What percentage of the population in a modern technological society are, like myself, in the fortunate position of being workers

admin2016-02-26  39

问题     What percentage of the population in a modern technological society are, like myself, in the fortunate position of being workers? At a guess I would say sixteen per cent, and I do not think that figure is likely to get bigger in the future.
    Technology and the division of labor have done two things: by eliminating in many fields the need for special strength or skill, they have made a very large number of paid occupations which formerly were enjoyable work into boring labor, and by increasing productivity they have reduced the number of necessary laboring hours. It is already possible to imagine a society in which the majority of the population, that is to say, its laborers, will have almost as much leisure as in earlier times was enjoyed by the aristocracy. When one recalls how aristocracies in the past actually behaved, the prospect is not cheerful. Indeed, the problem of dealing with boredom may be even more difficult for such a future mass society than it was for aristocracies. The latter, for example, ritualized their time; there was a season to shoot grouse, a season to spend in town, etc. The masses are more likely to replace an unchanging ritual by fashion which changes as often as possible in the economic interest of certain people. Again, the masses cannot go in for hunting, for very soon there would be no animals left to hunt. For other aristocratic amusements like gambling, dueling, and warfare, it may be only too easy to find equivalents in dangerous driving, drug-taking, and senseless acts of violence. Workers seldom commit acts of violence, because they can put their aggression into their work, be it physical like the work of a smith, or mental like the work of a scientist or an artist. The role of aggression in mental work is aptly expressed by the phrase "getting one’s teeth into a problem".
According to the passage, technology and division of labour have done all of the following EXCEPT

选项 A、increasing the joy of the paid occupations.
B、making skill and special strength unnecessary in work.
C、causing jobs to be dull labour.
D、decreasing working hours

答案A

解析 事实细节题。信息定位在第二段,eliminating in many fields the need for special strength or skill与选项B对应;made a very large number of paid occupations which formerly were enjoyable work into boringlabor与选项C对应;reduced the number of necessary laboring hours与选项D对应。选项A中提及increasing the joy of the paid occupation与the prospect is not cheerful意义相悖,由此可知答案为A。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/cXGO777K
0

随机试题
最新回复(0)