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  3. In Forces of Production, David Noble examines the transformation of the machine-tool industry as the industry moved from relianc

In Forces of Production, David Noble examines the transformation of the machine-tool industry as the industry moved from relianc

admin2010-09-10  61
问题     In Forces of Production, David Noble examines the transformation of the machine-tool industry as the industry moved from reliance on skilled artisans to automation. Noble writes from a Marxist perspective, and his central argument is that management, in its decisions to automate, conspired against labor: the power that the skilled machinists wielded in the industry was intolerable to management.  Noble fails to substantiate this claim, although his argument is impressive when he applies the Marxist concept of "de-skilling"－the use of technology to replace skilled labor--to the automation of the ma chine-tool industry. In automating, the industry moved to computer-based, digitalized "numerical-control" (N/C) technology, rather than to artisan-generated "record-playback" (R/P) technology.
    Although both systems reduced reliance on skilled labor, Noble clearly prefers R/P, with its inherent acknowledgement of workers’ skills: unlike N/C, its programs were produced not by engineers at their computers, but by skilled machinists, who recorded their own movements to "teach" machines to duplicate those movements. However, Noble’s only evidence of conspiracy is that, although the two approaches were roughly equal in technical merit, management chose N/C. From this he concludes that automation is undertaken not because efficiency demands it or scientific advances allow it, but because it is a tool in the ceaseless war of capitalists against labor.
Which of the following best characterizes the function of the second paragraph of the passage?
选项 A、It develops a topic introduced in the first paragraph.
B、It provides evidence to refute a claim presented in the first paragraph.
C、It gives examples of a phenomenon mentioned in the first paragraph.
D、It presents a generalization about examples given in the first paragraph.
答案A
解析 主旨题。本文第二段的作用：A．正确。继续进行第一段已开始的论题。本文两段是一个内容：作者对Noble关于自动化的观点做出评论。B．“refute a claim”不符原文。C．为第一段现象举出例子，原文没有相应的文字支持。D．对第一段例证做出总结，原文没有相应的文字支持。
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