GMAT阅读文章《服务业的定义》深度分析

蘧凤东

　　阅读建议：
　　1）
北京新东方建议读者先按自己的节奏阅读文章并做完题目，再看文章分析及题目讲解。
　　文章及题目：
　　In 1988 services moved ahead of manufacturing as the main product of the United States economy. But what is meant by “services”？ Some economists define a service as something that is produced and consumed simultaneously， for example， a haircut. The broader， classical definition is that a service is an intangible something that cannot be touched or stored. Yet electric utilities can store energy， and computer programmers save information electronically. Thus， the classical definition is hard to sustain.
　　The United States government's definition is more practical： services are the residual category that includes everything that is not agriculture or industry. Under this definition， services includes activities as diverse as engineering and driving a bus. However， besides lacking a strong conceptual framework， this definition fails to recognize the distinction between service industries and service occupations. It categorizes workers based on their company's final product rather than on the actual work the employees perform. Thus， the many service workers employed by manufacturers - bookkeepers or janitors， for example-would fall under the industrial rather than the services category. Such ambiguities reveal the arbitrariness of this definition and suggest that， although practical for government purposes， it does not accurately reflect the composition of the Current United States' economy.
　　1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with
　　(A) Discussing research data underlying several definitions
　　(B) Arguing for the adoption of a particular definition
　　(C) Exploring definitions of a concept
　　(D) Comparing the advantages of several definitions
　　(E) Clarifying some ambiguous definitions
　　2. In comparing the United States government's definition of services with the classical definition， the author suggests that the classical definition is
　　(A) More pragmatic
　　(B) More difficult to apply
　　(C) Less ambiguous
　　(D) More widely used
　　(E) More arbitrary
　　3. The passage suggests which of the following about service workers in the United States？
　　(A) The number of service workers may be underestimated by the definition of services used by the government.
　　(B) There were fewer service workers than agricultural workers before 1988.
　　(C) The number of service workers was almost equal to the number of workers employed in manufacturing until 1988.
　　(D) Most service workers are employed in service occupations rather than in service industries.
　　(E) Most service workers are employed in occupations where they provide services that do not fall under the classical definition of services.
　　4. The author of the passage mentions which of the following as one disadvantage of the United States government's definition of services？
　　(A) It is less useful than the other definitions mentioned in the passage.
　　(B) It is narrower in scope than the other definitions mentioned in the passage.
　　(C) It is based on the final product produced rather than on the type of work performed.
　　(D) It does not recognize the diversity of occupations within the service industries.
　　(E) It misclassifies many workers who are employed in service industries.
　　5. The author refers to “service workers employed by manufacturers” (line 23) primarily in order to point out
　　(A) A type of worker not covered by the United States government's system of classifying occupations
　　(B) A flaw in the United States government's definition of services
　　(C) A factor that has influenced the growth of the service economy in the United States
　　(D) A type of worker who is classified on the basis of work performed rather than on the basis of the company's final product
　　(E) The diversity of the workers who are referred to as service workers
　　1. 文章初读：（只读各段首句）
　　第一段首句：
　　In 1988 services moved ahead of manufacturing as the main product of the United States economy.|
　　翻译：1988年服务业超过制造业成为美国经济的主要产物。
　　评：给出了文章的大背景，即1988年美国的服务业超过制造业成为美国经济的主要产物，说明了服务业的地位，为引出下文做铺垫。
　　第二段首句：
　　The United States government's definition is more practical： services are the residual category that includes everything that is not agriculture or industry.
