Improving the balance between the working part of the day and the rest of it is a goal of a growing number of workers in rich We

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问题     Improving the balance between the working part of the day and the rest of it is a goal of a growing number of workers in rich Western countries. Some are turning away from the ideals of their parents, for whom work always came first; others with scarce skills are demanding more because they know they can get it. Employers, caught between a falling population of workers and tight controls on immigration, are eager to identify extra perks that will lure more "talent" their way. Just now they are focusing on benefits(especially flexible working)that offer employees more than just pay.
    Some companies saw the change of mood some time ago. IBM has more than 50 different programmes promoting work-life balance and Bank of America over 30. But plenty of other firms remain unconvinced and many lack the capacity to cater to such ideas even if they wanted to. Helen Murlis, with Hay Group, a human-resources consultancy, sees a widening gap between firms "at the creative end of employment" and those that are not.
    The chief component of almost all schemes to promote work-life balance is flexible working. This allows people to escape rigid nine-to-five schedules and work away from a formal office. IBM says that 40% of its employees today work off the company premises. For many businesses, flexible working is a necessity. Globalization has spread the hours in which workers need to communicate with each other and increased the call for flexible shifts.
    Nella Barkley, an American who advises companies on work-life balance, says that large firms are beginning to understand the value of such schemes, "but only slowly". For most of them, they still mean little more than child care, health care and flexible working.
    To some extent, the proliferation of work-life-balance schemes is a function of today’s labour market. Companies in knowledge-based industries worry about the shortage of skills and how they are going to persuade talented people to work for them. Although white-collar workers are more likely to be laid off nowadays, they are also likely to get rehired. Unemployment among college graduates in America is just over 2%. The same competition for scarce talent is evident in Britain.
    For some time to come, talented people in the West will demand more from employers, and clever employers will create new gewgaws to attract them to join. Those employers should note that for a growing number of these workers the most appealing gewgaw of all is the freedom to work as and when they please.
IBM is mentioned in the third paragraph to show that

选项 A、IBM has many different programmes enhancing work-life balance.
B、flexible working means flexible working time.
C、flexible working includes allowing employees to work outside offices.
D、flexible working can be realized by flexible shifts.

答案C

解析 推理判断题。根据题干提示定位至第三段第三句:IBM说它现在有40%的员工不在公司里办公。这是段落中的支持性细节,通常作为说明前面提到的观点的论据出现,该段前两句指出:几乎所有推动工作和生活之间平衡方案中的主要内容都是弹性工作制。这让人们摆脱了朝九晚五的工作时间限制。IBM的例子就是对第二句的说明,故[C]为答案。[A]是对第二段第二句细节内容的总结,与本段细节内容支持的观点无关,故排除;IBM的例子中没有提到工作时间,显然[B]不是该论据支持的观点,故排除;文中没有提到IBM有灵活的轮班制度,故排除[D]。
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