Question

【题目】 In the future, people will work fewer hours a week than today, right?【1】Too much work takes up a most all of their time. They are busy and feel very tired. Many people are asking,“When will I get some free time?”

【2】One reason is the increase in the cost of living. In order to support a family today，many people have to work longer hours or work at a second job.【3】She works in New Jersey as a social worker from 8:30a.m.until 12:30p.m. In the late afternoon and in the evenings， she sees private customers. On the weekends, she works as caterer(宴会承办者) . It costs so much to support her family, she says, that working less is not impossible.

But there is a second reason for peoples overwork. 【4】Employees feel that they have no choice. If they don't agree to work overtime, they are afraid that they will he fired by their companies. Changes in technology make it easier for people to be working all the time.With faxes， cellphones, and e-mail, people can work even when they are on holiday.

【5】If things continue this way into the future, we may never get to leave the office, at least not for long. Or people may begin to say, “This is enough. I need my relaxing time.”

A.Take the example of Lily P.

B.Most of people's work will be replaced by the robots.

C.People working longer hours will be much better paid.

D.More people are working long hours for two reasons.

E.Where will technology and the demands of the workweek take us?

F.Today, many companies are trying to do more work with fewer workers.

G.Actually, more people nowadays are working 10 to12 hours a day, six days a week than ever before.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】G

【2】D

【3】A

【4】F

【5】E

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了如今越来越多的人工作时间过长这一现象并分析了原因。

【1】空前提到了将来人们每周的工作时间会比今天少，空后又说太多的工作占据了他们大部分的时间，这说明现在人们每周工作的时间很长，故G项（事实上，现在越来越多的人每天工作10到12小时，每周工作6天）符合语境。

【2】上文提到了人们工作时间长的问题，再根据空后的“One reason”及下一段第一句“But there is a second reason for peoples overwork.”可知，此处是说人们工作时间长有两个原因，故D项（越来越多的人长时间工作主要有两个原因）符合语境。

【3】空后说她从早上8:30到中午12:30做社工，下午和晚上，她为私人顾客服务，周末她还要承办宴会，空后的“She”表明此处会以一位女性为例对空前所说的“为了养家糊口，许多人不得不延长工作时间或从事第二份工作”进行举例说明，故A项（以莉莉为例）符合语境。

【4】空后说员工们觉得他们别无选择，如果他们不同意加班，他们担心自己会被公司解雇，这说明公司强制要求员工加班干更多的活，也就是说公司想用更少的人做更多的工作，故F项（如今，许多公司都试图用更少的员工做更多的工作）符合语境。

【5】上一段最后两句说技术的发展使人们更容易一直工作，有了传真、手机和电子邮件，人们甚至在度假时也能工作，空后又说如果这种情况持续下去，我们可能永远都无法离开工作，至少不会太久，因此此处应该是说技术的发展和常规工作（办公室或车间工作）会如何影响我们，故E项（技术和工作周的需求会把我们带到哪里?）符合语境。