Technology has been an encouragement of historical change. It acted as such a force in Eng- land beginning in the eighteenth century, and across the entire Western World in the nineteenth. Rapid advances were made in the use of scientific findings in the manufacture (制造 ) of goods, which has changed ideas about work. One of the first changes was that other forms of energy have taken the place of human power. Along with this came the increased use of machines to manufac- ture products in less time..
People also developed machines that could produce the same parts for a product: each nail was exactly like every other nail, meaning that each nail could be changed for every other nail. This means that goods could be mass produced, though mass production required breaking production down into smaller and smaller tasks.
Once this was done, workers no longer started on the product and labored to complete it. In- stead, they might work only one thousandth of it, other workers completing their own parts in cer- tain order. There is nothing strange about this manufacturing work by today' s standards. Highly skilled workers were unable to compare with the new production techniques, as mass production al- lowed goods of high standard to be produced in greater number than could ever be done by hand. But the skilled worker wasn' t the only loser, the common workers lost too. Similar changes forced farmers away. The increased mechanization(机械化) of agriculture freed masses of workers from ploughing the land and harvesting its crops. They had little choice but to stream toward the rapidly developing industrial centers. Increasingly, standards were set by machines. Workers no longer owned their own tools, their skill was no longer valued, and pride in their work was no longer pos- sible. Workers fed, looked after and repaired the machines that could work faster than humans at greatly reduced cost.
26. In this passage, which of the following is NOT considered as a change caused by the use of scientific findings in the production of goods?
A. Other forms of energy have taken the place of human power.
B. The increased exploitation of workers in the 19th century.
C. The increased use of machines to make products in less time.
D. The use of machines producing parts of the same standard.
27. The underlined word "this" in the fLrSt paragraph refers to
A. the use of scientific findings
B. the practice of producing the same parts for a product
C. the human power being replaced by other forms of energy
D. the technology becoming the encouragement of historical change
28. The underlined word "this" in the second paragraph refers to the change that
A. each nail could be taken the place of by every other nail
B. each nail was exactly like every other nail
C. producing tasks became smaller and smaller
D. goods could be mass produced
29. According to the writer, highly skilled workers
A. completely disappeared with the coming of the factory system
B. were dismissed by the boss
C. were unable to produce goods of high standard
D. were unable to produce fine goods at that same speed as machines
30. According to the passage, what did the farmers have to do with the coming of mechanization of agriculture?
A. Many of them had to leave their farmland for industrial centers.
B. They stuck to their farm work.
C. They refused to use machines.
D. They did their best to learn how to use the machines.
参考译文
技术已经成为历史性改变的一种激励。在十八世纪初的英国和十九世纪的整个西方世界，技术就具有这样的一种力量。在商品制造领域，科学发现物的使用使得商品制造领域取得了快速改进，这改变了人
们对工作的看法。最初的一种改变就是人力被其他形式的能量所代替。随之而来的是机器的加大使用，以便在更少的时间里生产产品。
人们也开发了可以用来生产一种产品相同零件的机器：每个钉子都造得跟其他任何钉子完全相同，也就是每个钉子都可以跟其他钉子互换。这就意味着商品可以大规模生产，虽然大规模生产要求把生产分成一个一个更小的部分。
一旦它实现，工人们再也不用着手处理产品以及花力气完成产品。取而代之的是，他们也许只工作过去工作量的千分之一，另外的工人按一定工序完成各自的部分就可以了。按照今天的标准，这种生产工作没什么令人奇怪的。技术高超的工人无法跟这种新的生产技艺相媲关。因为大规模生产使高规格的商品的大批量生产成为现实，而手工制作相形见绌。然而，技术好的个人并非唯一的受损失者，普通工人也如此。相似的改变让农民地位不保。不断增加的农业机械化把大批农民从耕地和农作物收获中解放出来。除了涌入快速发展的工业中心，他们别无选择。规则日益被机器制定。工人不再拥有自己的工具。他们的技术不再有价值，从而工作中的自豪感不再存在。工人供养、照顾和维修那些远比人类更有工作效率的机器，这大大减少了花费。
答案及解析
26.B【解析】细节题。原文中并未说l9世纪开始对工人剥削的增加。其余三项均在第一段中间出现。所以此题选择B。
27.c【解析】理解题。单词this指上文“0ther forms of energy have taken the place of human power.”(其他形式的能源已经代替了人类的劳动力)的内容。所以此题选择c。
28.D【解析】理解题。在条件句中，this指下文“goods could be mass produced”(货物大批生产)。所以此题选择D
29.D【解析】判断推理题。可从第三段第四句“Highly skilled workers were unable to compare with the new production techniques.”(技术高超的工人也无法和新的生产技术相比)可知答案。所以此题选择D。
30.A【解析】判断推理题。可根据第三段中的“Similar changes forcedfarmers away.”(类似的改变赶走了农民)及“They had littlechoice but to stream toward the rapidly developing industrial cen-ters.”(除了慢慢向工业中心转移，他们没有其他选择)。所以此题选择A。
