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  3. Everyone complains that corporate America is【C1】______to hire additional workers. Far【C2】______attention has been paid to the fl

Everyone complains that corporate America is【C1】______to hire additional workers. Far【C2】______attention has been paid to the fl

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问题     Everyone complains that corporate America is【C1】______to hire additional workers. Far【C2】______attention has been paid to the flip side of the jobless recovery: the【C3】______improvement in American productivity.
    When the economy【C4】______in 2008, there was little of the fall in labor productivity that normally【C5】______a recession, and this was not just a one-off "batting average" effect (in which average productivity rises because the worst performers are fired). Rather, it was a productivity boost that has continued【C6】______expert predictions that workers can only be【C7】______so hard for a short while.
    In the third quarter of 2011, American labor productivity was 2.3% higher than in the same period a year earlier. Manufacturing productivity in that quarter rose by 2. 9% compared with a year earlier. America’s productivity growth has been more【C8】______than most other rich countries’—a feat【C9】______to its flexible labor market and a culture of enterprise.
    Two things could keep productivity rising. First, workers are terrified of losing their jobs. This makes it easier to persuade them to put in extra hours or【C10】______new tasks. Second, tough times are forcing firms to【C11】______every brain cell to become more efficient. Sealed Air, for example, has made numerous incremental tweaks, such as【C12】______a machine that makes absorbent pads for supermarket meat trays so that its output increased from 400 units per hour three years ago to 550—with the same number of workers.
    The【C13】______of firms to invest in such enhancements has varied【C14】______. Some would rather hoard cash or buy back their own shares【C15】______spend it on more efficient machinery or information technology. Yet there are【C16】______that leading industrial firms are starting to increase their capital spending, says Jeff Sprague of Vertical Research Partners, a research outfit. In particular, he has noticed firms investing in "debottlenecking" which,【C17】______its name suggests, means removing hold-ups in production processes, sometimes with an additional production line.
    【C18】______short, the recession has forced American firms to become more muscular. This should help them【C19】______when the good times return. It should also give them an edge【C20】______foreign rivals.
【C19】
选项 A、maintain
B、thrive
C、survive
D、renew
答案B
解析 前文说经济衰退使得美国的公司变得努力提升自己的生产力，从而变得更有实力。而这种提升的实力能够在经济形势变好时帮助这些公司……[A]选项maintain表示“保持”。[B]选项thrive表示“繁荣昌盛，兴旺发达”。[C]选项survive表示“生存”。[D]选项renew表示“重新恢复，重新开始”。[B]选项的词义填在空格处最为贴切。而比较具有迷惑性的是[C]选项survive，但是这些公司努力提升生产率，实力大增的他们在经济回升之后生存已经不是问题，问题是要赚得更多的利润。
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