Text 2 Britain's flexible labour market

考试题库2022-08-02 50

问题 Text 2 Britain's flexible labour market was a boon during the economic slump,helping keep joblessness down and then,when the recovery began,allowing employment to rise.Yet one of its bendier bits is causing politicians to fret.Ed Miliband,the leader of the Labour 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 l.4m jobs were based on these contracts in January 2014,according to a snapshot taken by 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 erratic pattems 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 tum down work is important to students,who want to revise（or sit in the sun）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（the govemment has just said that unemployed people who refuse to accept zero-hours contracts could be cut off from benerits）.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 labour-market power.Some use them to avoid statutory obligations such as sick and maternity pay.Workers are penalised for not being available when requested.And some contracts contain exclusivity clauses which prevent workers from taking additionaljobs.These can harm other employers as well as workers,and actually reduce labour market flexibility.That,at least,is worth doing away with.Which ofthe following is the best title ofthis text?A.Zero-hours Contract-Lack of FlexibilityB.Zero-hours Contract-an Out-of-date PolicyC.Zero-hours Contract-an Illegal PolicyD.Zero-hours Contract-a Challenging Way Against Permanent Job

选项 A.Zero-hours Contract-Lack of Flexibility
B.Zero-hours Contract-an Out-of-date Policy
C.Zero-hours Contract-an Illegal Policy
D.Zero-hours Contract-a Challenging Way Against Permanent Job

答案 A

解析主旨大意题。解决该题目的关键是，通过做完前四道题大体知道文章的中心，再次通读各段首句，验证中心。整个文章都是在围绕着零时工合同的影响来说，在结尾处明确地说明了零时工合同并不灵活，而与这个信息相对应的选项为A项Zero-hours Contract-Lack of Flexibility（零时工合同——缺乏灵活性），所以A项为正确选项。【干扰排除】剩余的选项分别为零时工合同过时、非法、挑战固定工作，这些信息在个别段落虽然有提及，但是不足以说明文章的中心，属于以偏概全，故均可排除。

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Text 2 Britain's flexible labour market

英语二研究生

研究生入学