Text2
Well,nogainwithoutpain,theysay.Butwhataboutpainwithoutgain?EverywhereyougoinAmerica,youheartalesofcorporaterevival.Whatishardertoestablishiswhethertheproductivityrevolutionthatbusinessmenassumetheyarepresidingoverisforreal.
Theofficialstatisticsaremildlydiscouraging.Theyshowthat,ifyoulumpmanufacturingandservicestogether,productivityhasgrownonaverageby1.2%since1987.Thatissomewhatfasterthantheaverageduringthepreviousdecade.Andsince1991,productivityhasincreasedbyabout2%ayear,whichismorethantwicethe1978-1987average.Thetr oubleisthatpartoftherecentaccelerationisduetotheusualreboundthatoccursatthispointinabusinesscycle,andsoisnotconclusiv
eevidenceofarevivalintheunderlyingtr end.Thereis,asRobertRubin,thetr easurysecretary,says,a“disjunction”betweenthemassofbusinessanecdotethatpointstoaleapinproductivityandthepicturereflectedbythestatistics.
Someofthiscanbeeasilyexplained.Newwaysoforganizingtheworkplace—allthatr e-engineeringanddownsizing—areonlyonecontr ibutiontotheoverallproductivityofaneconomy,whichisdrivenbymanyotherfactorssuchasjointinvestmentinequipmentandmachinery,newtechnology,andinvestmentineducationandtr aining.Moreover,mostofthechangesthatcompaniesmakeareintendedtokeepthemprofitable ,andthisneednotalwaysmeanincreasingproductivity:switchingtonewmarketsorimprovingqualitycanmatterjustasmuch.
Twootherexplanationsaremorespeculative.First,someofthebusinessrestr ucturingofrecentyearsmayhavebeenineptlydone.Second,evenifitwaswelldone,itmayhavespreadmuchlesswidelythanpeoplesuppose.
LeonardSchlesinger,aHarvardacademicandformerchiefexecutiveofAuBongPain,arapidlygrowingchainofbakerycafes,saysthatmuch“re-engineering”hasbeencrude.Inmanycases,hebelieves,thelossofrevenuehasbeengreaterthanthereductionsincost.Hiscolleague,MichaelBeer,saysthatfartoomanycompanieshaveappliedre-engineeringinamechanisticfashion,choppingoutcostswithoutgivingsufficientthoughttolongtermprofitability.BBDO’sAlRosenshineisblunter.Hedismissesalotoftheworkofre-engineeringconsultantsasmererubbish—“theworstsortofambulancecashing.”
46.Accordingtotheauthor,theAmericaneconomicsituationis________.
[A]notasgoodasitseems
[B]atitsturningpoint
[C]muchbetterthanitseems
[D]neartocompleterecovery
正确答案：A46.[A]意为：并不像表面看上去那样好。
第一段第三、四句指出，美国到处都在谈论所谓公司的振兴(talesofcorporaterevival)，但是，商界自认为正在进行的所谓生产率革命究竟是否名符其实(forreal)，这一点却很难确定。该句实际上是全文的主旨，从反面提出了下文旨在回答的问题，所谓生产率革命根本不存在，官方的统计数字也并不怎么乐观；该段第四句指出，问题是；最近显示出的增长部分是由商业领域里此时出现的正常的反弹(rebound)造成的，因此，不能将它看作是更深层的（当指生产率）振兴的证据。由题目能够定位到第一段的这一句：Whatishardertoestablishiswhethertheproductivityrevolutionthatbusinessmenassumetheyarepresidingoverisforreal.其意思是：商人们自认为的他们所领导的生产力革命是否确有其事，这一点更加难以确定。因此可以看出作者觉得美国经济形式并不像商人们说的那样好，因此联系到了A选项。
最后一段引用了几个专家的评价，对目前进行的促进生产率发展的措施进行了否定，特别是罗森伯格的评价，在他看来，目前负责调整经济的顾问们所做的工作，多数都是垃圾（没有成效），是典型的“于事无补”(ambulance-chasing)。
B意为：处于转折阶段。文章中只是说经济发展并不乐观，但是还没有达到转折的地步，因此该选项属于夸张类干扰项。
C意为：比现状要好得多。这个和原文意思恰恰相反，同作者的中心思想相违背。换句话说，这个是作者要批驳的观点。
D意为；几乎要实现全面复苏了。此选项同C选项，都是与作者思想相违背的，更何况，复苏这个词根本无从谈起。
