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Jon Clark’s study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone exchange on exchange maintenance work and workers is a solid contribution to a debate that encompasses two lively issues in the history and socialogy of technology: technological determinism and social constructivism. Clark makes the point that the characteristics of a technology have a decisive influence on job skills and work organization. Put more strongly, technology can be a primary determinant of social and managerial organization. Clark believes this possibility has been obscured by the recent sociological fashion, exemplified by Braverman’s analysis, that emphasizes the way machinery reflects social choices. For Braverman, the shape of a technological system is subordinate to the manager’s desire to wrest control of the labor process from the workers. Technological change is construed as the outcome of negotiations among interested parties who seek to incorporate their own interests into the design and configuration of the machinery. This position represents the new mainstream called social constructivism. The constructivists gain acceptance by misrepresenting technological determinism: technological determinists are supposed to believe, for example, that machinery imposes appropriate forms of order on society. The alternative to constructivism, in other words, is to view technology as existing outside society, capable of directly influencing skills and work organization. Clark refutes the extremes of the constructivists by both theoretical and empirical arguments. Theoretically he defines “technology” in terms of relationships between social and technical variables. Attempts to reduce the meaning of technology to cold, hard metal are bound to fail, for machinery is just scrap unless it is organized functionally and supported by appropriate systems of operation and maintenance. At the empirical level Clark shows how a change at the telephone exchange from maintenance-intensive electromechanical switches to semi-electronic switching systems altered work tasks, skills, training opportunities, administration, and organization of workers. Some changes Clark attriutes to the particular way management and labor unions negotiated the introduction of the technology, whereas others are seen as arising from the capabilities and nature of the technology itself. Thus Clark helps answer the question: “When is social choice decisive and when are the concrete characteristics of technology more important?” GWD-8-Q26 : The information in the passage suggests that Clark believes that which of the following would be true if social constructivism had not gained widespread acceptance? A. Businesses would be more likely to modernize without considering the social consequences of their actions. B. There would be greater understanding of the role played by technology in producing social change. C. Businesses would be less likely to understand the attitudes of employees affected by modernization. D. Modernization would have occurred at a slower rate. E. Technology would have played a greater part in determining the role of business in society. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 答案B，我选E GWD-8-Q28 : Which of the following statements about the modernization of the telephone exchange is supported by information in the passage? A. The new technology reduced the role of managers in labor negotiations. B. The modernization was implemented without the consent of the employees directly affected by it. C. The modernization had an impact that went significantly beyond maintenance routines. D. Some of the maintenance workers felt victimized by the new technology. E. The modernization gave credence to the view of advocates of social constructivism. 答案C，文中哪里能定位“significantly beyond maintenance routines” Research data indicate that there is a great deal of poverty in the United States among single-parent families headed by women. This problem could result from the fact that women’s wages are only 60 percent of men’s. Some economists believe that rigorous enforcement of existing equal pay laws would substantially decrease this wage inequity. But equal pay laws are ineffectual when women and men are concentrated in different occupations because such laws require only that women and men doing the same jobs be paid the same. Since gender concentration exists (for example, 80 percent of clerical workers are women), other economists argue that a comparable worth standard, which would mandate that women and men in any jobs that require comparable training and responsibility be paid the same, should be applied instead. But some policy analysts assert that, although comparable worth would virtually equalize male and female wages, many single-parent families headed by women would remain in poverty because many men earn wages that are below the poverty line. These policy analysts believe that the problem is not caused primarily by wage inequity but rather by low wages coupled with single parent hood, regardless of sex. As a solution, they challenge the government’s assumption that a family’s income should depend primarily on wages and urge the government to provide generous wage supplements (child and housing allowances) to single-parents whose wages are low. GWD-8-Q35 : The passage suggests that the United States government’s policy towards providing wage supplements to parents whose wages are low is A. considered ill advised by most economists who have studied the issue B. based on assumptions about the appropriate sources of family income C. under revision in response to criticism from some policy analysts D. capable of eliminating wage inequality but not of raising incomes for both women and men E. applicable to single-parent families headed by women but not to single-parent families headed by men -------------------------------------------------------------------- 答案B，我选D
，请问assumptions about the appropriate sources of family income指代文中哪里 GWD-8-Q37: According to the passage, some economists believe that, in the United States, there would be smaller differences between the wages of women and men who do the same jobs if A. equal pay laws were enforced more fully B. more stringent equal pay laws were passed C. a more rigorous comparable worth standard were developed and applied D. more men entered the occupations in which women are concentrated F. women received the same kind and amount of job training that men receive 答案A，我选D。文中不是已经说But equal pay laws are ineffectual when women and men are concentrated in different occupations because such laws require only that women and men doing the same jobs be paid the same. | 
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发表于 2008-2-28 23:29:00
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