Section A: Banked Cloze
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
Over the coming decades, millions of jobs will be threatened by robotics and artificial intelligence. Despite intensive academic (26) ______ on these developments, there has been little study on how workers (27) ______ to being replaced through technology.
To find out, business researchers at TUM and Erasmus University Rotterdam conducted 11 studies and surveys with over 2,000 persons from several countries.
The findings show: in principle, most people view it more (28) ______ when workers are replaced by other people than by robots or intelligent software. This preference (29) ______, however, when it refers to people's own jobs. When that is the case, the majority of workers find it less upsetting to see their own jobs go to robots than to other employees. In the long term, however, the same people see machines as more threatening to their future role in the workforce. These effects can also be observed among people who have recently become unemployed.
The researchers were able to identify the causes behind these (30) ______ paradoxical results, too: People tend to (31) ______ themselves less with machines than with other people. Consequently, being replaced by a robot or software (32) ______ less of a threat to their feeling of self-worth. This reduced self-threat could even be observed when participants assumed that they were being replaced by other employees who relied on technological abilities such as artificial intelligence in their work.
“Even when unemployment results from the (33) ______ of new technologies, people still judge it in a social context,” says Christoph Fuchs, one of the authors of the study. “It is important to understand these (34) ______ effects when trying to manage the massive changes in the working world to minimize (35) ______ in society.”
Word Bank
Answers & Explanations
26. D (debate)。解析：位于形容词 intensive（密集的）之后，介词 on（关于）之前，需要填入名词。尽管学术界对这些发展有密集的“辩论/讨论 (debate)”。
27. M (react)。解析：在 how 引导的宾语从句中，位于主语 workers 之后，介词 to 之前，需要填入动词原形（描述普遍现象）。`react to` 意为“对...做出反应 (react)”。
28. G (favorably)。解析：位于 view it more 之后，修饰动词 view（看待），需要填入副词。且与后文的 upsetting（令人心烦的）形成对比，意为人们将这种情况看待得更“有利/赞同 (favorably)”。
29. N (reverses)。解析：主语是 This preference，缺少谓语动词，且本段主要讲人们在面对别人和自己被替代时态度的反差。然而，当涉及到自己的工作时，这种偏好就“反转/颠倒 (reverses)”了。
30. O (seemingly)。解析：位于指示代词 these 和形容词 paradoxical（矛盾的）之间，需要填入副词修饰形容词。意为“看似/表面上 (seemingly)”矛盾的结果。
31. A (compare)。解析：位于 tend to 之后，搭配介词 with，需要填入动词原形。`compare... with...` 意为将...与...进行“比较 (compare)”。
32. K (poses)。解析：主语是动名词短语 being replaced...，且位于 less of a threat 之前，需要填入单数第三人称动词。固定搭配 `pose a threat to` 意为对...“构成/造成 (poses)”威胁。
33. I (introduction)。解析：位于定冠词 the 和介词 of 之间，需要填入名词。意为失业是由新技术的“引入/引进 (introduction)”造成的。
34. L (psychological)。解析：位于指示代词 these 和名词 effects 之间，需要填入形容词。前文一直在讨论人们的自我价值感、自我威胁等心理活动，因此理解这些“心理的 (psychological)”效应非常重要。
35. E (disruptions)。解析：位于动词 minimize（最小化）之后，需要填入名词作宾语。为了最小化社会中的“破坏/混乱 (disruptions)”。
全文翻译
在未来的几十年里，数以百万计的工作岗位将受到机器人和人工智能的威胁。尽管学术界对这些发展进行了深入的研究，但关于工人如何应对被技术取代的问题却鲜有研究。为了找出答案，慕尼黑工业大学和鹿特丹伊拉斯姆斯大学的商业研究人员进行了11项研究和调查，涉及来自多个国家的2000多人。研究结果表明：原则上，大多数人认为工人被其他人取代比被机器人或智能软件取代更令人欣慰。然而，当涉及到自己的工作时，这种偏好就反转了。在这种情况下，大多数工人觉得看到自己的工作被机器人取代比被其他员工取代更不令人沮丧。然而从长远来看，同样这些人认为机器对他们未来在劳动力中的角色更具威胁性。这些效应在最近失业的人群中也能观察到。研究人员还找出了这些看似矛盾的结果背后的原因：人们倾向于与机器的自我关联少于与其他人。因此，被机器人或软件取代对他们自我价值感的威胁较小。即使当参与者假设他们被其他在工作中依赖人工智能等技术能力的员工取代时，这种降低的自我威胁仍然可以观察到。该研究的作者之一Christoph Fuchs说："即使失业是由新技术的引入造成的，人们仍然在社会背景下评判它。在试图管理职场大规模变革以尽量减少社会分裂时，理解这些心理效应至关重要。"核心搭配与高分句型
【核心搭配与高频短语】
- react to：对...做出反应，应对（how workers react to being replaced）
- in principle：原则上，大体上（in principle, most people view it...）
- in the long term：从长远来看（In the long term, however, the same people...）
- tend to do：倾向于做...（People tend to compare themselves less with machines）
- pose a threat to：对...构成/造成威胁（poses less of a threat to their feeling）
- result from：由...导致，起因于（unemployment results from the introduction of new technologies）
【亮点句型解析】
- Find + it + adj. + to do (it 作形式宾语)：
"...the majority of workers find it less upsetting to see their own jobs go to robots than to other employees."
（...大多数工人发现，看到自己的工作被机器人夺走比被其他员工抢走更不让人难受。）`it` 是形式宾语，真正的宾语是后面的 `to see their own jobs go to robots...`。这种结构常用于表达对某件事的感受或评价，非常地道。 - Even when 引导的让步状语从句：
"Even when unemployment results from the introduction of new technologies, people still judge it in a social context..."
（即使失业是由引入新技术造成的，人们仍然在社会背景下对其进行评判...）`Even when` 表示“即使当...时”，用于强调某种情况在极端或特殊条件下依然成立，增强了论证的力度和说服力。