Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the first and second paragraphs?

Machines can sometimes add more purposes to jobs when they fail.

Technologies typically spread across entire roles, replacing workers in one go.

Potential demerits of introducing machines in the workplace have been recorded.

A cyber-security company caused technological faults on purpose when testing the software.

判断正误题。根据文章第一段 “Most white-collar workers looked miserably at their screens and realised just how useless they are if they cannot log in. People in IT came to the rescue of helpless colleagues and stranded passengers. Their work that day was full of stress—but also full of meaning. (大多数白领悲惨地盯着他们的屏幕，意识到如果无法登录，他们的工作将变得毫无意义。信息技术部门的人员前来解救那些无助的同事和被困的乘客。他们那天的工作充满了压力，但也充满了意义。)” 以及第二段 “If machines can add purpose to some jobs when they fail, what about when they work properly? (如果机器在出现故障时能给某些工作增添意义，那么当它们正常运转时又会怎样呢？)” 可知，有时候机器出现故障的时候，会给一些工作增添意义。故选A。

What’s the conclusion of Ms Nikolova’s research in industrial settings?

Workers feel more autonomous and in control when working with robots.

Machines reduce the sense of purpose in human workers’ jobs in reality.

Industrial robots replace human workers, eliminating their tasks and roles.

Automation facilitates manual labor, increasing the variety of tasks.

细节理解题。根据文章第三段 “A recent paper, from Milena Nikolova and Femke Cnossen looked at the prevalence of robots in industrial settings and how that affected workers. Robots reduced the perceived meaningfulness of jobs across the board, regardless of age, gender, skills and the type of work. In theory, machines can free up time for more interesting tasks; in practice, they seem to have had the opposite effect. (Milena Nikolova和Femke Cnossen撰写的一篇近期论文研究了工业环境中机器人的普及程度以及这对工人的影响。机器人普遍降低了工作的意义感，无论年龄、性别、技能水平和工作类型如何。理论上，机器可以腾出时间让人去做更有趣的任务；但实际上，它们似乎产生了相反的效果。)” 可知，Nikolova女士的研究表明，机器减少了人类工作者工作中的意义感。故选B。

We can infer from Barrett’s research that                 .

the introduction of robots leads to a decrease in job quality for all hospital staff

when robots are introduced, staff tend to feel more satisfied regardless of their roles

in the same department, workers in different positions can feel differently to automation

in some occupational areas, automation does constantly reduce the perceived meaningfulness

推理判断题。根据文章倒数第二段 “A paper from 2011 by Michael Barrett of the University of Cambridge found that the introduction of drug-dispensing robots into hospital pharmacies had different effects. Pharmacists felt the quality of their jobs had improved because they had more time for patient counselling. Pharmacy assistants had a more miserable time of it, however, as their role shrank to loading medicine into the machines. (剑桥大学的Michael Barrett于2011年发表的一篇论文发现，在医院药房引入药物分发机器人产生了不同的影响。药剂师觉得他们的工作质量提高了，因为他们有更多的时间为患者提供咨询。然而，药房助理的日子就不好过了，因为他们的职责缩减为往机器里装药。)” 可推测，即便都是在医院药房里工作，药剂师和药房助理的感受都不一样。故选C。

Which of the following studies will others in the last paragraph cite as their evidence?

A paper from Boris Nikolaev illustrates that many employees put a higher premium on non-monetary than monetary rewards.

Research by Pok Man Tang of the University of Georgia suggests that workers who interact more with AI assistants feel lonelier and long for more social contact.

A recent Federal Reserve discussion paper surveyed American workers who had switched jobs; they found that interest in the work mattered more to people than pay and benefits.

An experiment conducted by Eugina Leung states that a technology that cuts down on boring tasks is fine; one that threatens your sense of identity is not.

推理判断题。根据文章最后一段 “It is still too early to know how AI will affect the quality of work. Some will surely enjoy using a bot to brainstorm ideas and take care of boring tasks, while others may not. The thing for managers to remember is that machines can make employees feel differently about their work. So it matters whether new technologies are introduced in collaboration with employees or imposed from above, and whether they enhance or weaken their sense of competence. (目前还无法确定人工智能将如何影响工作质量。有些人肯定会喜欢使用机器人来集思广益和处理无聊的任务，而另一些人则可能不会。管理者要记住的一点是，机器会让员工对自己的工作产生不同的感受。因此，新技术是与员工合作引入还是从上面强加，以及它们是否增强了还是削弱了员工的胜任感，这些都是至关重要的。)” 可知，员工的胜任感是非常重要的。故选D。