Before 1815 manufacturing in the United States had been done in homes or shops by skilled artisans. As master craft workers, they the knowledge of their trades to apprentices and journeymen. In addition, women often worked in their homes part-time, making finished articles from raw material supplied by merchant capitalists. After 1815 this older form of manufacturing began to give way to factories with machinery tended by unskilled or semiskilled laborers. Cheap transportation networks, the rise of cities, and the availability of capital and credit all stimulated the shift to factory production.
The creation of a labor force that was accustomed to working in factories did not occur easily. Before the rise of the factory, artisans had worked within the home. Apprentices were considered part of the family, and masters were responsible not only for teaching their apprentices a trade but also for providing them some education and for supervising their moral behavior. Journeymen knew that if they perfected their skill, they could become respected master artisans with their own shops. Also, skilled artisans did not work by the clock, at a steady pace, but rather in bursts of intense labor alternating with more leisurely time.
The factory changed that. Goods produced by factories were not as finished or elegant as those done by hand, and pride in craftsmanship gave way to the pressure to increase rates of productivity. The new methods of doing business involved a new and stricter sense of time. Factory life necessitated a more regimented schedule, where work began at the sound of a bell and workers kept machines going at a constant pace. At the same time, workers were required to discard old habits, for industrialism demanded a worker who was alert, dependable, and self-disciplined. Absenteeism and lateness hurt productivity and, since work was specialized, disrupted the regular factory routine. Industrialization not only produced a fundamental change in the way work was organized; it transformed the very nature of work.
The first generation to experience these changes did not adopt the new attitudes easily. The factory clock became the symbol of the new work rules. One mill worker who finally quit complained revealingly about "obedience to the ding-dong of the bell-just as though we are so many living machines." With the loss of personal freedom also came the loss of standing in the community. Unlike artisan workshops in which apprentices worked closely with the masters supervising them, factories sharply separated workers from management. Few workers rose through the ranks to supervisory positions, and even fewer could achieve the artisan's dream of setting up one's own business. Even well-paid workers sensed their decline in status.
In this newly emerging economic order, workers sometimes organized to protect their rights and traditional ways of life. Craft workers such as carpenters, printers, and tailors formed unions, and in 1834 individual unions came together in the National Trades' Union. The labor movement gathered some momentum in the decade before the Panic of 1837, but in the depression that followed, labor's strength collapsed. During hard times, few workers were willing to strike* or engage in collective action. And skilled craft workers, who spearheaded the union movement, did not feel a particularly strong bond with semiskilled factory workers and unskilled laborers. More than a decade of agitation did finally bring a workday shortened to 10 hours to most industries by the 1850’s, and the courts also recognized workers' right to strike, but these gains had little immediate impact.
Workers were united in resenting the industrial system and their loss of status, but they were divided by ethnic and racial antagonisms, gender, conflicting religious perspectives, occupational differences, political party loyalties, and disagreements over tactics. For them, the factory and industrialism were not agents of opportunity but reminders of their loss of independence and a measure of control over their lives. As United States society became more specialized and differentiated, greater extremes of wealth began to appear. And as the new markets created fortunes for the few, the factory system lowered the wages of workers by dividing labor into smaller, less skilled tasks.
原題
Paragraph 2: The creation of a labor force that was accustomed to working in factories did not occur easily. Before the rise of the factory, artisans had worked within the home. Apprentices were considered part of the family, and masters were responsible not only for teaching their apprentices a trade but also for providing them some education and for supervising their moral behavior. Journeymen knew that if they perfected their skill, they could become respected master artisans with their own shops. Also, skilled artisans did not work by the clock, at a steady pace, but rather in bursts of intense labor alternating with more leisurely time.
2. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information
○Masters demanded moral behavior from apprentices but often treated them irresponsibly.
○The responsibilities of the master to the apprentice went beyond the teaching of a trade.
○Masters preferred to maintain the trade within the family by supervising and educating the younger family members.
○Masters who trained members of their own family as apprentices demanded excellence from them.
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答案
2. ○2
This is a Sentence Simplification question. As with all of these items, a single sentence in the passage is highlighted:
Apprentices were considered part of the family, and masters were responsible not only for teaching their apprentices a trade but also for providing them some education and for supervising their moral behavior.
The correct answer is choice 2. Choice 2 contains all of the essential information in the highlighted sentence. The highlighted sentence explains why (part of the family) and how (education, moral behavior) a master's responsibility went beyond teaching a trade. The essential information is the fact that the master's responsibility went beyond teaching a trade. Therefore, choice 2 contains all that is essential without changing the meaning of the highlighted sentence.
Choice 1 changes the meaning of the highlighted sentence b~ stating that masters often treated apprentices irresponsibly.
Choice 3 contradicts the essential meaning of the highlighted sentence. The fact that "Apprentices were considered part of the family . . . " suggests that they were not actual family members.
Choice 4, like choice 3, changes the meaning of the highlighted sentence by discussing family members as apprentices.
