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  3. Today the average worker is paid less than $ 4 an hour in Portugal and $ 9 an hour in Spain, compared with $13 in Germany and al

Today the average worker is paid less than $ 4 an hour in Portugal and $ 9 an hour in Spain, compared with $13 in Germany and al

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问题     Today the average worker is paid less than $ 4 an hour in Portugal and $ 9 an hour in Spain, compared with $13 in Germany and almost $16 in Denmark. Taking accounts of non-wage costs, such as employer’s social-security contributions, the gap is wider still: from $ 6 in Portugal to $ 24 in Germany. With the EC’s single market knocking down barriers in intra-European trade, no wonder German companies now seem keener on sunnier climes. But how long will southern Europe’s cost advantage last?
    Conventional wisdom argues that greater economic integration within the single market, and later under a single currency, will cause wages to converge.  Increased labor mobility, for example, should allow worker to move from low-wage to high-wage economics. Increased trade and cross-border investment should also push labor costs closer.
    The experience of the past 20 years seems to confirm this: Spanish wages rose from 29% of German wages in 1970 to 68% in 1991. Italy’s rose from 42% to 74%. If convergence continued at this pace, the gap would vanish within the next 20 years. But a study concludes that the pace of convergence will slow, and that low-wage economics will stay that way for some time. Because of Europe’s linguistic and cultural barriers, labor migration and so pressures for wage convergence — will remain modest.
    The study estimates that two-thirds of the existing wage gap between EC countries will remain in 2010. But total labor cost may converge much faster. Non-wage costs will remain about the same. This could be wrong. Non-wage costs now range from 22% of total labor costs in Denmark to 102% in Italy. As more and more companies employ people across Europe, and as 11 of the EC’s 12 governments move to standardize worker’s right and benefits, such wide disparities are unlikely to survive.
The German companies now have a burning desire to invest and trade in southern Europe just because ______.
选项 A、decreased trade and cross-border investment push the labor costs lower
B、labor mobility and the easiness of communicating allow worker to migrate
C、the pace of convergence is seemingly stepping up at a higher rate
D、the southern Europe’s cost advantage will last for a while
答案D
解析 本题是细节题。该题内容出现在文章第一段。But how long will southern Europe’s cost advantage last? 但是这种成本优势会持续多长时间呢? 第三段最后一句讲到，由于语言和劳动力转移等障碍，所以各国之间工资水平趋于平衡进展会缓慢下来。说明这种成本优势还将持续一段时间。A选项错误，选项中的decreased偷换了文中的“increased”，请大家注意。B选项错误，因为各国之间交流并不容易，而是有很多的障碍。C选项与本题无关。所以D选项是正确答案。
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