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  3. Britain’s flexible labour market was a boon during the economic slump, helping keep joblessness down and then, when the recovery

Britain’s flexible labour market was a boon during the economic slump, helping keep joblessness down and then, when the recovery

admin2018-06-28  58
问题    Britain’s flexible labour market was a boon during the economic slump, helping keep joblessness down and then, when the recovery began, allowing employment to rise. Yet one of its bendier bits is causing politicians to fret. Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour Party, has promised a crackdown on "zero-hours contracts" if he wins the next election. The government has launched a consultation.
   Zero-hours contracts allow firms to employ workers for as few or as many hours as they need, with no prior notice. In theory, at least, people can refuse work. Fully 1. 4m jobs were based on these contracts in January 2014, according to the Office for National Statistics. That is just 4% of the total, but the share rises to a quarter in the hospitality business.
   The contracts are useful for firms with unstable patterns of demand, such as hotels and restaurants. They have also helped firms to expand during the recovery—allowing them to test new business lines before hiring permanent staff, who would be more costly to make redundant if things went wrong.
   Flexibility suits some workers, too. According to one survey, 47% of those employed on zero-hours contracts were content to have no minimum contracted hours. Many of these workers are in full-time education. The ability to turn down work is important to students, who want to revise at this time of year. Pensioners keen for a little extra income can often live with the uncertainty of not having guaranteed hours.
   Yet that leaves more than a quarter of workers on zero-hours contracts who say they are unhappy with their conditions. Some of this is cyclical. During recessions, a dearth of permanent positions forces people into jobs with no contracted hours even if they do not want them. Underemployment is particularly prevalent among these workers, 35% of whom would like more hours compared with 12% in other jobs. As the economy recovers, many should be able to renegotiate their contracts or find permanent jobs.
   But the recovery will not cause unwanted zero-hours contracts to disappear. Some workers will never have much negotiating power; they are constrained by geography, family commitments and lack of competition for their skills among a small number of big employers. Zero-hours contracts make it easier for employers to abuse their labour-market power. Some use them to avoid statutory obligations such as sick and maternity pay. Workers are penalised for not being available when requested. And some contracts contain exclusivity clauses which prevent workers from taking additional jobs. These can harm other employers as well as workers, and actually reduce labour market flexibility. That, at least, is worth doing away with.
Zero-hours contracts may allow employers to______.
选项 A、satisfy their need
B、violate legal provision
C、avoid legal punishment
D、fulfill their responsibility
答案B
解析 细节题。定位到最后一段第三至五行：Zero-hours contracts make it easier for employers to abuse their labour-market power．Some use them to avoid statutory obligations such as sick and maternity pay．其中zero-hours contracts为原词复现，make it easier for employers to=allow employers to；故答案来自to后面的内容，答案关键有两处，一是abuse their labour-market power“滥用劳动市场的权力”，二是to avoid statutory obligations“避开法定义务”。选项[A]satisfy their need“满足他们的需求”；[B]violate legal provision“违反法律规定”；[C]avoid legal punishment“避免法律惩罚”；[D]fulfill their responsibility“履行他们的义务”。与答案句最接近的选项为[B]，“违反法律规定”虽然不能完全等同，但比较接近“避开法定义务”。许多法定的义务如果我们刻意避免，本身就是一种违反。[B]虽然不算完美答案，但属于最佳答案。在答题过程中，我们在很大程度上都是寻找最佳答案。
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