2. 外语
  3. According to many analysts, labor-management relations in the United States are undergoing a fundamental change: traditional adv

According to many analysts, labor-management relations in the United States are undergoing a fundamental change: traditional adv

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问题 According to many analysts, labor-management relations in the United States are undergoing a fundamental change: traditional adversarialism is giving way to a new cooperative relationship between the two sides and even to concessions from labor. These analysts say the twin shocks of nonunion competition in this country and low-cost, high-quality imports from abroad are forcing unions to look more favorably at a variety of management demands: the need for wage restraint and reduced benefits as well as the abolition of "rigid" work rules, seniority rights, and job classifications.
Sophisticated proponents of these new developments cast their observations in a prolabor light. In return for their concessions, they point out, some unions have bargained for profit sharing, retraining rights, and job-security guarantees. Unions can also trade concessions for more say on the shop floor, where techniques such as quality circles and quality-of-work-life programs promise workers greater control over their own jobs. Unions may even win a voice in investment and pricing strategy, plant location, and other major corporate policy decisions previously reserved to management.
Opponents of these concessions from labor argue that such concessions do not save jobs, but either prolong the agony of dying plants or finance the plant relocations that employers had intended anyway. Companies make investment decisions to fit their strategic plans and their profit objectives, opponents point out, and labor costs are usually just a small factor in the equation. Moreover, unrestrained by either loyalty to their work force or political or legislative constraints on their mobility, the companies eventually cut and run, concessions or no concessions.
Wage-related concessions have come under particular attack, since opponents believe that high union wages underlay much of the success of United States industry in this century. They point out that a long-standing principle, shared by both management and labor, has been that workers should earn wages that give them the income they need to buy what they make. Moreover, high wages have given workers the buying power to propel the economy forward.
If proposals for pay cuts, two-tier wage systems, and subminimum wages for young workers continue to gain credence, opponents believe the U.S. social structure will move toward that of a less-developed nation: a small group of wealthy investors, a sizable but still minority bloc of elite professionals and highly skilled employees, and a huge mass of marginal workers and unskilled laborers. Further, they argue that if unions willingly engage in concession bargaining on the false grounds that labor costs are the source of a company’s problems, unions will find themselves competing with Third World pay levels—a competition they cannot win.
It can be inferred from the passage that, until recently, which of the following has been true of United States industry in the twentieth century?
选项 A、Unions have consistently participated in major corporate policy decisions.
B、Maintaining adequate quality control in manufacturing processes has been a principal problem.
C、Union workers have been paid relatively high wages.
D、Two-tier wage systems have been the norm.
E、Goods produced have been priced beyond the means of most workers.
答案C
解析 Inference
This question requires you to draw a conclusion about United States industry in the twentieth century from the information in the passage. The passage indicates that even opponents of labor concessions believe that union workers have traditionally been paid relatively high wages and that high wages underlay much of the success of industry in the United States in the twentieth century.
A The passage suggests otherwise. It tells us that advocates of labor concessions believe it may eventually be possible for labor to participate in management decisions in a way that was not traditionally the case.
B The passage mentions "quality circles" as a benefit that, according to some proponents of labor concessions, may eventually be gained in the context of having more say on the shop floor. But that does not imply that quality control in manufacturing has been a major problem.
C Correct. The passage attributes a belief that this was so to opponents of labor concessions.
D The passage tells us that opponents of labor concessions believe that proposals for two-tier wage systems could become a reality— which indicates that such systems have not been the norm.
E According to the passage, opponents of labor concessions admit that wages have been relatively high for union workers and that labor and management have long been committed to the idea that workers should be able to afford to purchase the products they make.
The correct answer is C.
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