】______. Some would rather hoard cash or buy back their own shares【C15】______spend it on more efficient machinery or information technology. Yet there are【C16】______that leading industrial firms are starting to increase their capital spending, says Jeff Sprague of Vertical Research Partners, a research outfit. In particular, he has noticed firms investing in "debottlenecking" which,【C17】______its name suggests, means removing hold-ups in production processes, sometimes with an additional production line.
    【C18】______short, the recession has forced American firms to become more muscular. This should help them【C19】______when the good times return. It should also give them an edge【C20】______foreign rivals.
【C6】
选项 A、despite
B、regardless
C、though
D、defiance
答案A
解析 上文提到“美国在2008年经济危机中劳动生产率不降反升”，这里接着强调这种上升并不是短暂的现象，而是一种持续的上升。空格处要填一个表示转折的词，意思是“尽管专家预计生产率上升不会持续很久，但是这一趋势仍然没有停止的迹象”。四个选项都包含一定转折之意。[A]选项despite是介词，表示“尽管”，相当于in spite of，后面直接接名词或名词短语，符合这里的句义和语法，因此，[A]选项为正确答案。[B]选项regardless表示“不管……，不顾……，尽管”，这个词需要和介词of连用，构成固定搭配regardless of。[C]选项though表示“尽管”，作为连词后面需要加句子，而不是加名词短语。[D]选项defiance本意是“违抗，藐视”，构成介词短语in defiance of，意思是“违抗，藐视”。
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