2006年考研英语阅读模拟题 Text 94

　　题材：管理

    难度：★★★

    字数：409

    建议时间：24分钟

　　If sustainable competitive advantage depends on work force skills, American firms have a problem. Human-resource management is not traditionally seen as central to the competitive survival of the firm in the United States. 1.————————————Skill acquisition is considered as an individual responsibility. Labor is simply another factor of production to be hired-rented at the lowest possible cost-much as one buys raw materials or equipment.

　　The lack of importance attached to human-resource management can be seen in the corporation hierarchy. In an American firm the chief officer is almost always second in command. 2. ————————————The post of head of human-resource management is usually a specialized job, off at the edge of the corporate hierarchy. The executive who holds it is never consulted on major strategic decisions and has no chances to move up to Chief Executive Officer (CEO).By way of contrast, in Japan the head of human-resource management is central-usually the second most important executive, after the CEO, in the firm hierarchy.

　　3. ———————————— While American firms often talk about the vast amounts spent on training their work forces, in fact they invest less in the skills of their employees than do the Japanese or German firms. The money they do invest is also more highly concentrated on professional and managerial employees. And the limited investments that are made in training workers are also much more narrowly focused on the specific skills necessary to do the next job rather than on the basic background skills that make it possible to absorb new technologies.

　　As a result, problems emerge when new breakthrough technologies arrive. 4. ———————————— If American workers, for example, take much longer to learn how to operate new flexible manufacturing stations than workers in Germany (as they do), the effective cost of those stations is lower in Germany than it is in the United States . 5. ———————————— More time is required before equipment is up and running at capacity, and the need for extensive retraining generates costs and creates bottlenecks that limit the speed with which new equipment can be employed.The result is a slower pace of technological change. And in the end the skills of the bottom half of the population affect the wages of the top half. If the bottom half can't effectively staff the processes that have to be operated, the management and professional jobs that go with these processes will disappear.

　　试题详解

　　难句剖析

　　1.语法难点：两个破折号中的插入语起补充说明的作用。

　　翻译技巧：本句比较简单，可以采用顺译法。

　　2.语法难点：第二个句子是一个由and连接的并列句。

　　翻译技巧：本句比较简单，可以采用顺译法。

　　3.语法难点：while连接的并列句；第二个句子是比较结构。

　　翻译技巧：本句比较简单，可以采用顺译法。

　　4.语法难点：if引导的条件状语从句。

　　翻译技巧：本句比较简单，可以采用顺译法，注意for example的位置变化。

　　5.语法难点：被动语态；定语从句。

　　翻译技巧：英语的被动语态的使用非常普遍，尤其是科普类文章，强调客观事实，而人称的表达不需要说明。汉语表达中的被动语态很少，所以英语被动语态的结构译成汉语的首选是换成汉语的主动结构；定语从句翻译时可以与主句断开，译成一个单独的句子。

　　参考译文

　　如果持续竞争优势依靠劳动力的技能，那么美国的公司就有问题了。在美国，人力资源管理在传统上没有被认为是在竞争中生存的核心。

    1.技能的获得被认为是个人的责任。劳动力不过是为了生产而雇来的另一个因素--以尽可能低的成本租用--就像是购买原材料或者设备。

　　这种对人力资源管理重视的缺乏可以在公司等级制度中看到。在一家美国的公司里，首席财务经理的指示总是处于第二位。

    2.人力资源管理经理的职位通常是一项专门的工作，被划在公司等级边缘之外。坐在这个位子上的经理主管人员从来不会在主要战略性决策上受到咨询，并且没有机会上升到执行总裁的位子上。通过比较，在日本公司的等级制度里，人力资源管理经理处在核心地位--往往是次最重要的经理主管人员，位于执行总裁之后。

　　3.美国公司经常谈到他们在培训他们的工作队伍上所花费的大笔的钱，然而，事实上，他们比日本或德国公司在公司员工的培训上的投资要少。他们确实投资的钱也更加集中在专业人员以及管理人员上。而且投资在培训工人上的有限的钱也更加局限于进行下一项工作必须的专门技能上，而非在那些使对新技术的吸收变得可能的基本背景技能上。

　　结果，当科技上新的突破到来的时候，问题就出现了。

    4.举例说，如果美国的工人比德国工人(他们正是这样做的)花费更多的时间学习如何操作新型灵活的生产设备，那么这些设备能够产生效果的成本在德国就会比在美国低。

    5.设备装配完毕并以最大的生产能力运行需要更长的时间，大范围的再度培训的需要会增加成本并且形成瓶颈，这就限制了新设备可以达到的速度。这样的结果是科技变革上步伐较慢。最后，占半数的底层员工的技能影响了顶层半数员工的薪水。如果占半数的底层员工不能有效地跟上必需的生产进程，那么这一进程中的管理工作以及专业工作就会消失。