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GRE阅读(No. 2—No. 9)经典---7
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1994年04月 SECTION A Defenders of special protective labor legislation for women often maintain that eliminating such laws would destroy the fruits of a century-long struggle for the protection of women workers. Even a brief examination of the historic practice of courts and employers would show that the fruit of such laws has been bitter: they are, in practice, more of a curse than a blessing. Sex-defined protective laws have often been based on stereotypical assumptions concerning women’s needs and abilities, and employers have frequently used them as legal excuses for discriminating against women. After the Second World War, for example, businesses and government sought to persuade women to vacate jobs in factories, thus making room in the labor force for returning veterans. The revival or passage of state laws limiting the daily or weekly work hours of women conveniently accomplished this. Employers had only to declare that overtime hours were a necessary condition of employment or promotion in their factory, and women could be quite legally fired, refused jobs, or kept at low wage levels, all in the name of “protecting” their health. By validating such laws when they are challenged by lawsuits, the courts have colluded over the years in establishing different, less advantageous employment terms for women than for men, thus reducing women’s competitiveness on the job market. At the same time, even the most well-intentioned lawmakers, courts, and employers have often been blind to the real needs of women. The lawmakers and the courts continue to permit employers to offer employee health insurance plans that cover all known human medical disabilities except those relating to pregnancy and childbirth. Finally, labor laws protecting only special groups are often ineffective at protecting the workers who are actually in the workplace. Some chemicals, for example, pose reproductive risks for women of childbearing years; manufacturers using the chemicals comply with laws protecting women against these hazards by refusing to hire them. Thus the sex-defined legislation protects the hypothetical female worker, but has no effect whatever on the safety of any actual employee. The health risks to male employees in such industries cannot be negligible, since chemicals toxic enough to cause birth defects in fetuses or sterility in women are presumably harmful to the human metabolism. Protective laws aimed at changing production materials or techniques in order to reduce such hazards would benefit all employees without discriminating against any. In sum, protective labor laws for women are discriminatory and do not meet their intended purpose. Legislators should recognize that women are in the work force to stay, and that their needs—good health care, a decent wage, and a safe workplace—are the needs of all workers. Laws that ignore these facts violate women’s rights for equal protection in employment. 17. According to the author, which of the following resulted from the passage or revival of state laws limiting the work hours of women workers? (A) Women workers were compelled to leave their jobs in factories. (B) Many employers had difficulty in providing jobs for returning veterans. (C) Many employers found it hard to attract women workers. (D) The health of most women factory workers improved. (E) Employment practices that addressed the real needs of women workers became common. 18. The author places the word “protecting” in quotation marks in line 21 most likely in order to suggest that (A) she is quoting the actual wording of the laws in question (B) the protective nature of the laws in question should not be overlooked (C) protecting the health of workers is important to those who support protective labor laws (D) the laws in question were really used to the detriment of women workers, despite being overtly protective in intent (E) the health of workers is not in need of protection, even in jobs where many hours of overtime work are required 19. The passage suggests that which of the following is a shortcoming of protective labor laws that single out a particular group of workers for protection? (A) Such laws are often too weak to be effective at protecting the group in question. (B) Such laws are usually drafted by legislators who, do not have the best interests of workers at heart. (C) Such laws exert no pressure on employers to eliminate hazards in the workplace. (D) Compliance with such laws is often costly for employers and provokes lawsuits by employees claiming discrimination. (E) Employer compliance with such laws results in increased tension among workers on the job, because such laws unfairly privilege one group of employees over another. 20. According to the first paragraph of the passage, the author considers which of the following to be most helpful in determining the value of special protective labor legislation for women? (A) A comparative study of patterns of work-related illnesses in states that had such laws and in states that did not (B) An estimate of how many women workers are in favor of such laws (C) An analysis of the cost to employers of complying with such laws (D) A consideration of what intentions the advocates of such laws really had concerning women workers (E) An examination of the actual effects that such laws have had in the past on women workers 21. The main point of the passage is that special protective labor laws for women workers are (A) unnecessary because most workers are well protected by existing labor laws (B) harmful to the economic interests of women workers while offering them little or no actual protection (C) not worth preserving even though they do represent a hard-won legacy of the labor movement (D) controversial because male workers receive less protection than they require (E) inadequate in that they often do not prevent employers from exposing women workers to many health hazards 22. The author implies that which of the following is characteristic of many employee health insurance plans? (A) They cover all the common medical conditions affecting men, but only some of those affecting women. (B) They lack the special provisions for women workers that proposed special labor laws for women would provide. (C) They pay the medical costs associated with pregnancy and childbirth only for the spouses of male employees, not for female employees. (D) They meet minimum legal requirements, but do not adequately safeguard the health of either male or female employees. (E) They have recently been improved as a result of the passage of new labor laws, but continue to exclude coverage of certain uncommon medical conditions affecting women. 