- (2017)考研英语题源报刊阅读:提高篇
- 新东方研发中心
- 663字
- 2020-06-25 10:13:50
Text 3
It has been a tough summer for Muncie, a small city of Indiana. Unemployment dipped briefly below 9% this spring, but floated back up to 10% in June and July. The car-parts makers that were once Muncie's life blood have largely given up on it; but creating skilled manufacturing jobs at a new locomotive factory is turning out to be a hard slog.
Since the sociologists Robert and Helen Lynd named it "Middletown" in 1929, Muncie has been regarded as representative of the American experience. In the more diverse 21st century American economy, that is no longer exactly the case, but Muncie's experience of declining manufacturing employment is similar to that of many small cities. So when Indiana's governor, Mitch Daniels, came to town and announced last October that 650 new jobs would be created assembling locomotives for Progress Rail, and a largely abandoned factory rehabilitated, local press and politicians reacted with enthusiasm.
That feeling is wearing off. Fewer than a quarter of the promised jobs have materialised and not a single engine has rolled off the production line. According to a Progress Rail spokeswoman, the company currently employs 150 people in Muncie and has abandoned the 650 target, expecting to reach only 250 employees by the end of 2012. The spokeswoman blamed the sluggish hiring on the weak economy, but the path to creating even one job has been a twisted one.
Progress Rail decided on building locomotives in America in April 2010. It then started negotiations with the Muncie-Delaware County Chamber of Commerce. Muncie's greatest asset in sealing the deal was the building itself. Originally used to make transformers for Westinghouse and then ABB, the factory had been used to store ketchup and as a Halloween house since the latter company left town in 1998. The 740,000 square-foot building has a 1,960 foot long main assembly floor, with a railway line running through the door—handy if you are making locomotives.
Recruitment ads appeared shortly after Christmas 2010. Work One, a state employment agency, removed unsuitable applicants. The jobs drew hundreds of hopefuls, but a Work One director, notes that there is a big gap between flipping burgers and working at a modern manufacturer. The local branch of a community college, agreed to create a three-week welding course to teach the specialised techniques Progress Rail uses. So specialised, in fact, that the head welding teacher at the college said he had never heard of them, and so difficult that only experienced welders could attempt them. Between January and April this year, according to the Work One director just 30 welders took the course; the company was looking to hire 70.
If Muncie and similar cities are banking on manufacturing to restore their fortunes, they have a slow road ahead.
11. The unemployment rate of Muncie in the first half of the year______.
[A] had been rising steadily
[B] dropped by 9% temporarily
[C] declined then rebounded to 10%
[D] reached the highest point
12. We can learn from Paragraph 2 that______.
[A] Muncie has started its fast development since 1929
[B] The growth of Muncie has represented the American development since 1929
[C] Muncie's declining manufacturing employment is a reflection of the national tendency
[D] the decision to creat jobs was applauded by Muncie people
13. According to Paragraph 3, Progress Rail______.
[A] hired few workers because of the gloomy economy
[B] failed to meet the target of creating 650 new jobs
[C] is a company mainly producing engines
[D] planned to create 250 new jobs in 2012
14. The difficulty Progress Rail faces in its recruitment in Muncie is______.
[A] the incompetence of Work One
[B] the lack of qualified workers
[C] the high requirements of Progress Rail
[D] the underdevelopment of the local education
15. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
[A] Off-track in Middletown
[B] The Origin of "Middletown"
[C] Ways out for Middletown
[D] The Decline of Middletown