2009年全國碩士研究生入學(xué)考試英語試題精析

　　Text 3

　　The relationship between formal education and economic growth in poor countries is widely misunderstood by economists and politicians alike. Progress in both areas is undoubtedly necessary for the social, political and intellectual development of these and all other societies; however, the conventional view that education should be one of the very highest priorities for promoting rapid economic development in poor countries is wrong. We are fortunate that it is, because building new educational systems there and putting enough people through them to improve economic performance would require two or three generations. The findings of a research institution have consistently shown that workers in all countries can be trained on the job to achieve radical higher productivity and, as a result, radically higher standards of living.

　　Ironically, the first evidence for this idea appeared in the United States. Not long ago, with the country entering a recessing and Japan at its pre�瞓ubble peak, the U.S. workforce was derided as poorly educated and one of primary cause of the poor U.S. economic performance. Japan was, and remains, the global leader in automotive�瞐ssembly productivity. Yet the research revealed that the U.S. factories of Honda, Nissan, and Toyota achieved about 95 percent of the productivity of their Japanese counterparts—a result of the training that U.S. workers received on the job.

　　More recently, while examining housing construction, the researchers discovered that illiterate, non-English-speaking Mexican workers in Houston, Texas, consistently met best-practice labor productivity standards despite the complexity of the building industry’s work.

　　What is the real relationship between education and economic development? We have to suspect that continuing economic growth promotes the development of education even when governments don’t force it. After all, that’s how education got started. When our ancestors were hunters and gatherers 10,000 years ago, they didn’t have time to wonder much about anything besides finding food. Only when humanity began to get its food in a more productive way was there time for other things.

　　As education improved, humanity’s productivity potential increased as well. When the competitive environment pushed our ancestors to achieve that potential, they could in turn afford more education. This increasingly high level of education is probably a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for the complex political systems required by advanced economic performance. Thus poor countries might not be able to escape their poverty traps without political changes that may be possible only with broader formal education. A lack of formal education, however, doesn’t constrain the ability of the developing world’s workforce to substantially improve productivity for the foreseeable future. On the contrary, constraints on improving productivity explain why education isn’t developing more quickly there than it is.

　　貧窮國家中正規(guī)教育與經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展之間的關(guān)系為經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家及政治家們普遍誤解。毫無疑問，在這兩個方面都有所進(jìn)步，對于這些國家及其他國家的社會、政治及學(xué)術(shù)發(fā)展而言是必要的，但是那種認(rèn)為教育是促進(jìn)貧窮國家經(jīng)濟(jì)快速發(fā)展的重中之重的傳統(tǒng)觀點是錯誤的。我們慶幸這個觀念不對，因為創(chuàng)立新的教育體制，讓足夠多的人接受教育以推動經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展需要兩代或三代人來完成。一家研究機(jī)構(gòu)的研究成果一再表明：所有國家的工人都可以進(jìn)行在職培訓(xùn)以大幅度提高生產(chǎn)率，從而提高生活水平。

　　具有諷刺意味的是，這一觀點的首個證據(jù)出現(xiàn)在美國。不久前，隨著美國經(jīng)濟(jì)陷入衰退，日本正處于泡沫破滅前的高峰期，美國工人被嘲諷沒有受過良好教育，并且被認(rèn)為這是美國經(jīng)濟(jì)不景氣的主要原因之一。在全球，不管過去還是現(xiàn)在，日本一直是汽車組裝生產(chǎn)力的領(lǐng)袖。然而，研究表明豐田、尼桑和本田位于美國工廠的生產(chǎn)率大約是日本同行的95%，這是美國工人接受在職培訓(xùn)的結(jié)果。

　　最近，在進(jìn)行住戶建設(shè)檢查時，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)在德克薩斯州的休斯頓，盡管房地產(chǎn)行業(yè)的工作非常復(fù)雜，但是未受過教育的，英語不是母語的墨西哥工人總是能夠達(dá)到最佳的勞動生產(chǎn)率標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

　　教育與經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展之間的關(guān)系到底如何?我們不得不懷疑，即使政府不強(qiáng)迫發(fā)展教育，經(jīng)濟(jì)持續(xù)增長也會促進(jìn)教育事業(yè)的發(fā)展。畢竟，教育就是那樣開始的。一萬年前當(dāng)我們的祖先還在狩獵和采集野果時，除了尋找食物他們沒有時間想其它很多的東西。只有當(dāng)人類能夠更高效地獲取食物時，才有時間做其它的事情。

　　隨著教育的進(jìn)步，人類的生產(chǎn)潛力也增加了。當(dāng)競爭的環(huán)境推動我們的祖先實現(xiàn)這一潛力，他們又可以獲得更多的教育機(jī)會。先進(jìn)的經(jīng)濟(jì)水平要求復(fù)雜的政治制度，越來越高的教育水平可能是這種復(fù)雜政治制度的必要的，但不是充分的條件。因此，如果沒有政治改革，貧窮國家可能無法擺脫其貧困陷阱，而政治改革則只能靠更廣泛的正規(guī)教育實現(xiàn)。但是，發(fā)展中國家的勞動力在可預(yù)見的未來持續(xù)提高生產(chǎn)力的能力沒有因缺乏正規(guī)教育而受到限制。相反，生產(chǎn)力的提高受到限制解釋了為什么教育的發(fā)展速度不是更快了。

　　第一段中心句：The relationship between formal education and economic growth in poor countries is widely misunderstood by economists and politicians alike. 貧窮國家中正規(guī)教育與經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展之間的關(guān)系為經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家及政治家們所誤解。

　　第二段中心句:Ironically, the first evidence for this idea appeared in the United States. 具有諷刺意味的是，這一觀點的首個證據(jù)出現(xiàn)在美國。

　　第三段中心句:More recently, while examining housing construction, the researchers discovered that illiterate, non�睧nglish�瞫peaking Mexican workers in Houston, Texas, consistently met best�瞤ractice labor productivity standards despite the complexity of the building industry’s work. 最近，在進(jìn)行住戶建設(shè)檢查時，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)在德克薩斯州的休斯頓，盡管房地產(chǎn)行業(yè)的工作非常復(fù)雜，未受過教育的，英語不是母語的墨西哥工人總是能夠達(dá)到工作生產(chǎn)率的最高標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

　　第四段中心句:What is the real relationship between education and economic development? 教育與經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展之間的關(guān)系到底如何?

　　第五段中心句:This increasingly high level of education is probably a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for the complex political systems required by advanced economic performance. 先進(jìn)的經(jīng)濟(jì)水平要求復(fù)雜的政治制度，越來越高的教育水平可能是這種復(fù)雜政治制度的必要的，但不是充分的條件。

　　答案D B B C C(解析略)