Passage One
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.
One of the great successes of the Republican Party in recent decades is the relentless propagation of a simple formula for economic growth: tax cuts.
The formula doesn't work, but that has not affected its popularity. And while the cult of tax cuts has attracted many critics, it lacks for obvious rivals.
Democratic politicians have tended to campaign on helping people left behind by economic growth. When Democrats do talk about encouraging economic growth, they often sound like Republicans.
This is not just a political problem for Democrats; it is an economic problem for the United States. The nation needs a better story about the drivers of economic growth. The painful lessons of recent decades point to a promising candidate: higher wages.
Raising the wages of American workers ought to be the priority of economic policymakers. We'd all be better off paying less attention to quarterly updates on the growth of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) and focusing instead on the growth of workers' paychecks.
Set aside, for the moment, the familiar argument for higher wages: fairness. The argument here is that higher wages can fuel the engine of economic growth.
Perhaps the most famous illustration of the benefits is the story of Henry Ford's decision in 1914 to pay $5a day to workers on his Model T assembly lines. He did it to increase production— he was paying a premium to maintain a reliable workforce. The unexpected benefit was that Ford's factory workers became Ford customers, too.
The same logic still holds: Consumption drives the American economy, and workers who are paid more can spend more.
Mainstream economists insist that it is impossible to order up a sustainable increase in wages because compensation levels reflect the unerring judgment of market forces.
The conventional wisdom held that productivity growth was the only route to higher wages. through that lens, efforts to negotiate higher wages were counterproductive. Minimum-wage laws would raise unemployment because there was only so much money in the wage pool, and if some people got more, others would get none.
It was in the context of this worldview that it became popular to argue that tax cuts would drive prosperity. Rich people would invest, productivity would increase, wages would rise.
In the real world, things are more complicated. Wages are influenced by a tug of war between employers and workers, and employers have been winning. One clear piece of evidence is the widening gap between productivity growth and wage growth since roughly 1970. Productivity has more than doubled; wages have lagged far behind.
A focus on wage growth would provide an antidote (矫正方法) to the attractive simplicity of the belief in the magical power of tax cuts.
46. Why does the formula of tax cuts remain popular though ineffective?
A) Its critics' voice has not been heard throughout the country.
B) There seem to be no other options available to replace it.
C) The cult of tax cuts has been relentlessly propagated by all policymakers.
D) There appears to be a misunderstanding of the formula among the public.
47. What does the author think is a more effective measure for driving economic growth in the U. S.?
A) Aiding people left behind by economic growth.
B) Prioritizing the growth of the nation's GDP.
C) Increasing the compensation for labor.
D) Introducing even more extensive tax cuts.
48. What is the logic underlying the author's viewpoint?
A) The growth of workers' paychecks ultimately boosts the nation's economy.
B) Paying a premium to maintain a reliable workforce attracts more customers.
C) Consumption stimulates the desire for higher wages.
D) Familiar arguments for higher wages are outdated.
49. What is the basis for higher wages according to the conventional wisdom?
A) Fairness in distribution.
B) Increase in productivity.
C) The priority of economic policymakers.
D) The unerring judgment of market forces.
50. What do we learn about things in the real world in America for the past 50 years or so?
A) People have failed to see a corresponding increase in wages and in productivity.
B) People have been disheartened by the widening gap between the haves and have-nots.
C) People have witnessed a tug of war between Republicans and Democrats over tax cuts.
D) People have seen the link disappearing between productivity and workers' well-being.
答案解析：
46. 由题干中的关键词 "popular though ineffective" 定位到第二段。第二段提到 "And while the cult of tax cuts has attracted many critics, it lacks for obvious rivals."，说明尽管减税的论调吸引了很多批评者，但它缺乏明显的竞争对手，所以选B。
47. 由题干中的关键词 "more effective measure" 定位到第四段和第五段。第四段提到 "The nation needs a better story about the drivers of economic growth. The painful lessons of recent decades point to a promising candidate: higher wages."，第五段接着说 "Raising the wages of American workers ought to be the priority"，说明作者认为提高工人工资是更有效的措施，所以选C。
48. 由题干中的关键词 "logic" 定位到第七段和第八段。第七段用亨利·福特的例子说明工人成为顾客，第八段总结道 "The same logic still holds: Consumption drives the American economy, and workers who are paid more can spend more."，说明作者的观点是：工人工资增长可以增加消费，从而推动经济增长，所以选A。
49. 由题干中的关键词 "conventional wisdom" 定位到第十段。第十段提到 "The conventional wisdom held that productivity growth was the only route to higher wages."，说明传统观点认为，生产率增长是提高工资的唯一途径，所以选B。
50. 由题干中的关键词 "real world" 和 "50 years" 定位到倒数第二段。这里提到 ，在显示世界中，情况更复杂，工资受到雇主和工人之间激烈竞争影响，而获胜的一直是雇主，随后说明一个具体论据：自1970年来，生产力增幅与工资增幅差距不断扩大，生产率增长了一倍多，而工资增长却远远落后，所以选A。
