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  3. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has urged the government to use productivity

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has urged the government to use productivity

游客2023-08-09  23
问题    The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has urged the government to use productivity gains from the greater use of robots and artificial intelligence to reverse planned changes to the state pension age.
   Before its annual congress in Brighton, the TUC said higher levels of productivity thanks to technological innovation ought to bring greater benefits for working people. It said recent progress had mainly benefited business owners, rather than being shared across the workforce through better wages and working conditions.
   Analysis from the accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests GDP could receive a 10% boost from productivity gains linked to artificial intelligence by 2030, helping to bolster the British economy as it seeks to escape a period of weak output growth. That could relieve the pressure on workers to stay in employment into their late 60s, according to the TUC. The government announced in July that it would increase the state pension age from 67 to 68 between 2037 and 2039. Prances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, said: "Robots and AI could let us produce more for less, boosting national prosperity. But we need a debate about who benefits from this wealth, and how workers get a fair share. "
   There have been previous waves of technological advances since the first Industrial Revolution, when inefficient jobs have been replaced by machines or the number of people required to do work has been reduced. Such advances have not led to an overall loss of jobs., but have disrupted the type of work people do.
   There are concerns that the current phase of innovation could be more damaging, while the rewards from higher productivity have not necessarily translated into higher wages. The latest available figures show low levels of unemployment unseen since the mid-1970s, but growth in real wages remains negative as inflation outstrips (超过) a sluggish (迟缓的) earnings growth.
   In 1950, almost one in three workers worked in manufacturing, while one in twelve worked in professional and technical services. By 2016 the proportions had reversed, but the jobs lost in manufacturing were not replaced by jobs of similar or better quality in the communities affected. Wages in former industrial areas were still 10% below the national average.
   The increase in the state pension age, which was controversially brought forward by seven years by the Work and Pensions Secretary, David Gauke, is expected to affect about 7 million people in their late 30s and early 40s. As well as reversing the move on the pension age, the TUC said workers should be given the right to a midlife career review, while firms should invest more in workplace training. At present, the UK invests just half of the EU average, it said. O’Grady said; "Robots are not just terminators. Some of today’s jobs will not survive, but new jobs will be created. We must make sure that tomorrow’s jobs are no worse than today’s. " [br] It can be inferred that the waves of technological advances______.
选项 A、were the outcome of the Industrial Revolution
B、tended to be more damaging than constructive
C、slowly raised the real income of working people
D、exerted profound influence on the labor structure
答案 D
解析 推理判断题。第四段提到，第一次工业革命后曾有过数次技术进步浪潮，但是并没有整体减少工作岗位，只是扰乱了人们的工作类型。第五段继续讲述现在所经历的技术进步的影响。第六段前两句指出，不同产业的就业人员比例发生了彻底改变。由此可知，技术进步对劳动力结构产生了深刻影响，故答案为D)。第四段第一句提到，第一次工业革命后曾有过数次技术进步浪潮，但不能说技术进步浪潮是工业革命的结果，故排除A)；第五段第一句提到，人们关注的是，当前的创新阶段可能更具破坏性，而未说技术进步浪潮更具破坏性，故排除B)；第五段最后一句提到，由于通货膨胀超过了缓慢的收入增长，实际工资增长仍是负数，故排除C)“缓慢提高了劳动人民的实际收入”。
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