1815年以前，美國(guó)的制造業(yè)僅限于技術(shù)高超的工匠在自己家中和作坊中進(jìn)行生產(chǎn)。作為師傅，工匠們將自己的手藝傳授給徒弟和雇工。此外，婦女們?cè)诩抑型ǔＲ矔?huì)兼職從事一些生產(chǎn)活動(dòng)，將商業(yè)資本家提供的原料制成成品。1815年以后，這種古老的生產(chǎn)模式逐漸消失，雇傭沒(méi)有技術(shù)或半技術(shù)勞動(dòng)者的機(jī)械化工廠開始興起。廉價(jià)的交通運(yùn)輸網(wǎng)絡(luò)、城市的興起和資本借貸的可行性都促進(jìn)了制造業(yè)從手工作坊到工廠生產(chǎn)的轉(zhuǎn)變。
想要獲得適應(yīng)在工廠工作中勞動(dòng)力并不容易。在工廠興起之前，工匠們只是呆家里進(jìn)行生產(chǎn)，學(xué)徒們被視為家庭的一份子，師傅不光負(fù)責(zé)傳授他們手藝，還要教育并監(jiān)督他們的道德行為。雇工也明白如果他們的技藝足夠精湛，就會(huì)成為受人尊敬的工匠師傅并擁有自己的作坊。同時(shí)，老練的工匠師傅們并不會(huì)按照時(shí)間計(jì)劃安排生產(chǎn)，他們更習(xí)慣于時(shí)而閑暇，時(shí)而為了交單連夜趕工的生產(chǎn)方式。
工廠化生產(chǎn)改變了這一切。工廠生產(chǎn)的商品沒(méi)有手工制作的那么完美和精致，工廠要求工人們提高生產(chǎn)效率，導(dǎo)致工人們對(duì)自身技藝的自豪感逐漸弱化。工廠化生產(chǎn)方式要求工人們加強(qiáng)之前沒(méi)有的時(shí)間觀念，要求他們嚴(yán)格遵守工作時(shí)間的安排，鈴聲響起，工人們開始操控機(jī)器穩(wěn)速運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)。工人們?cè)谶m應(yīng)新的生產(chǎn)方式的同時(shí)，還要摒棄舊習(xí)慣。產(chǎn)業(yè)主義要求工人們具備機(jī)敏、可靠和自律的素質(zhì)。既然工廠生產(chǎn)已經(jīng)專業(yè)化，曠工與遲到就會(huì)降低勞動(dòng)生產(chǎn)率，也會(huì)影響工廠的正常運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)。工業(yè)化進(jìn)程不僅促成了一種工作組織形式的根本改變，而且改變了工作的本質(zhì)。
適應(yīng)新的生產(chǎn)方式對(duì)第一代經(jīng)歷產(chǎn)業(yè)革命的工人來(lái)說(shuō)是一件非常困難的事情。工廠的時(shí)鐘變成了新工作規(guī)定的象征。一名最終辭職的磨坊工人袒露真情地抱怨道：“讓我們聽從于叮叮當(dāng)當(dāng)?shù)溺姳恚?jiǎn)直就把我們當(dāng)成了活生生的機(jī)器。”工人們不僅喪失了人身自由，他們的社會(huì)地位也開始下降。和手工作坊里徒弟與監(jiān)督他們的師傅之間的密切工作關(guān)系不同，工廠將工人階層與管理層明顯地區(qū)分開。很少有工人能夠僭越等級(jí)被提升到管理層的崗位，甚至基本沒(méi)有人能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)身為工匠時(shí)的夢(mèng)想：經(jīng)營(yíng)自己的生意。那些待遇優(yōu)厚的工人也開始感到他們的社會(huì)地位在下降。
在這種新的經(jīng)濟(jì)秩序中，有時(shí)工人們會(huì)組織起來(lái)共同去保護(hù)他們的權(quán)利和傳統(tǒng)的生活方式。比如木匠、印刷工人和裁縫等技術(shù)工人成立了聯(lián)盟，并且，在1834年，各個(gè)獨(dú)立的聯(lián)盟組織成立了國(guó)家職工聯(lián)盟。在1837年大恐慌前之的十年中，工人運(yùn)動(dòng)取得了進(jìn)步，不過(guò)隨后而來(lái)的經(jīng)濟(jì)大蕭條最終導(dǎo)致了工人力量的瓦解。那段時(shí)間，很少有人愿意罷工或者參與工人運(yùn)動(dòng)。身為工人運(yùn)動(dòng)先鋒隊(duì)的技術(shù)工匠們，并沒(méi)有感到他們與半技術(shù)工人和非技術(shù)勞動(dòng)者之間有顯著密切的聯(lián)系。直到19世紀(jì)50年代，超過(guò)十年的抗?fàn)幾罱K使得大多數(shù)行業(yè)的工作時(shí)間縮短至10小時(shí)，法院也承認(rèn)了工人罷工的權(quán)利，但這些權(quán)利的影響并沒(méi)有立即顯現(xiàn)。
因?yàn)閷?duì)工業(yè)體系和他們社會(huì)地位喪失的不滿，工人們開始聯(lián)合起來(lái)，但他們內(nèi)部又被另外的因素分裂：民族和種族的敵對(duì)、性別差異、宗教信仰的沖突、職位差別、對(duì)不同政黨的忠誠(chéng)和工作策略的分歧等。對(duì)于工人們來(lái)說(shuō)，工廠和工業(yè)化不代表著機(jī)遇，卻時(shí)刻提醒著他們自身的喪失，并成為一種控制他們生活的手段。隨著美國(guó)社會(huì)生產(chǎn)變得更加專業(yè)化和差異化，更大規(guī)模的極端財(cái)富開始出現(xiàn)。并且由于新興市場(chǎng)只給少數(shù)人創(chuàng)造財(cái)富，工業(yè)體系不得不通過(guò)將勞動(dòng)分割成更小的、技術(shù)含量更低的工作來(lái)降低工人們的工資。
