Question

In recent years many countries of the world have been faced with the problem of how to make their workers more productive. Some experts claim the answer is to make jobs more varied. But do more various jobs lead to greater productivity? There are facts to suggest that while variety certainly makes the worker's life more enjoyable, it does not actually make him work harder. As far as increasing productivity is concerned, then variety is not an important factor.

Other experts feel that giving the worker freedom to do his job in his own way is important, and there is no doubt that this is true. The problem is that this kind of freedom cannot easily be given in the modern factory with its complicated machinery that must be used in a fixed way. Thus while freedom of choice may be important, there is usually very little that can be done to create it.

Another very important consideration is how each worker contributes to the product he is making. In most factories the worker sees only one part of the product. Some car factories are now experimenting with having many small production lines rather than one large one, so that each worker contributes more to the production of the cars on his line. It would seem that not only is degree of the worker’s contribution an important factor, therefore, but it is also one we can do something about.

To what degree does more money lead to greater productivity? The workers themselves certainly think this is important. Maybe they want more money only because the work they do is boring. Money just lets them enjoy their spare time more. A similar argument may explain demands for shorter working hours. Perhaps if we succeed in making their jobs more interesting, they will neither want more money, nor will shorter working hours be so important to them.

Which of the following is the best way to make workers work harder according to the author?

A．Increasing their pay.

B．Giving them more spare time.

C．Making the work itself meaningful.

D．Replacing large production lines with small ones.

The reason why a worker cannot have freedom in doing the job in his own way is that ___  .

A．the machine is so badly needed that more of it should be bought

B．there are e production lines in factories

C．the bosses can create very little freedom of choices

D．the machines must be operated strictly according to instructions and rules

Besides money, what may make workers work more actively?

A. extra free hours     B. More comfort of life

C. interesting jobs      D. better working conditions

The best title for this passage may be _______.

A．Problems of Modern Workers            B．Making Jobs More Interesting

C．Pushing Workers to Produce More        D．How to Improve Labor Productivity

Answer 1

【小題1】C

【小題2】D

【小題3】C

【小題4】C

解析:

【小題1】提高生產率可行又有效的方案是讓工人意識到自己工作的重要價值；D僅是C中的一種操作手段。

【小題2】選項A是“機器必須固定”；選項C只是D原因中的一種結果。

【小題3】從文章最后一句推出。

【小題4】作者站在雇主方的立場上為廠家出謀劃策，以期在不提高待遇的情況下提高生產率，因此用push 很符合作者的立場。