　　翻译：美国政府的定义更加实用：服务业包括除农业和工业外的所有范畴。
　　评：这是个带有冒号的句子，我们从课上已经知道冒号前后两部分的重要性不一样：短的部分更重要。在本句中即冒号前的部分，特别要注意“more practical”，我们可以合理推测，US政府的定义一定是和前文提到的其它某个定义相比更加实际。果然第一段最后一句写的是关于service的classical definition比较难以使用（“hard to sustain”）。总结一下，这是一种“Smart Reading”的方法，通过文中的逻辑关系词（转折、因果、举例、对比），来推测文章的逻辑脉络以及文意走向，从而达到“快速把握文章脉络、读懂文章大意”的终极目标。
　　2. 文章精读（精读各句，把握逻辑关系）
　　第一段：（标记重要逻辑关系词及态度评价词）
　　In 1988 services moved ahead of manufacturing as the main product of the United States economy. But what is meant by “services”？ Some economists define a service as something that is produced and consumed simultaneously， for example， a haircut. The broader， classical definition is that a service is an intangible something that cannot be touched or stored. Yet electric utilities can store energy， and computer programmers save information electronically. Thus， the classical definition is hard to sustain.
　　翻译：　服务业在1988年超过制造业成为美国经济的主要产物。但是“服务业”意味着什么？一些经济学家将一项服务定义为同时被生产和消费的东西，比如说剪发。更广义的经典的定义是服务是指无形的触碰不到也储存不了的东西。然而电力设备可以存储能量，计算机程序电子保存信息。因此，经典定义难以维持（难以使用）。
　　第二段：（标记重要逻辑关系词及态度评价词）
　　The United States government's definition is more practical： services are the residual category that includes everything that is not agriculture or industry. Under this definition， services includes activities as diverse as engineering and driving a bus. However， besides lacking a strong conceptual framework， this definition fails to recognize the distinction between service industries and service occupations. It categorizes workers based on their company's final product rather than on the actual work the employees perform. Thus， the many service workers employed by manufacturers - bookkeepers or janitors， for example-would fall under the industrial rather than the services category. Such ambiguities reveal the arbitrariness of this definition and suggest that， although practical for government purposes， it does not accurately reflect the composition of the Current United States' economy.
　　翻译：　美国政府的定义更加实用：服务业包括除农业和工业外的所有范畴。在这个定义下，服务性工作包括的活动宽泛到诸如设计制造和当巴士司机。然而，除了缺乏一个牢固的概念框架，这个定义还没有意识到服务行业和服务职业的区别。它根据工人所在公司的最终产品而非工人实际所做的工作来对工人进行分类。因此许多被制造商雇佣的服务工人（如图书管理员或者门卫）将被归于工业而非服务业范畴。这种模棱两可的情况反映出这个定义的武断，并且意味着，尽管从政府的目的来看这个定义很实用，但它并没有精确反应当今美国经济的真实组成。
　　读完文章后，可做如下笔记，整理各句大意及句间关系：
　　Def of service
　　Some econ.： make & sell at the same time、
　　Broader classic def： cannot be touched or stored
　　Yet， flawed
　　US gov.： more practical
　　However， fails
　　prod. > work
　　so， serv.→indus.
　　amb=arb=inaccurate reflect
　　3. 做题：
　　1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with
　　(A) Discussing research data underlying several definitions
　　(B) Arguing for the adoption of a particular definition
　　(C) Exploring definitions of a concept
　　(D) Comparing the advantages of several definitions
　　(E) Clarifying some ambiguous definitions
　　评：　1) 主旨题：正确答案为(C)。寻找文章主旨需要关注文章套路。本文第一段首提出关于services含义的问题，接着给出三种定义，并且对于这三种定义的态度都是负态度。所以，这是描述型文章，文章主旨为负态度或无态度。
　　2) 错项分析：　(A)： 无中生有：文章没有呈现研究数据。
　　(B)： “argue for”是正态度词汇，不符合文章主旨态度，排除。
　　(D)： 主旨题中，首词为compare、demonstrate、make a case的选项首先排除，因为，对比和举例只是手段，而非目的。
　　(E)： “clarify”是正态度词汇，不符合文章主旨态度，排除。
　　2. In comparing the United States government's definition of services with the classical definition， the author suggests that the classical definition is
　　(A) More pragmatic
　　(B) More difficult to apply
　　(C) Less ambiguous
　　(D) More widely used
　　(E) More arbitrary
　　评：　1) 间接细节题（取非题）：正确答案为(B)。第二段首句指出，美国政府的定义更加实用--是与经典定义相比更实用。言外之意就是经典定义不如美国政府的定义实用。
　　2) 错项分析：
　　(A)： 与文意相反：原文说美国政府定义更实用，而非经典定义更加实用。
　　(C)： 混淆文意：ambiguous是美国政府定义的问题，而不是用来比较美国政府定义和经典定义的。
　　(D)： 混淆文意：more widely used对应文中的broader，是第一种定义和经典定义间的比较，而非美国政府定义和经典定义间的比较。
　　(E)： 混淆文意：arbitrary是美国政府定义的问题，而不是用来比较美国政府定义和经典定义的。
　　3. The passage suggests which of the following about service workers in the United States？
　　(A) The number of service workers may be underestimated by the definition of services used by the government.
