Part A: Reading Comprehension

Text 1

“Reskilling” is something that sounds like a buzzword but is actually a requirement if we plan to have a future in which a lot of would-be workers do not get left behind. We know we are moving into a period where the jobs in demand will change rapidly, as will the requirements of the jobs that remain. Research by the World Economic Forum finds that on average 42 per cent of the “core skills” within job roles will change by 2022. That is a very short timeline.

The question of who should pay for reskilling is a thorny one. For individual companies, the temptation is always to let go of workers whose skills are no longer in demand and replace them with those whose skills are. That does not always happen. AT&T is often given as the gold standard of a company that decided to do a massive reskilling program rather than go with a fire-and-hire strategy. Other companies had also pledged to create their own plans. When the skills mismatch is in the broader economy, though, the focus usually turns to government to handle. Efforts in Canada and elsewhere have been arguably languid at best, and have given us a situation where we frequently hear of employers begging for workers, even at times and in regions where unemployment is high.

With the pandemic, unemployment is very high indeed. In February, at 3.5 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively, unemployment rates in Canada and the United States were at generational lows and worker shortages were everywhere. As of May, those rates had spiked up to 13.3 per cent and 13.7 per cent, and although many worker shortages had disappeared, not all had done so. In the medical field, to take an obvious example, the pandemic meant that there were still clear shortages of doctors, nurses and other medical personnel.

Of course, it is not like you can take an unemployed waiter and train him to be a doctor in a few weeks. But even if you cannot close that gap, maybe you can close others, and doing so would be to the benefit of all concerned. That seems to be the case in Sweden: When forced to furlough 90 per cent of their cabin staff, Scandinavian Airlines decided to start up a short retraining program that reskilled the laid-off workers to support hospital staff. The effort was a collective one and involved other companies as well as a Swedish university.

21. Research by the World Economic Forum suggests

[A]

a controversy about the “core skills”. 

[B]

an increase in full-time employment. 

[C]

an urgent demand for new job skills. 

[D]

a steady growth of job opportunities. 

22. AT&T is cited to show

[A]

an immediate need for government support. 

[B]

an alternative to the fire-and-hire strategy. 

[C]

the characteristics of reskilling programs. 

[D]

the importance of staff appraisal standards. 

23. Efforts to resolve the skills mismatch in Canada

[A]

have appeared to be insufficient. 

[B]

have driven up labour costs. 

[C]

have proved to be inconsistent. 

[D]

have met with fierce opposition. 

24. We can learn from Paragraph 3 that there was

[A]

a sign of economic recovery. 

[B]

a call for policy adjustment. 

[C]

a change in hiring practices. 

[D]

a lack of medical workers. 

25. Scandinavian Airlines decided to

[A]

create job vacancies for the unemployed. 

[B]

retrain their cabin staff for better services. 

[C]

prepare their laid-off workers for other jobs. 

[D]

finance their staff’s college education. 

答案解析 (Answers & Explanations)

21. [C] an urgent demand for new job skills.
解析：第一段提到，世界经济论坛的研究发现，到2022年，平均42%的职位“核心技能”将发生改变。紧接着作者强调：“这是一个非常短的时间线（very short timeline）”。既然在极短时间内就需要改变这么多技能，说明对新工作技能有“紧迫的需求（an urgent demand）”，选C。

22. [B] an alternative to the fire-and-hire strategy.
解析：第二段提到，对于个别公司来说，诱惑总是解雇那些技能过时的员工并换成技能匹配的员工（即 fire-and-hire 大换血策略）。紧接着话锋一转：“但这并不总是发生”。随后引出 AT&T 的例子：“AT&T 常被奉为典范，它决定开展大规模的技能重塑计划，而不是采取解雇又雇佣的策略（rather than go with a fire-and-hire strategy）”。这说明 AT&T 的做法是换血策略的一种“替代方案（an alternative）”，选B。

23. [A] have appeared to be insufficient.
解析：第二段最后一句提到：“加拿大和其他地方的努力，充其量也可以说是疲软的（languid at best），这就导致了我们经常听到雇主乞求工人的局面……”。“languid（迟缓的、无精打采的）”说明这些努力力度不够，对应选项A“显得不充分/不足（appeared to be insufficient）”。

24. [D] a lack of medical workers.
解析：第三段主要谈论疫情对就业率和用工短缺的影响。段落末尾明确举例：“在医疗领域……疫情意味着仍然存在明显的医生、护士和其他医疗人员的短缺（clear shortages of doctors, nurses and other medical personnel）”。“shortages”直接对应选项D的“lack（缺乏）”。

25. [C] prepare their laid-off workers for other jobs.
解析：第四段最后描述了瑞典斯堪的纳维亚航空公司（Scandinavian Airlines）的做法：“当被迫让90%的机舱员工停薪留职时，该航空公司决定启动一项短期的重新培训计划，对被解雇的工人进行技能重塑，以支持医院的工作人员（reskilled the laid-off workers to support hospital staff）”。这说明他们是在帮助下岗员工准备“其他工作（other jobs，这里指去医院帮忙）”，选C。

核心长难句精解 (High-Light)

1. 嵌套的定语从句：
"“Reskilling” is something that sounds like a buzzword but is actually a requirement if we plan to have a future in which a lot of would-be workers do not get left behind."
【解析】第一个 `that` 引导定语从句修饰 `something`。在 `if` 引导的条件状语从句中，`in which` 又引导了一个定语从句修饰 `future`（在这个未来中，许多潜在工人不会被抛在后面）。这句话从宏观角度定义了技能重塑的必要性。

2. 不定式与定语从句的结合：
"For individual companies, the temptation is always to let go of workers whose skills are no longer in demand and replace them with those whose skills are [in demand]."
【解析】句子的表语是两个由 `and` 连接的不定式短语 `to let go of...` 和 `(to) replace...`。在这两个短语中，分别使用了 `whose` 引导的定语从句。句末的 `whose skills are` 是省略句，补全应该是 `whose skills are in demand`。

3. 状语从句的省略与不定式作目的状语：
"When [they were] forced to furlough 90 per cent of their cabin staff, Scandinavian Airlines decided to start up a short retraining program that reskilled the laid-off workers to support hospital staff."
【解析】逗号前面是 `When` 引导的时间状语从句的省略形式，由于主语同为 Scandinavian Airlines，因此省略了 `they were`。句末的 `to support hospital staff` 是不定式作目的状语，说明重新培训这些空乘人员的最终目的。