23. According to the passage, special labor laws protecting women workers tend generally to have which of the following effects? (A) They tend to modify the stereotypes employees often hold concerning women. (B) They increase the advantage to employers of hiring men instead of women, making it less likely that women will be hired. (C) They decrease the likelihood that employers will offer more protection to women workers than that which is absolutely required by law. (D) They increase the tendency of employers to deny health insurance and disability plans to women workers. (E) They have little impact of any kind on women workers, since typically very few women are employed in those classes of jobs covered by the laws. While it is true that living organisms are profoundly affected by their environment, it is equally important to remember that many organisms are also capable of altering their habitat significantly, sometimes limiting their own growth. The influence of the biological component of an ecosystem is often greater in fresh waters that in marine or terrestrial systems, because of the small size of many freshwater bodies. Many of the important effects of organisms are related to their physiology, especially growth and respiration. By their growth many species can deplete essential nutrients within the system, thus limiting their own growth or that of other species. Lund has demonstrated that in Lake Windermere the alga Asterionella is unable to grow in conditions that it itself has created. Once a year, in the spring, this plant starts to grow rapidly in the lake, using up so much silica from the water that by late spring there is no longer enough to maintain its own growth. The population decreases dramatically as a result. 24. Which of the following is an example of the type of organism described in lines 2-5? (A) A kind of ant that feeds on the sweet juice exuded by the twigs of a species of thorn tree that grows in dry areas. (B) A kind of fish that, after growing to maturity in the ocean, returns to fresh water. (C) A kind of flower that has markings distinctly perceptible in ultraviolet light to the species of bee that pollinates the flower. (D) A kind of tree with seeds that germinate readily only in a sunny spot and then develop into mature trees that shade the area below them. (E) A kind of butterfly, itself nonpoisonous, with the same markings as a kind of butterfly that birds refuse to eat because it is poisonous. 25. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the followings is true about Asterionella plants in Lake Windermere? (A) They are not present except in early spring. (B) They contribute silica to the waters as they grow. (C) They are food for other organisms. (D) They form a silica-rich layer on the lake bottom. (E) Their growth peaks in the spring. 26. The passage indicates that organisms frequently have the strongest effects on their environment in (A) oceans, since oceans contain the largest organisms living on Earth (B) oceans, since oceans provide habitats for many different kinds of species (C) freshwater bodies, since such effects become pronounced in relatively small spaces (D) freshwater lakes, since nutrients in freshwater lakes are present only in small amounts (E) land areas, since there exist major influences of climate on the kinds of small organisms supported in land areas 27. The primary topic of the passage is the way in which (A) organisms are affected by the amount of nutrients available (B) organisms can change their own surroundings (C) elements of freshwater habitats impede the growth of small organisms (D) the reproduction of organisms is controlled by factors in the environment (E) plant matter in a given locale can increase up to a limit SECTION B It is their sensitive response to human circumstance that accounts for the persistence of certain universal ideas. Rabbi Meir, a second-century scholar, admonished his disciples to look not at the pitcher but at its contents because, he stated, “Many a new pitcher has been found to be full of old wine.” This was his way of emphasizing the importance of the distinction between form and idea, and of stressing that the integrity of an idea is more important than the form of its expression. Creative ideas not only produce their own instruments of survival as time and circumstances demand, but permit the substitution of new forms for old under the pressure of changed circumstances. For example democracy, as an idea, originated in ancient Greece and was carried from there to Western Europe and the Americas. But it did not retain the ancient Greek form: it passed through several reforming processes and exists today in many countries. Democratic governments differ in form because democracy is in principle dynamic and has therefore responded to local needs. 17. The author is primarily concerned with (A) illustrating the importance of a historical figure (B) discussing an important characteristic of human ideas (C) describing the history of the growth of democracy (D) contrasting ancient and modern views of the importance of creative ideas (E) evaluating the contribution of ancient Greece to modern government 18. According to the passage, democracy is an example of (A) a human circumstance that has molded creative ideas (B) an instrument of survival that has altered its original form (C) an attribute of a creative idea that has allowed that idea to persist (D) a creative idea that has persisted because of its adaptability (E) a reforming process that has culminated in the creation of modern governments 19. The “new pitcher” mentioned in line 6 is the equivalent of which of the following elements in the author’s discussion of democracy (lines 15-22)? (A) Ancient Greece (B) The idea of democracy (C) A modern democratic government (D) A dynamic principle (E) The Greek form of democracy |
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