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  3. Britain’s flexible labor market was a boon during the economic recession, helping keep joblessness down and then, when the recov

Britain’s flexible labor market was a boon during the economic recession, helping keep joblessness down and then, when the recov

admin2022-02-27  97
问题     Britain’s flexible labor market was a boon during the economic recession, helping keep joblessness down and then, when the recovery began, allowing employment to rise. Yet one of its flexible bits is causing politicians to be worried. Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labor Party, has promised a crackdown on "zero-hours contracts" if he wins the next election. The government has launched a consultation.
    Zero-hours contracts allow firms to employ workers for as few or as many hours as they need, with no prior notice. In theory, at least, people can refuse work. Fully 1. 4m jobs were based on these contracts in January 2014, according to the Office for National Statistics. That is just 4％ of the total, but the share rises to a quarter in the hospitality business.
    The contracts are useful for firms with unstable patterns of demand, such as hotels and restaurants. They have also helped firms to expand during the recovery—allowing them to test new business lines before hiring permanent staff, who would be more costly to make redundant if things went wrong.
    Flexibility suits some workers, too. According to one survey, 47％ of those employed on zero-hours contracts were content to have no minimum contracted hours. Many of these workers are in full-time education. The ability to turn down work is important to students, who want to revise at this time of year. Pensioners keen for a little extra income can often live with the uncertainty of not having guaranteed hours.
    Yet that leaves more than a quarter of workers on zero-hours contracts who say they are unhappy with their conditions. Some of this is cyclical. During recessions, a dearth of permanent positions forces people into jobs with no contracted hours even if they do not want them. Underemployment is particularly prevalent among these workers, 35％ of whom would like more hours compared with 12％ in other jobs. As the economy recovers, many should be able to renegotiate their contracts or find permanent jobs.
    But the recovery will not cause unwanted zero-hours contracts to disappear. Some workers will never have much negotiating power: they are constrained by geography, family commitments and lack of competition for their skills among a small number of big employers. Zero-hours contracts make it easier for employers to abuse their labor-market power. Some use them to avoid legal obligations such as sick and maternity pay. Workers are penalized for not being available when requested. And some contracts contain exclusivity clauses which prevent workers from taking additional jobs. These can harm other employers as well as workers, and actually reduce labor market flexibility. That, at least, is worth doing away with.
Who may not be satisfied with zero-hours contracts?
选项 A、People with specific goals.
B、Workers requiring flexibility.
C、Students taking part-time jobs.
D、Pensioners desiring more income.
答案A
解析 细节题。定位到第四段。该段第二句提到：According to one survey, 47％ of those employed on zero-hours contracts were content to have no minimum contracted hours. 其中，content=satisfied，zero-hours contracts是原词复现。该句提到：47％签约“零时合同”的人感到满意，后文具体说哪些人会对此满意。下文说：The ability to turn down work is important to students，who want to revise at this time of year. 该句暗示“零时合同”适合学生，因为他们需要灵活安排时间，与该句相关选项为C项Students doing part-time jobs"兼职的学生”。故该项不符合题干“not satisfied”的要求，该项非答案。接着最后一句说：Pensioners keen for a little extra income can often live with the uncertainty of not having guaranteed hours. 与之相关选项为D项Pensioners desiring more income“想获得更多收入的养老金领取者”，其中desiring more income=keen for extra income，故D项也可以排除。该段首句说：Flexibility suits some workers，too. 该句对应B项Workers requiring flexibility“对灵活性有要求的工人”，故该项也可以排除。原文唯一没提到的是A项People with specific goals“有明确目标的人”，故本题答案为A项。
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