Reading Comprehension Text 1
Among the annoying challenges facing the middle class is one that will probably go unmentioned in the next presidential campaign: What happens when the robots come for their jobs?
Don’t dismiss that possibility entirely. About half of U.S. jobs are at high risk of being automated, according to a University of Oxford study, with the middle class disproportionately squeezed. Lower-income jobs like gardening or day care don’t appeal to robots. But many middle-class occupations-trucking, financial advice, software engineering-have aroused their interest, or soon will. The rich own the robots, so they will be fine.
This isn’t to be alarmist. Optimists point out that technological upheaval has benefited workers in the past. The Industrial Revolution didn’t go so well for Luddites whose jobs were displaced by mechanized looms, but it eventually raised living standards and created more jobs than it destroyed. Likewise, automation should eventually boost productivity, stimulate demand by driving down prices, and free workers from hard, boring work. But in the medium term, middle-class workers may need a lot of help adjusting.
The first step, as Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee argue in The Second Machine Age, should be rethinking education and job training. Curriculums-from grammar school to college-should evolve to focus less on memorizing facts and more on creativity and complex communication. Vocational schools should do a better job of fostering problem-solving skills and helping students work alongside robots. Online education can supplement the traditional kind. It could make extra training and instruction affordable. Professionals trying to acquire new skills will be able to do so without getting into debt.
The challenge of coping with automation underlines the need for the U.S. to revive its fading business dynamism: Starting new companies must be made easier. In previous eras of drastic technological change, entrepreneurs smoothed the transition by dreaming up ways to combine labor and machines. The best uses of 3D printers and virtual reality haven’t been invented yet. The U.S. needs the new companies that will invent them.
Finally, because automation threatens to widen the gap between capital income and labor income, taxes and the safety net will have to be rethought. Taxes on low-wage labor need to be cut, and wage subsidies such as the earned income tax credit should be expanded: This would boost incomes, encourage work, reward companies for job creation, and reduce inequality.
Technology will improve society in ways big and small over the next few years, yet this will be little comfort to those who find their lives and careers upended by automation. Destroying the machines that are coming for our jobs would be nuts. But policies to help workers adapt will be indispensable.
21. Who will be most threatened by automation?
22. Which of the following best represents the author’s view?
23. Education in the age of automation should put more emphasis on
24. The author suggests that tax policies be aimed at
25. In this text, the author presents a problem with
答案与解析 (Answers)
21. [D] Middle-class workers.
解析：第二段明确指出“with the middle class disproportionately squeezed”，并列举了卡车司机、财务建议、软件工程等中产职业正受到机器人（自动化）的关注。
22. [C] Issues arising from automation need to be tackled.
解析：文章末尾总结指出“policies to help workers adapt will be indispensable（帮助工人适应的政策将是必不可少的）”，即必须解决自动化带来的问题。
23. [A] creative potential.
解析：第四段提到课程应演变为“focus less on memorizing facts and more on creativity”，即强调创造性潜能。
24. [D] preventing the income gap from widening.
解析：第六段提到因为自动化威胁到“widen the gap... reduce inequality”，所以需要重新思考税收和安全网，旨在防止收入差距扩大。
25. [B] possible solutions to it.
解析：文章在提出自动化对中产阶级的威胁后，从教育、创业、税收政策等多个维度提出了解决问题的建议。因此是“问题及可能的解决方案”。
核心长难句精解 (Highlighted Sentences)
1. 倒装与定语从句结构：
"Among the annoying challenges facing the middle class is one that will probably go unmentioned in the next presidential campaign..."
【解析】这是一个全部倒装句。主语是 one (that... 定语从句)，表语部分 Among the... 提前以示强调。
【翻译】在中产阶级面临的众多恼人挑战中，有一个在下一次总统竞选中可能不会被提及：当机器人来抢夺他们的工作时会发生什么？
"Among the annoying challenges facing the middle class is one that will probably go unmentioned in the next presidential campaign..."
【解析】这是一个全部倒装句。主语是 one (that... 定语从句)，表语部分 Among the... 提前以示强调。
【翻译】在中产阶级面临的众多恼人挑战中，有一个在下一次总统竞选中可能不会被提及：当机器人来抢夺他们的工作时会发生什么？
2. 比较与让步结构：
"The Industrial Revolution didn’t go so well for Luddites... but it eventually raised living standards and created more jobs than it destroyed."
【解析】go well for 进展顺利。more... than... 比较结构。这句话通过历史先例论证了技术进步的长远益处。
【翻译】工业革命对那些工作被机械织机取代的卢德分子来说并不顺利，但它最终提高了生活水平，并创造了比它摧毁的更多的就业机会。
"The Industrial Revolution didn’t go so well for Luddites... but it eventually raised living standards and created more jobs than it destroyed."
【解析】go well for 进展顺利。more... than... 比较结构。这句话通过历史先例论证了技术进步的长远益处。
【翻译】工业革命对那些工作被机械织机取代的卢德分子来说并不顺利，但它最终提高了生活水平，并创造了比它摧毁的更多的就业机会。
3. 因果逻辑与宾语从句：
"Finally, because automation threatens to widen the gap... taxes and the safety net will have to be rethought."
【解析】because 引导原因状语从句。have to be rethought 是主句谓语，采用了被动语态，强调了改革的紧迫性和必然性。
【翻译】最后，由于自动化威胁到扩大资本收入和劳动收入之间的差距，税收和安全网将不得不重新思考。
"Finally, because automation threatens to widen the gap... taxes and the safety net will have to be rethought."
【解析】because 引导原因状语从句。have to be rethought 是主句谓语，采用了被动语态，强调了改革的紧迫性和必然性。
【翻译】最后，由于自动化威胁到扩大资本收入和劳动收入之间的差距，税收和安全网将不得不重新思考。