6. Which of the following statements best summarizes the main idea of the passage? ______
A
[考点] 主旨的理解
[解析] 1.做题分析
①It is frequently assumed that the mechanization of work has a revolutionary effect on the lives of the people who operate the new machines and on the society into which the machines have been introduced. ②For example, it has been suggested that the employment of women in industry took them out of the household, their traditional sphere, and fundamentally altered their position in society. ③In the nineteenth century, when women began to enter factories, Jules Simon, a French politician, warned that by doing so, women would give up their femininity. ④Friedrich Engels, however, predicted that women would be liberated from the "social, legal, and economic subordination" of the family by technological developments that made possible the recruitment of "the whole female sex into public industry." ⑤Observers thus differed concerning the social desirability of mechanization's effects, but they agreed that it would transform women's lives.
⑥Historians, particularly those investigating the history of women, now seriously question this assumption of transforming power. ⑦They conclude that such dramatic technological innovations as the spinning jenny, the sewing machine, the typewriter, and the vacuum cleaner have not resulted in equally dramatic social changes in women's economic position or in the prevailing evaluation of women's work. ⑧The employment of young women in textile mills during the Industrial Revolution was largely an extension of an older pattern of employment of young, single women as domestics. ⑨It was not the change in office technology, but rather the separation of secretarial work, previously seen as an apprenticeship for beginning managers, from administrative work that in the 1880's created a new class of "dead-end " jobs, thenceforth considered "women's work." ⑩The increase in the numbers of married women employed outside the home in the twentieth century had less to do with the mechanization of housework and an increase in leisure time for these women than it did with their own economic necessity and with high marriage rates that shrank the available pool of single women workers, previously, in many cases, the only women employers would hire.
⑪Women's work has changed considerably in the past 200 years, moving from the household to the office or the factory, and later becoming mostly white-collar instead of blue-collar work. ⑫Fundamentally, however, the conditions under which women work have changed little since before the Industrial Revolution: the segregation of occupations by gender, lower pay for women as a group, jobs that require relatively low levels of skill and offer women little opportunity for advancement all persist, while women's household labor remains demanding. ⑬Recent historical investigation has led to a major revision of the notion that technology is always inherently revolutionary in its effects on society. ⑭Mechanization may even have slowed any change in the traditional position of women both in the labor market and in the home.
2.文章结构
本文为新旧观点对比结构的文章。这篇文章虽然很长,但是结构很清晰。文章主要讨论了科技进步(机械化)是否改变了女性工作境遇的问题。第一段先提出一个旧观点:机械化(科技进步)对人们(特别是女性)的生活和社会(society)有革命性的影响;第二段对这个观点提出了疑问(Historians now seriously question this assumption of transforming power.),第三段继续质疑这个观点,并给出新观点:the conditions under which women work have changed little since before the Industrial Revolution。
第一段:观点1:机械化对人们的生活和社会有革命性的影响(mechanization of work has a revolutionary effect on the lives of the people and on the society)。
细节1(证明观点1):the employment of women in industry...
细节2(引出本段主旨):两个人对这件事相反的看法。
本段主旨:科学家对机械化在社会上的作用看法不一,但是都对女性的生活有显著影响(differed, agreed that it would transform women's lives)。
第二段:本段主旨:反对上一段提出的观点(Historians now seriously question this assumption of transforming power)。
细节1(证明本段主旨):纺织业女性的情况(textile mills)。
细节2(证明本段主旨):在办公室工作的女性的情况(office)。
细节3(证明本段主旨):已婚女性雇佣率上升的实际原因(The increase in the numbers of married women employed outside the home)。
