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  3. Much of continental Europe is in poor shape. True, the aggregate wealth of people is little changed and the social capital in mu

Much of continental Europe is in poor shape. True, the aggregate wealth of people is little changed and the social capital in mu

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问题     Much of continental Europe is in poor shape. True, the aggregate wealth of people is little changed and the social capital in museums, parks and other amenities is still intact. Yet, in the western part, the economy is failing society. Inclusion of ethnic minorities and youth in the economy is more lacking than ever. Among those who do participate, fewer are prospering. It is a measure of the decline that, in almost every country, the growth of wage rates has steadily slowed since 1995. What has gone wrong?
    European economists speak of a loss of competitiveness in southern Europe. They suggest that output and employment are down, relative to the past trend, because wages leapt ahead of productivity, making labour too expensive and forcing employers to cut back. Taking this perspective, some German economists argue that wages need to fall in the affected economies. Others argue instead for monetary stimulus—for instance, asset purchases by central banks—to raise prices and make current wage rates affordable.
    Economists of a classical bent lay a large part of the decline of employment, and thus lagging output, to a contraction of labour supply. And they lay that contraction largely to outbreaks of fiscal profligacy—as happened in Europe from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. Disciples of Keynes, who focus on aggregate demand, view any increase in household wealth as raising employment because they say it adds to consumer demand. They say Europe needs a lot more fiscal "profligacy" if it is to bring unemployment down. Some evidence favours the classics.
    Yet both sides of this debate miss the critical force at work. The main cause of Europe’s deep fall—the losses of inclusion, job satisfaction and wage growth—is the devastating slowdown of productivity that began in the late 1990s and struck large swathes of the continent. It holds down the growth of wages rates and it depresses employment.
    That slowdown resulted from narrowing innovation. Even in the postwar years, innovation in Europe was feeble by past standards. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, much of Europe is still suffering a slump on top of its post-1990s fall. The slump will pass but the fall will not be easily overcome. The continent is losing its best talent. It needs to fight for an economic life worth living.
What is the passage mainly about?
选项 A、Economists’ opinions on the decline of Europe.
B、Narrowing innovation: responsible for the decline of Europe.
C、The development trend of European countries.
D、The troubles of European countries.
答案B
解析 根据题干关键词，可知本题是在考查文章的主旨大意。本文共有五段。第一段通过现象引出主题：欧洲经济衰落，究竟为何?第二、三段分别列举了欧洲经济学家和古典经济学家给出的原因。第四、五段指出论战双方忽略了一个主要原因，那就是生产力的剧烈放缓，而这又源于创新减弱。故本题的正确答案为B项“创新的放缓：为欧洲的衰落负责”。易混项A项“经济学家们对欧洲衰落的看法”只是对文章表面现象的陈述，文章列举经济学家们的观点，只是为了引出最后的观点，故排除。C项“欧洲国家的发展趋势’，和D项“欧洲国家的麻烦”均可轻易排除。
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