牛刀小试

Section C

Directions: Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words.

Employers in some unlikely places say they’re having trouble filling jobs. Factory managers in Ho Chi Minh city report many of their $62-a-month workers went home for the Tet (越南春节)holiday in February and never came back. In Bulgaria, computer experts are in such demand that they can’t be bothered to answer the want ads of a Los Angeles movie studio. And in Peoria, Caterpillar Inc. is struggling to train enough service technicians. The problem in each case: not enough people who are both able and willing to do the work for the posted pay. “We’ve got a global problem and it’s going to continue to get worse,” says Stephen Hitch, a human resources manager at Caterpillar.

 A global labor shortage, already being felt by some employers, appears to have worsened in recent months. That’s in spite of widely publicized layoffs, including Citigroup’s plans to dismiss as many as 15,000 staff. In fact, U. S. unemployment remains low --- just 4.5% in February --- and even companies in countries with higher jobless rates are feeling under great pressure. “It’s not just a U. S. phenomenon,” says Jeffery A. Joerres, CEO of Manpower Inc., the staffing agency. On March 29, Manpower was to release the results of a survey of nearly 37,000 employers in 27 countries. The study found that 41% of them are having trouble hiring people they need.

 What’s going on here? With global growth running at a strong 5% a year since 2004, the strategies that companies developed to hold down labor costs --- including offshoring (境外生产) work to low-wage countries --- are running out of gas far sooner than many expected. The seemingly inexhaustible pools of cheap labor from China, India, and elsewhere are drying up as demand exceeds the supply of people with the needed skills. “Companies were hoping they wouldn’t have to worry about human resources at all.” says Peter Capelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.  “Now they do.” Corporations are determined to keep labor costs under control, so they’re reaching deeper into their bag of tricks. Some are doing more in-house training, so they don’t have to hire high-priced talent on the open market. Some are lowering their standards for new hires or moving operations to undeveloped territories other outsourcers (外包商) haven’t discovered, such as the Belarusian capital, Minsk, or smaller cities in Bulgaria and Romania. 

( Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN EIGHT WORDS.)

78. It can be inferred that the Los Angeles movie studio ________________________________.

79. Why won’t the able people go to fill the jobs ?

__________________________________________________________________________.

80. What did western companies think of the cheap labor market from Asian countries? __________________________________________________________________________.

81.  More in-house training in some companies aims at _________________________________.

真相大白

78.  lacks / is short of computer experts; needs / wants computer experts badly

79. Because they’re dissatisfied / Because they aren’t satisfied ( pleased ) with the posted pay.

80. It would last long / would be inexhaustible. 

81. controlling the labor cost / keeping ( having, bringing ) the labor cost under control.

名师把脉

本文主要讲述了西方IT公司的人才枯竭。这些公司原以为可以通过无限地利用（尤其）来自亚洲地廉价劳动力赚取利润。但是这种好景却不长。这些公司正在尝试一系列地办法减少指出成本。阅读题目主要考查读者对细节信息的把握与理解，以及语言的概述能力。

步步为赢

78．从第一段的they can’t be bothered to answer the want ads of a Los Angeles movie studio.找到信息，并提取the main idea: LA的公司极度缺人（computer experts）：所以答案可以是lacks computer experts。

79. 第一段：从the problem in each case: not enough people who are both able and willing to do the work for the posted pay.找到答案。说明招不到的人的一个重要原因在于对薪酬的不满意。

80. 第三段：Companies were hoping they wouldn’t have to worry about human resources at all。说明这些公司的一开始都觉得来自亚洲，尤其是中国、印度等国的廉价劳动力是取之不尽用之不竭的。

81. 第三段：Corporations are determined to keep labor costs under control.说明这些公司意在减少指出成本，而in-house training是其中的一种方式。

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