2. 职称英语
  3. In general, our society is becoming one of giant enterprises directed by a

In general, our society is becoming one of giant enterprises directed by a

游客2023-09-08  45
问题      In general, our society is becoming one of giant enterprises directed by a bureaucratic management in which man becomes a small, well-oiled cog (齿轮) in the machinery. The oiling is done with higher wages, well-ventilated factories and piped (播送的) music, and by psychologists and "human-relations" experts; yet all this oiling does not alter the fact that man has become powerless, that he does not wholeheartedly participate in his work and that he is bored with it. In fact, the blue-collar and the white-collar workers have become economic puppets (木偶) who dance to the tune of automated machines and bureaucratic management.
     The worker and employee are anxious, not only because they might find themselves out of a job, they are anxious also because they are unable to acquire any real satisfaction or interest in life. They live and die without ever having confronted the fundamental realities of human existence as emotionally and intellectually independent and productive human beings.
     Those higher up on the social ladder are no less anxious. Their lives are no less empty than those of their subordinates. They are even more insecure in some respects. They are in a highly competitive race. To be promoted or to fall behind is not a matter of salary but even more a matter of self-respect. When they apply for their first job, they are tested for intelligence as well as for the right mixture of submissiveness and independence. From that moment on they are tested again—by the psychologists, for whom testing is a big business, and by their superiors, who judge their behavior, sociability, capacity to get along, etc. This constant need to prove that one is as good as or better than one’s fellow-competitor creates constant anxiety and stress, the very causes of unhappiness and illness. Am I suggesting that we should return to the pre-industrial mode of production or to nineteenth century "free enterprise capitalism"? Certainly not. Problems are never solved by returning to a stage which one has already outgrown. I suggest transforming our social system from a bureaucratically managed industrialism in which maximal production and consumption are ends in themselves into a humanist industrialism in which man and full development of his potentialities—those of love and reason—are the aims of all social arrangements. Production and consumption should serve only as means to this end, and should be prevented from ruling man.  [br] By "well-oiled cog in the machinery" (Para. 1) the author intends to render the idea that man is ______ .
选项 A、a necessary part of the society though each individual’s function is negligible
B、working in complete harmony with the rest of society
C、an unimportant part in comparison with the rest of the society, though functioning smoothly
D、a humble component of the society, especially when working smoothly
答案 C
解析 细节推断题 。通读第一段就可知道，作者认为人类已经失去了个性和独立性，成为机器中一颗微不足道的小齿轮，C “与社会其他部分相比，尽管运行良好但已经不甚重要”，故为正确答案。
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