英語四級閱讀專項習題原文：

　　There are considerable strains and tensions in the trade union movement, some of them arising from their outdated and inefficient structure. Some unions have lost many members because of their industrial changes.

　　Others are involved in arguments about who should represent workers in new trades. Unions for skilled trades are separate from general unions, which means that different levels of wages for certain jobs are often a source of bad feelings between unions. In traditional trades which are being pushed out of existence by advancing technologies,unions can fight for their members' disappointing jobs to the point where the jobs of other union members are threatened or destroyed. The printing of newspapers both in the United States and in Britain has frequently been halted by the efforts of printers to hold on to their traditional highly-paid jobs.

　　Trade unions have problems of internal communication just as managers in companies do, problems which multiply in very large unions or in those which bring workers in very different industries together into a single general union. Some trade union officials have to be re-elected regularly; others are elected, or even appointed, for life. Trade union officials have to work with a system of "shop stewards" (工廠工人代表) in many unions, "shop stewards" being workers elected by other workers as their representatives at factory or work level.

　　英語四級閱讀專項習題：

　　56. Why is the trade union power crucial in Britain?

　　A. Because the economy is very interdependent.

　　B. Because the unions have been established a long time.

　　C. Because there are more unions in Britain than elsewhere.

　　D. Because there are many essential services offered by the unions.

　　57. Because of their out-of-date organization, some unions find it difficult to __________.

　　A. bargain for high enough wages

　　B. get new members to join

　　C. learn new technologies

　　D. change as industries change

　　58. Disagreements arise between unions because some of them__________.

　　A. try to win over members of other unions

　　B. ignore agreements

　　C. protect their own members at the expense of others

　　D. take over other unions' jobs

　　59. Why does the author compare the trade unions with managers in companies?

　　A. They are both influential in company affairs.

　　B. They both face problems of internal communication.

　　C. They both work with a system of "shop stewards".

　　D. They both work efficiently.

　　60. The title which best expresses the idea of the text would be __________.

　　A. British Trade Unions and Their Drawbacks

　　B. A Centralized and Concentrated Society

　　C. The Power of Trade Unions in Britain

　　D. The Structure of British Trade Unions

　　英語四級閱讀專項習題答案：

　　56.A

　　定位：根據題干信息thetrade union power和crucial可將答案定位到第二段第一句。

　　解析：該句提到：“正是由于經濟體系內各種經濟因素相互依賴(this economic interdependency of the economic system)，才使得工會權力成為如此重要的問題。”選項A符合題意。

　　57.D

　　定位：根據題干信息out-of-date organization可將答案定位到第三段第一句。

　　解析：第三段開頭處提到：“工會運動面臨許多限制和壓力，其中一些源于工會本身落后而低效的結構。由于產業調整，一些工會已經失去了很多成員。另外一些工會則面臨一系列爭論：新的行業中究竟由誰來代表工人?”可見由于其落后的結構，工會適應不了產業的變化和調整。故D為正確答案。

　　58.C

　　定位：根據題干信息disagreements arise between unions可將答案定位到第三段第四句。

　　解析：該句提到：“技術性行業的工會跟一般意義上的工會是分離的，這意味著，某些工作薪金水平的不同通常會在各工會之間引發摩擦。”可見differentlevels ofwagesfor certainjobs是引發矛盾的一大原因，但在四個選項中找不到意思相近的表述。我們繼續向下尋讀即可發現下一句中提到：“傳統的行業正逐漸被先進的技術所替代，在這些行業里，工會會為其成員渺無前景的工作努力抗爭，使其他工會成員的工作也受到威脅或者破壞。”也就是說，一些工會會為了保護自己成員的利益而犧牲其他工會成員的利益。故選項C為正確答案。

　　59.B

　　定位：根據題干信息managersin companies可將答案定位到最后一段第一句。

　　解析：該句提到：“和公司中的經理們一樣，工會內部也同樣面，臨著交流問題二在那些大型工會或者聚集了不同行業工人的工會里，這些問題成倍增加。”可見，工會和經理們的共同點就是在其內部存在著溝通不暢的問題，故選B。

　　60.A

　　定位：根據題干信息詞tire可知解答本題需通現全文。

　　解析：本題問選項中最適合做文章題目的是哪一項，考查的是全文的主旨。從全文的內容看，文章主要闡述了英國工會的狀況及其存在的問題。故應選A。最具迷惑性的是D項The Structure ofBritishTrade Unions，但其只提到英國工會的結構，而沒有概括其存在的問題，故不夠全面。

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