2. 外语
  3. Oscar Wilde said that work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do. If so, Americans are now among the world’s sa

Oscar Wilde said that work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do. If so, Americans are now among the world’s sa

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问题     Oscar Wilde said that work is the refuge of people who have nothing
better to do. If so, Americans are now among the world’s saddest refugees.
Factory workers in the United States are working longer hours than at any 【M1】______
other time in the past half century. America once led the rich world in cut
ting the average working week—from 70 hours in 1850 to less than 40
hours by the 1950s.
    It seemed natural that as people grew richer they would trade extra earn
ings for more leisure. Since the 1970s, however, the hours clocked up by
American workers have raised to an average of 42 this year in manufactur- 【M2】______
ing. Several studies suggest that something similar is happening outside
manufacturing. Americans are spending more time at work than they did 20
years ago. Executives and lawyers boast 80-hour weeks. On holiday, they 【M3】______
seek out fax machines and phones as eagerly as Germans bag the best sun
loungers. Yet working time in Europe and Japan continue to fall. In Germa- 【M4】______
ny’s engineering industry the working week is to be trimmed from 36 to 35
hours next year. Most Germans get six week paid annual holiday; even the 【M5】______
Japanese now take three weeks. Americans still make with just two. 【M6】______
    Germany responds to this contrast with its usual concern about whether
people’s aversion to work is damaging its competition. Yet German work- 【M7】______
ers, the Japanese, seem to be acting sensibly: as their incomes rise, they can
achieve a better standard of living with fewer hours of work. The puzzle
is why America, the world’s richest country, sees things differently. It is a
puzzle with sinister social clues. Parents spend less time with their children, 【M8】______
who may be left alone at home for longer. Is it just a coincidence that juve
nile crime is in the rise? Some explanations for America’s time at work fail 【M9】______
to stand up for scrutiny. Some blame weak trade unions that leave workers 【M10】______
open to exploitation, others suggest Americans actually want to work longer hours.
【M7】
选项
答案competition — competitiveness
解析 破坏的不是“竞争”，而是“竞争力”，所以应该把“competition”改为“competi—tiveness”。
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