　　(B) There were fewer service workers than agricultural workers before 1988.
　　(C) The number of service workers was almost equal to the number of workers employed in manufacturing until 1988.
　　(D) Most service workers are employed in service occupations rather than in service industries.
　　(E) Most service workers are employed in occupations where they provide services that do not fall under the classical definition of services.
　　评：　1) 间接细节题（推断题）：正确答案为(A)。根据原文第22至26行，美国政府定义存在问题，问题的后果是很多被制造业企业所雇用的服务性员工会被归类到工业中，而不是服务业中。因此可以合理推断出，按照美国政府这个定义，service workers的数量确实可能被低估。
　　2) 错项分析：
　　(B)： 无中生有：文章没有提到1988年前服务业工作者和农业工作者的数量孰多孰少。
　　(C)： 无中生有：文章没有提到1988年前服务业工作者和工业工作者的数量孰多孰少。
　　(D)： 无中生有：文章没有说大部分服务业工作者从事于服务职业而非服务行业。most属于绝对化信息，文中并没有绝对化信息与之对应，故排除。
　　(E)： 无中生有：文章没有给出类似信息。most属于绝对化信息，文中并没有绝对化信息与之对应，故排除。
　　4. The author of the passage mentions which of the following as one disadvantage of the United States government's definition of services？
　　(A) It is less useful than the other definitions mentioned in the passage.
　　(B) It is narrower in scope than the other definitions mentioned in the passage.
　　(C) It is based on the final product produced rather than on the type of work performed.
　　(D) It does not recognize the diversity of occupations within the service industries.
　　(E) It misclassifies many workers who are employed in service industries.
　　评：1) 直接细节题：正确答案为(C)。根据题干定位至原文第20至22行： the government's definition fails because it categorizes workers based on their company's final product rather than on the actual work the employees perform.直接选到同义转述(C)选项。
　　2) 错项分析：　(A)： 与文意相反：作者说美国政府定义的是更实用的。
　　(B)： 混淆文意：选项中narrower in scope对应着文中的broader，说的是经典定义比第一种定义更广泛，不是说美国政府定义。
　　(D)： 无中生有：原文并没有讨论服务业中职业多样性的问题。
　　(E)： 与文意相反：文中说美国政府定义是misclassify了很多工业界中的服务工作者，而非服务业中的。
　　5. The author refers to “service workers employed by manufacturers” (line 23) primarily in order to point out
　　(A) A type of worker not covered by the United States government's system of classifying occupations
　　(B) A flaw in the United States government's definition of services
　　(C) A factor that has influenced the growth of the service economy in the United States
　　(D) A type of worker who is classified on the basis of work performed rather than on the basis of the company's final product
　　(E) The diversity of the workers who are referred to as service workers
　　评： 1) 手段目的题：正确答案为(B)。作者用service workers employed by manufacturers来说明政府定义的一个缺陷：不能区分service industries和service occupations的差异。
　　2) 错项分析：　(A)： 无中生有：文中没有提到美国政府的职业分类系统。
　　(C)： 无中生有：文章开头提到了服务业的增长，并没有探究其增长的原因。
　　(D)： 与文意相反：文章说受雇于制造业的服务工人被错误地分类，这种分类是按照其所在公司的最终产品而不是工人本人所做工作进行。选项刚好与原文相反。
　　(E)： 无中生有：没有提到工人多样性。