The industrial age has been the only period of human history in which most people's work has taken the form of jobs. The industrial age may now be coming to an end, and some of the changes in work patterns which it brought may have to be reversed. This seems a daunting thought. But, in fact, it could offer the prospect of a better future for work. Universal employment, as its history shows, has not meant economic freedom.

　　Employment became widespread when the enclosures of the 17th and 18th centuries made many people dependent on paid work by depriving them of the use of the land, and thus of the means to provide a living for themselves. Then the factory system destroyed the cottage industries and removed work from people's homes. Later, as transport improved, first by rail and then by road, people commuted longer distances to their places of employment until, eventually, many people's work lost all connection with their home lives and the places in which they lived.

　　Meanwhile, employment put women at a disadvantage. In pre-industrial times, men and women had shared the productive work of the household and village community. Now it became customary for the husband to go out to paid employment, leaving the unpaid work of the home and families to his wife. Tax and benefit regulations still assume this norm today, and restrict more flexible sharing of work roles between the sexes.

　　It was not only women whose work status suffered. As employment became the dominant form of work, young people and old people were excluded-a problem now, as more teenagers become frustrated at school and more retired people want to live active lives.

　　All this may now have to change. The time has certainly come to switch some effort and resources away from the idealist goal of creating jobs for all, to the urgent practical task of helping many people to manage without full-time jobs.

　　1. The established work patterns may be changed with the closing of the industrial age.

　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

　　2. Universal employment has brought about economic freedom.

　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

　　3. Many people depended on the land for a living before the 17th century.

　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

　　4. Improved transport enabled people to travel longer distances to their work places.

　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

　　5. Employed women of equal qualifications are paid less than men.

　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

　　6. A large number of teenagers will quit school next year.

　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

　　7. Now is the time to handle the issue of employment in a practical manner.

　　A　Right B　Wrong C　Not mentioned

　　參考答案：A B A A C C A

　　答案解析：

　　1. 在第一段的第二句話“The industrial age may now be coming to an end, and some of the changes in work patterns which it brought may have to be reversed.”中，作者提到“工業時代可能會結束，而且一些工作模式會發生變化”。所以答案選擇A。

　　2. 在第一段的倒數第一句話中“Universal employment, as its history shows, has not meant economic freedom.”，明確指出了普遍性的工作就業并不意味著經濟自由，所以答案選擇B.

　　3. 首先，大家要判斷出這是道數字題，在文中找出“17th century”所在的位置，在第二段的開頭指出在17世紀和18世紀的圈地運動時，工作就業變得普及。其暗含的意思是說，在這之前，人們還是靠種地生活，所以該題的答案選擇A。

　　4. 在第二段中，“Later, as transport improved, first by rail and then by road, people commuted longer distances to their places of employment”這句話提到了交通的改善，作者指出交通的改善，首先是鐵路和公路的改善，讓人們可以去較遠的工作地點上班。所以答案選擇A。

　　5. 在第三段和第四段中，文中提到了關于women 女性的問題，指出就業的出現，讓女性處于不利地位，并沒有提及問題中所說的“雇傭女性做和男性一樣的工作，但女性得到的報酬低于男性”，所以答案選擇C.

　　6. 在倒數第二段的最后一句話中，“more teenagers become frustrated at school”文中指出“很多青少年在學校里遇到了挫折，并不如意”，但是并沒有提及很多青少年會在明年輟學。所以答案選擇C.

　　7. 在最后一段話中，作者在第一句話中說道“All this may now have to change，現在這一切很可能要進行改變”，所以由此推斷出答案選擇A。

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