Part A: Reading Comprehension

Text 1

In her new book Cogs and Monsters: What Economics Is, and What It Should Be, Diane Coyle, an economist at Cambridge University, argues that the digital economy requires new ways of thinking about progress. “Whatever we mean by the economy growing, by things getting better, the gains will have to be more evenly shared than in the recent past,” she writes. “An economy of tech millionaires or billionaires and gig workers, with middle-income jobs undercut by automation, will not be politically sustainable.”

Improving living standards and increasing prosperity for more people will require greater use of digital technologies to boost productivity in various sectors, including health care and construction, says Coyle. But people can’t be expected to embrace the changes if they’re not seeing the benefits—if they’re just seeing good jobs being destroyed.

In a recent interview, Coyle said she fears that tech’s inequality problem could be a roadblock to deploying AI. “We’re talking about disruption,” she says. “These are transformative technologies that change the ways we spend our time every day, that change business models that succeed.” To make such “tremendous changes,” she adds, you need social buy-in.

Instead, says Coyle, resentment is simmering among many as the benefits are perceived to go to elites in a handful of prosperous cities.

According to the Brookings Institution, a short list of eight American cities that included San Francisco, San Jose, Boston, and Seattle had roughly 38% of all tech jobs by 2019. New AI technologies are particularly concentrated: Brookings’s Mark Muro and Sifan Liu estimate that just 15 cities account for two-thirds of the AI assets and capabilities in the United States.

The dominance of a few cities in the invention and commercialization of AI means that geographical disparities in wealth will continue to soar. Not only will this foster political and social unrest, but it could, as Coyle suggests, hold back the sorts of AI technologies needed for regional economies to grow.

Part of the solution could lie in somehow loosening the stranglehold that Big Tech has on defining the AI agenda. That will likely take increased federal funding for research independent of the tech giants.

A more immediate response is to broaden our digital imaginations to conceive of AI technologies that don’t simply replace jobs but expand opportunities in the sectors that different parts of the country care most about, like health care, education, and manufacturing.

21. Coyle argues in her new book that economic growth should

[A]

give rise to innovations. 

[B]

diversify career choices. 

[C]

benefit people equally. 

[D]

be promoted forcefully. 

22. According to Paragraph 2, digital technologies should be used to

[A]

bring about instant prosperity. 

[B]

reduce people’s workload. 

[C]

raise overall work efficiency. 

[D]

enhance cross-sector cooperation. 

23. What does Coyle fear about transformative technologies?

[A]

They may affect work-life balance. 

[B]

They may be impractical to deploy. 

[C]

They may incur huge expenditure. 

[D]

They may be unwelcome to the public. 

24. Several American cities are mentioned to show

[A]

the uneven distribution of AI technologies in the US. 

[B]

the disappointing prospect of tech jobs in the US. 

[C]

the fast progress of US regional economies. 

[D]

the increasing significance of US AI assets. 

25. With regard to Coyle’s concern, the author suggests

[A]

raising funds to start new AI projects. 

[B]

encouraging collaboration in AI research. 

[C]

guarding against the side effects of AI. 

[D]

redefining the role of AI technologies. 

答案解析 (Answers & Explanations)

21. [C] benefit people equally.
解析：细节题。定位到第一段，Coyle 在新书中指出：“无论经济增长还是情况好转意味着什么，其收益必须比过去更平均地分享（the gains will have to be more evenly shared）”。“evenly shared（平均分享）”完美对应选项 [C] 中的“benefit people equally（平等地使人们受益）”。

22. [C] raise overall work efficiency.
解析：细节题。定位到第二段首句：“为更多人改善生活水平和增加繁荣，将需要更多地使用数字技术以提升各行各业的生产力（boost productivity in various sectors）”。“boost productivity（提升生产力）”即对应选项 [C] 中的“raise overall work efficiency（提高整体工作效率）”。

23. [D] They may be unwelcome to the public.
解析：推理题。定位到第三段。Coyle 担心“科技的不平等问题可能成为应用 AI 的路障（roadblock）”。她指出这些“变革性技术（transformative technologies）”会带来剧变，要实现这些改变，“你需要社会的认可/支持（you need social buy-in）”。结合第四段的“人们怨恨沸腾（resentment is simmering）”，这暗示如果不解决不平等问题，这些技术可能无法获得社会认可，即“可能不受公众欢迎（unwelcome to the public）”，选 [D]。

24. [A] the uneven distribution of AI technologies in the US.
解析：例证题。定位到第五段。该段列举了旧金山、圣何塞、波士顿和西雅图等几个少数的美国城市，指出仅8个城市就占据了约38%的科技工作岗位，而仅仅15个城市占据了美国三分之二的AI资产和能力。这些数据都是为了证明上一段末尾提到的“收益流向了少数繁荣城市的精英”以及后一段首句提到的“少数城市在AI发明和商业化中的主导地位”。因此，列举这些城市是为了展示“美国 AI 技术分布的不均衡（uneven distribution）”，选 [A]。

25. [D] redefining the role of AI technologies.
解析：细节题。定位到文章最后一段：“一个更直接的回应是拓宽我们的数字想象力，来构想这样一种AI技术：它们不再仅仅是替代工作，而是在全国各地最关心的领域中扩展机会（conceive of AI technologies that don’t simply replace jobs but expand opportunities...）”。将 AI 从“替代工作者”转变为“扩展机会者”，这正是建议“重新定义 AI 技术的角色（redefining the role of AI technologies）”，选 [D]。

核心长难句精解 (High-Light)

1. Whatever 引导让步状语从句：
"Whatever we mean by the economy growing, by things getting better, the gains will have to be more evenly shared than in the recent past," she writes.
【解析】`Whatever` 引导让步状语从句，意为“无论……意味着什么”。`by the economy growing` 和 `by things getting better` 是两个并列的介词短语，作 `mean` 的方式状语。主句的核心是 `the gains will have to be more evenly shared`（收益必须被更加平均地分享），直击“共同富裕”的主题。

2. with 复合结构作伴随状语：
"An economy of tech millionaires or billionaires and gig workers, with middle-income jobs undercut by automation, will not be politically sustainable."
【解析】句子的主干是 `An economy... will not be politically sustainable`。主语后跟了由 `of` 引导的长定语（由科技亿万富翁和零工组成的经济）。`with` 引导复合结构作伴随状语，其中 `middle-income jobs` 是宾语，`undercut by automation` 是过去分词作宾补，形象地描绘了中产阶级被自动化“掏空/削弱”的社会现状。

3. 不定式作表语及 not... but... 结构：
"A more immediate response is to broaden our digital imaginations to conceive of AI technologies that don’t simply replace jobs but expand opportunities in the sectors that different parts of the country care most about..."
【解析】主语是 `response`，系动词是 `is`，其后由不定式短语 `to broaden...` 充当表语。在不定式结构中，又嵌套了一个不定式短语 `to conceive of AI technologies...` 充当目的状语。紧接着，`that` 引导定语从句修饰 `AI technologies`，该从句内部使用了强烈的对比结构 `not simply replace jobs but expand opportunities`（不只是替代工作而是扩展机会），点明了AI技术发展应有的正确方向。