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  3. The availability to occupations depends also on shifts in the national economy and increasingly on economic developments worldwi

The availability to occupations depends also on shifts in the national economy and increasingly on economic developments worldwi

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问题      The availability to occupations depends also on shifts in the national economy and increasingly on economic developments worldwide. There are several ways to measure these effects, including the rate of unemployment, the international balance of trade, and the productivity of American workers.
     The unemployment rate is a standard measure of joblessness in a community, state, or nation as a whole. Computed by standards set by the United States Department of Labor, the measure is made by taking a random sample of households in an area. It is an estimate of the percentage of people who are not working but are looking for work.
     The unemployment rate has been said to under-represent the actual unemployed because those who have stopped looking for work are not counted. It is a comparable statistic from state to state, however, because it is computed in the same manner. Traditionally an unemployment rate of 4 percent is considered full employment because people quit, change jobs, or are fired regardless of the relative health of the economy. In contrast the national unemployment rate reached as high as 25 percent during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
     When unemployment is low, people work and receive payment. They in turn buy goods and services that keep the work force employed and growing. This is an expanding economy. When unemployment is high, there is less money to purchase goods and services because fewer people are working. Fewer goods are sold, and businesses lose money and reduce the number of workers. This is a contracting economy.
     The United States government has many safeguards for the economy. It cannot, however, prevent dislocations due to technological change. A manufacturing process can suddenly become obsolete when a new technology is developed. Economic hardship may occur in a region even though the same goods are still being produced. An example is the industrial Midwest in the early 1980s. Increasingly manufacturers, both in the United States and abroad, were using foreign steel to make products. More finished products were also being imported, replacing American-made goods. Many workers were laid off, causing disruption of normal economic activities.
     Meanwhile high-tech manufacturing processes were developing elsewhere. California’s so-called Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco, became famous for its computer-related goods and computer-assisted design amid manufacturing processes. This was of little benefit to workers displaced by the obsolescence of traditional manufacturing. Because of a lack of transferable skills, many could not make the change. Some workers were laid-off indefinitely, forcing them to accept jobs that paid less or imposing upon them essentially permanent unemployment.
     Leaders of American business and education are sensitive to these issues. Increasingly concerned with the productivity of the individual worker, business people and educators have formed alliances to save local jobs by improving the work force and by redesigning the curricula of schools and training centers to encourage the development of useful skills.
According to the passage, unemployment rate
选项 A、by no means represents the actual unemployment.
B、somewhat represents the relative health of the economy.
C、is usually 4 percent regardless of the relative health of the economy.
D、is an estimate of the percentage of people without a job.
答案A
解析 细节题。根据第三段提到的“The unemployment rate has been said to under- represent the actual unemployed because those who have stopped looking for work are not counted．”可见失业率很难准确统计，因为不能统计到那些失去工作但没有去找工作的人，故A  为答案。第一段第二句提到“There are several ways to measure these effects…workers”，可见失业率只是一种衡量的方式，并不能代表经济健康与否，因而B  不合文意；第三段提到失业率达到4％意味着完全就业，故C  不合文意；第二段提到失业率是对那些失去工作但是正在找工作的人所占比例的一个估算，因而D  不合文意。
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