Passage 8
Prior to 1975(暗示新舊前後對比), union efforts to organize public-sector clerical workers(辦事員), most of whom are women, were somewhat limited. The factors favoring unionization drives seem to have been(便於發展組織的因素,不是A就是B) either the presence of large numbers of workers, as in New York City, to make it worth the effort, or the concentration of small numbers in one or two locations, such as a hospital, to make it relatively easy, Receptivity(易於接受) to unionization on the workers, part was also a consideration(難句:員工加入工會組織的意願,也是部分考慮因素), but when there were large numbers involved or the clerical workers were the only unorganized group in a jurisdiction(管轄權), the multioccupational unions would often try to organize them regardless of the workers’ initial receptivity(就不管員工的意願啦). The strategic reasoning was based, first, on the concern that politicians and administrators might play off(挑撥) unionized against non unionized workers(難句:政客和老闆們便會挑撥參不參加的關係), and, second, on the conviction that a fully unionized public work force meant power, both at the bargaining table and in the legislature(難句:有組織的工會團體在談判桌及立法機構都是意味著力量). In localities(位置) where clerical workers were few in number, were scattered(分散) in several workplaces, and expressed no interest in being organized, unions more often than not ignored them in the pre-1975 period.(難句:至於員工很少,據點分散,或是對參加工會不感興趣的地區,75年前是沒有工會的)第一段總結:講的是1970年以前的工會組織及運作型態,暗示那以前沒有女人,或是女人工作的很少,導致工會組織仍以男性為主
(補充注釋:考了一題問為何要fully unionized,回去第一段定位,這裡說的是結果,回溯做這件事的目的,就是把員工不分青紅皂白的全數強制加入工會)
But since the mid-1970’s, a different strategy has emerged. In 1977, 34 percent of government clerical workers were represented by a labor organization, compared with 46 percent of government professionals, 44 percent of government blue-collar workers, and 41 percent of government service workers, (之前快速讀即可)Since then, however, the biggest increases in public-sector unionization have been among clerical workers. Between 1977 and 1980, the number of unionized government workers in blue-collar and service occupations increased only about 1.5 percent, while(重要轉折字) in the white-collar occupations(白領工人,也就是clerical worker) the increase was 20 percent and among clerical workers in particular, the increase was 22 percent.
第二段總結;75年以前都是由多重職業工會來組織員工團結,但之後卻開始有很多自發性政府職員的參與,但其中又以clerical的參與最積極,到1980年,至少這部分再增加20%加入工會組織
What accounts for this upsurge(急速增長) in unionization among clerical workers? First, more women have entered the work force in the past few years, and more of them plan to remain working until retirement age. Consequently, they are probably more concerned than their predecessors were about job security and economic benefits. Also, the women’s movement has succeeded in legitimizing the economic and political activism of women on their own behalf(代表女人的利益), thereby producing a more positive attitude toward unions. The absence of any comparable increase in unionization among private-sector clerical workers, however(重要轉折、必考,前後相對應關係要看熟), identifies the primary catalyst-the structural change in the multioccupational public-sector unions themselves. Over the past twenty years(提及一個全新的時間), the occupational distribution in these unions has been steadily shifting from predominantly blue-collar to predominantly white-collar.(關鍵,工會組織結構上的重大改變) Because there are far more women in white-collar jobs, an increase in the proportion of female members has accompanied the occupational shift and has altered union policy-making in favor of organizing women and addressing women’s issues.
第三段總結:Clerical大量增加,其中最主要原因就是女性的增加,這種增加催化組織的變化,不但讓政府機關組織的工會結構有重大改變,當然也暗示私有企業在這部分不如公部門
*43. According to the passage, the public-sector workers who were most likely to belong to unions in 1977 were 細節題(A) professionals
(B) managers
(C) clerical workers
(D) service workers
(E) blue-collar workers
答案給A,相當令人意外,請大家給予解釋,難道是比例高的就是most likely to belong...
*44. The author cites union efforts to achieve a fully unionized work force (line 13-19) in order to account for why 寫作技巧題
(A) politicians might try to oppose public-sector union organizing
(B) public-sector unions have recently focused on organizing women
(C) early organizing efforts often focused on areas where there were large numbers of workers
(D) union efforts with regard to public-sector clerical workers increased dramatically after 1975
(E) unions sometimes tried to organize workers regardless of the workers’ initial interest in unionization
本題就直接定位,也算是細節題之一,但答案給E,看來還是得精準定位才行
*45. The author’s claim that, since the mid-1970’s, a new strategy has emerged in the unionization of public-sector clerical workers (line 23) would be strengthened if the author 寫作技巧題、難題(A) described more fully the attitudes of clerical workers toward labor unions
(B) compared(絕對不選),跳 the organizing strategies employed by private-sector unions with those of public-sector unions
(C) explained why politicians and administrators sometimes oppose unionization of clerical workers
(D) indicated that the number of unionized public-sector clerical workers was increasing even before the mid-1970’s
(E) showed that the factors that favored unionization drives among these workers prior to 1975 have decreased in importance
答案給E,請大家幫忙解釋,我的看法則是認為,D選項中的before是講之前,但題目則是問since之後,所以D選項不合。當然E不好選,但姑且可以視為在70年代加入工會的理由消失,顯示必有new strategy....
46. According to the passage, in the period prior to 1975, each of the following considerations helped determine whether a union would attempt to organize a certain group of clerical workers EXCEPT 細節題取非
(A) the number of clerical workers in that group
(B) the number of women among the clerical workers in that group
(C) whether the clerical workers in that area were concentrated in one workplace or scattered over several workplaces
(D) the degree to which the clerical workers in that group were interested in unionization
(E) whether all the other workers in the same jurisdiction as that group of clerical workers were unionized
提到女性的部份己是第二段,所以講1975之前,就看第二段就可找不對的
*47. The author states that which of the following is a consequence of the women’s movement of recent years?
(A) An increase in the number of women entering the work force
(B) A structural change in multioccupational public-sector unions
(C) A more positive attitude on the part of women toward unions
(D) An increase in the proportion of clerical workers that are women
(E) An increase in the number of women in administrative positions
答案給C,選項B是有明確提到,但是落在第三段後半。本題正確解法要直接看thereby,這是考第三段的因果關係
*48. The main concern of the passage is to 主題類型題
(A) advocate particular strategies for future efforts to organize certain workers into labor unions
(B) explain differences in the unionized proportions of various groups of public-sector workers
(C) evaluate the effectiveness of certain kinds of labor unions that represent public-sector workers
(D) analyzed and explain an increase in unionization among a certain category of workers
(E) describe and distinguish strategies appropriate to organizing different categories of workers
答案給D,問題是若本題要選D,那麼就得找出作者態度,但作者有態度嗎?
本文總結
標準的文章容易、題目刁鑽的案例
推論推理或寫作技巧題真要考起來,難度會是很恐怖的
這類的題目,社會科學特別是講勞工福利的,定位要做,而且要精準,有時差一行就掛了
熟悉因果關係的感覺,並且弄清分析類型及對比類型文章的差異,兩者倒底有無態度