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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 sociology of
technology: technological determinism and social
constructivism.
Clark makes the point that the characteristics of a
technology have a decisive infl uence 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, exemplifi ed by Braverman’s
analysis, that emphasizes the way machinery
refl ects 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 confi guration 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
infl uencing skills and work organization.
Clark refutes the extremes of the constructivists
by both theoretical and empirical arguments.
Theoretically he defi nes “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 semielectronic switching systems altered work
tasks, skills, training opportunities, administration,
and organization of workers. Some changes Clark
attributes 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?”
121. 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.
用排除法选出了正确答案C，但是不是很理解为什么beyond maintenance routines?
OG 解释如下：
Supporting ideas
Th is question requires recognizing information
contained in the passage. Th e passage states in the
fi rst paragraph that Clark’s study focused on the
modernization of a telephone exchange and the
eff ect this had on maintenance work and workers.
After describing Braverman’s analysis in the
second paragraph as being at odds with Clark’s
views, the passage discusses Clark’s views in more
detail in the fi nal paragraph. As part of this
discussion, the passage notes that Clark shows
how a change from maintenance-intensive
electromechanical switches to semielectronic switching
systems at the telephone exchange altered work
tasks, skills, training opportunities, administration,
and organization of workers (lines 41–46). Thus,
the passage shows that the modernization of the
telephone exchange affected much more than
maintenance routines.
A Th e passage does not discuss whether new
technology reduces the role of managers in
labor negotiations.
B Th e passage does not discuss the role of
employee consent in the modernization of
the telephone exchange.
C Correct. Th e passage states that the
modernization of the telephone exchange
aff ected tasks, skills, training,
administration, and the organization of
workers.
D Th e passage does not suggest that
maintenance workers felt victimized by the
modernization of the telephone exchange.
E Th e passage describes modernization as a
fact viewable from a perspective of social
constructivism or technological
determinism, but that does not in itself
support either view.
麻烦大牛解释一下红体部分吧，尤其是thus是从何而来吧。谢谢 |
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发表于 2009-12-6 12:10:02
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