In Japan many workers for large corporations have a guarantee of lifetime employment. They will not be laid off during recessions(经济萧条) or when the tasks they perform are taken over by robots. To some observes, this is capitalism at its best, because workers are treated as people not things. Others see it as necessarily inefficient and believe it cannot continue if Japan is to remain competitive with foreign corporations more concerned about profits and less concerned about people.
Defenders of the system argue that those who call it inefficient do not understand how it really works. In the first place not every Japanese worker has the guarantee of a lifetime job. The lifetime employment system includes only “regular employees”. Many employees do not fall into this category, including all women. All businesses have many part-time and temporary employees. These workers are hired and laid off during the course of the business cycle just as employees in the United States are. These “irregular workers” make up about 10 percent of the nonagricultural work force. Additionally, Japanese firms maintain some flexibility through the extensive use of subcontractors. This practice is much more common in Japan than in the United States.
The use of both subcontractors and temporary workers has increased markedly in Japan since the 1974-1975 recession. All this leads some to argue that the Japanese system is not all that different from the American system. During recessions Japanese corporations lay off temporary workers and give less business to subcontractors. In the United States, corporations lay off those workers with the least seniority(资历). The difference then is probably less than the term “lifetime employment” suggests, but there still is a difference. And this difference cannot be understood without looking at the values of Japanese society. The relationship between employer and employee cannot be explained in purely contractual(合同的) terms. Firms hold on to the employees and employees stay with one firm. There are also practical reasons for not jumping from job to job. Most retirement benefits come from the employer. Changing jobs means losing these benefits. Also, teamwork is an essential part of Japanese production. Moving to a new firm means adapting to a different team and at least temporarily, lower productivity and lower pay.考试大
1.The observers are divided with regard to their attitudes towards ____.
A)the guarantee of lifetime employment
B)the consequence of recessions and automation
C)the effect of lifetime employment
D)the prospects of capitalism
2.It is stated in the second paragraph that ____.
A)defenders themselves do not appreciate the system
B)about 90% of “irregular workers” are employed in agriculture
C)the business cycle occurs more often in Japan and in the U.S.
D)not all employees can benefit from the policy
3.During recessions those who are to be fired first in the U.S. corporations are ____.
A)regular employees
B)part-time workers
C)junior employees
D)temporary workers
4.According to the passage, Japanese firms differ strikingly from American firms in that the former ____.
A)use subcontractors more extensively
B)are less flexible in terms of lifetime employment
C)hold on to the values of society
D)are more efficient in competition than the latter
5.Which of the following does NOT account for the fact that a Japanese worker is reluctant to change his job?
A)He will probably be underpaid.
B)He will not be entitled to some job benefits.
C)He has been accustomed to the teamwork.
D)He will be looked down upon by his prospective employer. 答案：1. C) the effect of lifetime employment. 要我说这题没C的话选A也对, 反正就是讨论终身就业体系的, C比A贴切. B和D完全不对, 参考第一段.
2. D)not all employees can benefit from the policy, 对应原文In the first place not every Japanese worker has the guarantee of a lifetime job. A和B反过来说就对了, C本文没有讨论.
3. C)junior employees, 对应原文In the United States, corporations lay off those workers with the least seniority(资历).
4. A)use subcontractors more extensively对应原文Additionally, Japanese firms maintain some flexibility through the extensive use of subcontractors. This practice is much more common in Japan than in the United States.
5. D) He will be looked down upon by his prospective employer. 读懂最后一段就不难选出。。。 参考译文:
在日本，许多大公司的职工都有终身就业保障。他们不会因为经济萧条或所做的工作由机器人替代而被辞退。某些观察家认为，这是资本主义的最佳状态，把工人当成人而不是当成物对待。其他的观察家则认为这必然会造成效率低下，并认为如果日本要想与那些更关心利润而很少关心员工的外国公司抗衡，这种做法就不能持续下去。
这一体制的维护者们争辩道：声称该体制效率低下的人并不知道体制的运作方式。首先，并不是每个日本工人都享有终身就业保障。该体制仅仅适用于“正式职工”。许多雇员，包括全部妇女，并不属于这类职工。所有企业都有计时工人和临时工。在整个经营周期中招聘或解雇这些工人，与美国对雇员的做法也无不同之处。这些“非正式工人”约占非农业劳动力的10%。此外，日本的公司通过广泛利用分包单位的做法保持了处理问题的灵活性。这种做法在日本比在美国更为普遍。
自从1974至1975年经济萧条以来，在日本使用分包单位和临时工人的情况明显地增多了。这一切使得某些人争辩说，日本的这种制度实际上与美国的制度无甚差异。在经济萧条时期，日本公司辞退临时工，并减少给分包单位的业务。在美国，公司解雇那些资历最浅的工人。那么，这种差异可能要比“终身就业”这个术语所暗示的要少，但差异考试.大仍然存在。不洞察日本的社会价值观就不可能理解这一差异。雇主和雇员的关系不能用纯粹的契约关系来解释。公司设法留住雇员，雇员守着一家公司。雇员不跳槽还有一些现实的因素。大部分退休待遇来自雇主。变换工作意味着失掉这些待遇。而且，团体合作是日本生产的基本要素。转到一家新公司意味着要适应一个不同的团体，至少也要暂时适应较低生产率和较低的薪金。作者: luxury22 时间: 2008-12-4 20:12
花了好多时间才看明白