第三段:陈述现象(承认让步):女性的工作境遇的确改善了(Women's work has changed considerably in the past 200 years)陈述事实(反过来证明本段主旨):女性的工作条件基本没改变(conditions under which women work have changed little)
3.文章精析
第一段:
①根据It is frequently assumed可以推出以下信息:(1)根据assumed提示,这是一篇观点类型的文章;(2)根据frequently提示,这个观点是旧观点,即将被反驳(GRE阅读文章,一般大多数人的观点都会被反驳的)。观点的主干是:mechanization of work has a revolutionary effect on the lives of the people and on the society(机械化对人们的生活和社会有革命性的影响),后面的定语都是细节,第一遍不要看。
②没有取反词,这句话是细节,看到For example,可知这是用例子证明上一句观点的,第一遍阅读时明确其功能即可,可以略过不看。细节精读:作者举出的事例是:越来越多的女性投身于工业,使她们从家庭这个传统的交际圈中脱离出来(took them out of the household),这样就改变了她们在社会的地位(altered their position in society)。这个句子主谓宾是按顺序的,读起来很容易。
③没有取反词,这句话是细节,这句话给出了一个人对女性在工厂工作的观点,即上一句提到的事例,这里women began to enter factories是employment of women in industry的同义替换。根据warned可知这是一个负面的观点,Jules Simon认为这样做女性会失去女性特质(women would give up their femininity),因为传统意义上只有男性能在工厂里工作。
④出现however,但是这个however不是反驳第一句的观点,只是和上一句的Jules Simon观点不一致而已。这个句子比较长,这里先给出了结果:women would be liberated from the "social, legal, and economic subordination" of the family,重点词是liberated from和family,即从传统观念中“女性应当为家庭献身”的观念解放出来。by后面就是主要讨论对象technological developments。Friedrich Engels认为这有助于把女性从家庭中解放出来,其他信息属于细节,可以不看。
⑤这句话是结论(由thus得知),提出科学家对机械化的作用观点不一(Observers thus differed concerning the social desirability of mechanization's effects),但是他们都同意机械化会改变女性的生活(it would transform women's lives)。
第二段:
⑥历史学家对这个观点持质疑态度(question this assumption),this指代上一段末尾提出的transform women's lives,而且后文的transforming power印证了这一指代。所以这一段的主要内容是反驳上一段的观点。
⑦没有取反词,主题句,出现新观点。虽然这句话很长,但是主干明确:technological innovations have not resulted in equally dramatic social changes,即科技发展没有引起社会变化。
细节精读:technological innovations具体包括the spinning jenny(珍妮机,是一种纺织机),the sewing machine(纺织机,指代纺织业),the typewriter(打字机,指代办公室),and the vacuum cleaner(吸尘器,指代家务),后文的三个句子和这几个是一一对应的;social changes具体指women's economic position和the prevailing evaluation of women's work,总之都是与女性工作相关的。
⑧没有取反词,这句话是细节,用纺织业(textile mills)的情况证明主旨,对应上文的the spinning jenny, the sewing machine,第一遍读的时候理解到这里即可。细节精读:在纺织业的实际情况是“是旧模式的延伸(an extension of an older pattern of employment)”,这个模式指雇佣单身女性,但是并没有脱离家庭,所以不能说明科技进步导致社会变革。
⑨没有取反词,这句话是细节,用办公室的情况(office)证明主旨,对应上文的the typewriter,第一遍读的时候理解到这里即可。细节精读:这句话是not...but结构,but后面是强调的重点。先提取主干:It was the separation of secretarial work that created a new class of "dead-end" jobs, thenceforth considered "women's work." 说明助理这一类“女性工作”产生的原因不是由于办公科技的提高,所以不能说明科技进步导致社会变革。这样的细节理解大意即可。
⑩没有取反词,这句话是细节,用家庭的情况(home)证明主旨,对应上文的the vacuum cleaner,第一遍读的时候理解到这里即可。细节精读:这句话出现了married women,这里有代表进步模式的隐含意义,因为前面说了young, single women属于older pattern。这句话和上一句类似,是less to do...than结构。说明“新模式”的发生(The increase in the numbers of married women employed)不是由于科技进步(mechanization of housework,这虽然导致闲暇时间的增加:increase in leisure time,这属于细节的细节),而是因为女性经济地位提高(their own economic necessity)以及结婚率的提高(high marriage rates,这导致单身女工的减少:shrank the available pool of single women workers,而过去只会雇佣单身女工,这属于细节的细节),所以不能说明科技进步导致社会变革。
第三段:
⑪先来一个承认让步逻辑,女性的工作的确发生了巨大的变化(Women's work has changed considerably in the past 200 years),后面都是细节,都是具体说明变化的:从家庭到办公室或工厂(from the household to the office or the factory),最后大多做了白领而不是蓝领(becoming mostly white-collar instead of blue-collar work)。结合后文可以知道这句话其实是有让步意味的:即使女性的生活发生了这么多变化,但可能不是机械化导致的。
⑫出现however,对上面的承认进行反驳。即“女性的工作条件基本没变化”(the conditions under which women work have changed little),冒号后面是细节,用来证明冒号前面的主题。第一遍阅读只需要理解到这里即可。细节精读:工作条件具体指的是:(1)工作上的性别歧视(the segregation of occupations by gender);(2)低工资(lower pay for women as a group);(3)女性只能做简单的工作(jobs that require relatively low levels of skill);(4)女性晋升空间小(offer women little opportunity for advancement)。与此同时,女性要做的家务仍然繁重(women's household labor remains demanding),即女性没有真正的脱离家庭。
⑬这句话是另外一个观点(主题),但是这个观点(主题)后面并没有细节来证明。而且这个观点是对前面的新观点进一步的延伸,超出了新观点的范围,因为新观点只是说机械化没有给女性的工作境遇等带来改变,这个观点甚至说机械化让这种变化变慢了。
题型:主旨题
这道题比较简单,文章为新旧观点的关系,就是新观点反对第一段的观点。看选项,A选项中动词not borne out the frequently held assumption正确;B选项动词revolutionizes(彻底改变),与全文观点相反,错误;C选项,nature错误,因为第三段提出很多例子证明了女性的工作条件基本没变化,错误;D选项,new classes出现在第二段细节,不可能是主旨,错误;E选项,critics had feared全文没提过,错误。答案是A。注意短语bear out是“证明,证实”的意思。英文释义为:confirm,substantiate。