首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
•Read the article below about manufacturing in the USA. •Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gap
•Read the article below about manufacturing in the USA. •Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gap
admin
2010-01-28
75
问题
•Read the article below about manufacturing in the USA.
•Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.
•For each gap 9-14, mark one letter (A-H) on your Answer Sheet.
•Do not use any letter more than once.
Making It in the USA
When it comes to US manufacturing, conventional wisdom says the prognosis is bad. Just read the headlines: During the past three years, the nation has lost 2.7 million factory jobs -- many of them permanently. Manufacturing now employs just 11 percent of the US workforce, compared with 30 percent in the 1950s.
But LeRoy Nosbaum, chief executive at Itron Corp., a $285 million builder of utility meter readers in Spokane, Wash., sees things differently. "If you can’t manufacture in the US efficiently and economically, you don’t know how to manufacture," he says. Yes, making stuff in the United States requires merciless, day-by-day cost cutting. (9) "Jumping on the low-cost bandwagon is a quick fix," says Bill Hanson, co-director of MIT’s Leaders for Manufacturing program. "But it can hurt you in the long run."
Job-loss statistics may overstate the fall in US manufacturing competitiveness (10) Sure, there are fewer factory workers, but thanks to increased automation and a shift to higher-value work, the value of US manufactured goods has grown by 50 percent since 1990.
Jim Womack of the Lean Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit training center, adds that cheaper labor doesn’t necessarily give offshore manufacturers an insurmountable advantage. (11) Whatever cost advantages do exist can vanish quickly if competitors follow suit and set up shop nearby.
But the most compelling reason to build here isn’t easily measured in dollars. (12) "The US is good at innovation," he says, "and the only way to become an innovation machine is to closely couple manufacturing with engineering and design." Nosbaum’s Itron is an example: a homegrown success that enjoys a 50 percent market in the face of stiff import competition. (13) With input from line workers, Itron has cut labor expenses in half since 1999 to just 8 percent of overall product cost- a rate so low that the wage gap with countries like China has become irrelevant.
The Itron case aside, it does make sense for labor-intensive industries like apparels or furniture making to build in low-wage countries. (14) In those fields, the potential of factory-level innovation far outweighs the benefits of lower wages. In the end, that is where American workers will find lasting opportunity.
A That is not the case in R&D-dependent industries such as biotech, pharmaceuticals, and aerospace, however.
B Productivity gains account for a big chunk of the job shrinkage.
C They can face additional costs from time- to-market delays, airfreight charges, employee travel, and local corruption.
D The company’s quality and test engineers roam its factory floor in Waseca, Minn., constantly searching for ways to improve product designs and production efficiency.
E But offshore manufacturing carries hidden costs of its own-in particular, the opportunities you forgo by cutting off access to the wellspring of innovation on your factory floor.
F But it doesn’t work in high-tech industries.
G Manufacturing now employs just 11 percent of the US workforce, compared with 30 percent in the 1950s.
H Distance severs what Hanson calls the "tight linkages" between engineers and production workers that spur innovation.
选项
答案
A
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/3cKd777K
本试题收录于:
BEC高级阅读题库BEC商务英语分类
0
BEC高级阅读
BEC商务英语
相关试题推荐
A、 B、 C、 A(A)在反问really的同时,补充说明看上去没有那么旧,故为正确答案。(B)使用与building发音相似的bill,需多加注意。(C)使用从building中可以联想到的companyworke
WhatkindofcompanyisLeeds?
1.(Thecandidatechoosesonetopicandspeaksaboutitforoneminute.)A.StaffManagement:howtoachieveandmaintainhighm
Inthispartofthetest,youareaskedtogiveashorttalkonabusinesstopic.Youhavetochooseoneofthetopicsfromthe
Inthispartofthetest,youareaskedtogiveashorttalkonabusinesstopic.YouhavetochooseoneofthetopicsfrOmtheth
Inthispartofthetest,youareaskedtogiveashorttalkonabusinesstopic.Youhavetochooseoneofthetopicsfromthe
TaskOne-Job•Forquestions13-17,matchtheextractswiththepeople,listedA-H.•Foreachextract,choosethejobeachsp
HowtoapproachListeningTestPartThree•InthispartoftheListeningTestyoulistentoalongconversationorinterviewan
HowtoapproachListeningTestPartThree•InthispartoftheListeningTestyoulistentoalongconversationorinterviewan
随机试题
下列不属于营销类人员的个性特点的是()
65岁女性,临床诊断为慢性结石性胆囊炎,拟择期行胆囊切除术。近3年来每到冬季就开始咳嗽、咳痰,时有发热。患者术前又出现咳嗽、多痰,体温38℃。麻醉前准备中,下列哪项检查必不可少
狂犬疫苗的接种对象是
市场风险管理部门相对于业务经营部门的专业性是建设市场风险管理体系的关键。()
在订立劳动合同的同时协商确定的专项协议通常包括()。
钱某一直游手好闲,某日偶然得知好友孙某有存款50万元,便心生歹意。次日,钱某约李某一起喝酒,并告知李某,孙某欠自己20万元一直未归还,如若李某同意帮忙一起索要这笔欠款,便给李某2万元作为酬谢。李某欣然同意。某日,钱某以一起聚会吃饭为由,伙同李某把
我们不能简单地认为词典的编纂者不对,他们对词汇的用法作出改动不会是随意的,想必经过了认真的研究推敲。不过,词典编纂者不能忽视一个基本事实以及由此衍生的基本要求:语言文字是广大人民群众共同使用的,具有极为广泛的社会性,因此语言文字的规范工作不能在象牙塔里进行
关于共同犯罪的犯罪中止问题,下列说法不正确的是()
Videorecordersandphotocopiers,eventicketmachinesontherailways,oftenseemunnecessarilydifficulttouse.LastDecember
A、Reformlandmarketsandregulations.B、Reformtradepatterns.C、Attractforeigninvestments.D、Findmoretradablegoods.A
最新回复
(
0
)