Section C
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C)and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
As many office workers adapt to remote work, cities may undergo fundamental change if offices remain under-utilized. Who will benefit if working from home becomes the norm?
Employers argue they make considerable savings on real estate when workers shift from office to home work. However, these savings result from passing costs on to workers.
Unless employees are fully compensated, this could become a variant of parasitic(寄生的)capitalism, whereby corporate profits increasingly rely on extracting value from the public—and now personal—realm, rather than on generating new value.
Though employers are backed by a chorus of remote work advocates, others note the loneliness, reduced productivity and inefficiencies of extended remote work.
If working from home becomes permanent, employees will have to dedicate part of their private space to work. This requires purchasing desks, chairs and office equipment.
It also means having private space dedicated to work: the space must be heated, cleaned, maintained and paid for. That depends on many things, but for purposes of illustration, I have run some estimates for Montréal. The exercise is simple but important, since it brings these costs out of the realm of speculation into the realm of meaningful discussion.
Rough calculations show that the savings made by employers when their staff works from home are of similar value to the compensation workers should receive for setting up offices at home.
What does this mean for offices in cities? One of two things may happen: Employers pass these costs onto employees. This would be a form of expropriation(侵占), with employees absorbing production costs that have traditionally been paid by the employer. This represents a considerable transfer of value from employees to employers.
When employees are properly compensated, employers' real estate savings will be modest. If savings are modest, then the many advantages of working in offices—such as lively atmosphere, rapidity of communication, team-building and acclimatization(适应环境)of new employees—will encourage employers to shelve the idea of remote work and, like Yahoo in 2013, encourage employees to work most of the time from corporate office space.
随着许多办公室职员适应了远程办公,如果办公室一直得不到充分利用的话,一些城市可能会发生根本性的变化。如果在家办公成为惯例,那么谁会从中受益呢?
雇主认为,当员工从在办公室工作转变为在家办公时,他们将在房地产上节省大量资金。[46] 然而,能节省这些资金是将成本转嫁给员工的结果。
除非员工得到了充分的补偿,否则这可能成为寄生资本主义的一种变化形式,由此,企业的利润越来越依靠从公众领域——而现在是从个人领域——中榨取价值,而不是产生新的价值。
尽管远程办公的支持者们异口同声地支持雇主,[47] 但是其他人注意到了长时间在家办公带来的孤独感、下降的生产力和工作效率。
如果在家办公成为永久性的事情,那么员工将不得不牺牲自己的部分私人空间用来工作。这需要购买办公桌椅和办公设备。
这还意味着牺牲私人空间用来工作:这一空间,必须供暖,有人清洁和维护,以及支付费用。[48] 这取决于很多因素,但是为了进行说明,我针对蒙特利尔做了一些估算。这个估算很简单但是很重要,因为它使这些成本脱离了臆想的范畴,进入了有意义的讨论的范畴。
[49] 粗略的计算表明,当员工在家办公时雇主省下来的资金与员工在家里设立办公室应得的补偿价值大体相当。
这对于在城市中的办公室来说意味着什么?以下两种情况之一可能会发生:雇主将这些成本转嫁给员工。这将是一种侵占,员工需要承担原本一直是雇主支付的生产成本。这代表着价值从雇员向雇主的巨大转移。
当员工得到了适当的补偿,雇主节省的房地产费用就不会太多。如果节省的成本不多,那么在办公室工作的诸多好处——比如充满活力的氛围、快捷的沟通、团队建设和新员工对环境的适应——将鼓励雇主暂时搁置远程办公的想法,并且像2013年雅虎那样,鼓励员工大部分时间在公司的办公场所工作。
What does the author say about working from home?
It will become the norm sooner or later.
It requires employees to adapt promptly.
It benefits employers at the expense of employees.
It will force cities to transform their infrastructure.
46.关于在家办公,作者说了什么?
A)它迟早将成为惯例。
B)它要求员工迅速适应。
C)它以损害员工利益为代价使雇主受益。
D)它将迫使城市改造其基础设施。
Why do some people oppose working from home?
It discourages team spirit.
It invades employees' privacy.
It undermines traditional values.
It negatively impacts productivity.
47.为什么有些人反对在家办公?
A)它损害了团队精神。
B)它侵犯了员工的隐私。
C)它破坏了传统价值观。
D)它会对生产力产生负面影响。
Why did the author run the estimates for Montréal?
To provide convincing data for serious discussion.
To illustrate the ongoing change in working patterns.
To show the impact of remote working on productivity.
To exemplify how remote working affects the economy.
48.作者为什么要对蒙特利尔进行估算?
A)为了给严肃的讨论提供令人信服的数据。
B)为了说明工作模式的持续变化。
C)为了表明远程办公对生产力的影响。
D)为了举例说明远程办公如何影响经济。
What can we conclude from the author's calculations?
There is no point in transferring office work to working from home.
Employees can benefit as much from remote working as their employers.
Employers' gain from remote working should go to employees as compensation.
Effective measures should be taken to motivate employees to set up offices at home.
49.我们可以从作者的计算中得出什么结论?
A)把在办公室工作转变成在家办公是没有意义的。
B)员工可以和雇主一样从远程办公中获益。
C)雇主从远程办公中获得的收益应作为补偿支付给员工。
D)应该采取有效措施来激励员工在家设立办公室。
What is the author's opinion on working from home?
It should be avoided if possible.
It is only a temporary measure.
It can reduce companies' real estate costs.
It may affect employees' corporate loyalty.
50.作者对在家办公的看法是什么?
A)如果可能的话,应该避免。
B)它只是一个临时措施。
C)它可以降低公司的房地产成本。
D)它可能会影响员工对企业的忠诚度。
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