Passage 18(黑人題型之我幾乎全錯)(敘述類型文章)
When A. Philip Randolph assumed the leadership of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, he began a ten-year battle to win recognition from the Pullman Company, the largest private employer of Black people (訊號字) in the United States and the company that controlled the railroad industry’s sleeping car and parlor service. In 1935 the Brotherhood became the first Black union recognized by a major corporation. Randolph’s efforts in the battle helped transform the attitude of Black workers toward unions and toward themselves as an identifiable group; eventually, Randolph helped to weaken organized labor’s antagonism(敵對) toward Black workers.
第一段:介紹R先生,是第一個努力幫助黑人工作者參與工會的人,而且還降低公司對黑人的敵隊情緒
In the Pullman contest(對抗) Randolph faced formidable obstacles. The first was Black workers’ understandable skepticism(懷疑) toward unions, which had historically barred Black workers from membership. An additional obstacle was the union that Pullman itself had formed, which weakened support among Black workers for an independent entity.
第二段:進一步介紹R先生奮鬥的故事,以及當時黑人工作者面臨的困難有二,一是黑人本身的懷疑,第二則是Pull這家公司本身的公會,他不支持黑人籌組工會,要一個獨立的公會
The Brotherhood possessed a number of advantages, however, including Randolph’s own tactical abilities. In 1928 he took the bold step of threatening a strike against Pullman. Such a threat, on a national scale, under Black leadership, helped replace the stereotype of the Black worker as servant with the image of the Black worker as wage earner(打破當時的環境背景,其實黑人不是僕人而是自力賺錢的人). In addition, the porters’ very isolation aided the Brotherhood. Porters were scattered(分布在) throughout the country, sleeping in dormitories in Black communities; their segregated life protected the union’s internal communications from interception(不被半途破壞). That the porters were a homogeneous(同類組成的) group working for a single employer with single labor policy, thus sharing the same grievances(委屈) from city to city, also strengthened the Brotherhood and encouraged racial identity and solidarity(團結) as well. But it was only in the early 1930’s that federal legislation prohibiting a company from maintaining its own unions with company money eventually allowed the Brotherhood to become recognized as the porters’ representative(一直到30年初期,才不准用公司自己的錢成立工會).
第三段:講完第二段的兩大劣勢,作者在第三段講這個組織的優勢,包括一次威脅性的罷工,以及打破傳統黑人只是僕人的觀念,加上黑人分布全國,讓黑人更加團結Not content with this triumph(省略修飾片語:不滿這次勝利), Randolph brought the Brotherhood into the American Federation of Labor, where it became the equal of the Federation’s 105 other unions. He reasoned that as a member union, the Brotherhood would be in a better position to exert pressure on member unions that practiced race restrictions. Such restrictions were eventually found unconstitutional(違憲) in 1944.
第四段講P先生不停止的努力,終於使race restriction to be unconstitutional...
*107. According to the passage, by 1935 the skepticism of Black workers toward unions was
(A) unchanged except among Black employees of railroad-related industries.
(B) reinforced by the actions of the Pullman Company’s union
(C) mitigated(緩和) by the efforts of Randolph
(D) weakened by the opening up of many unions to Black workers.
(E) largely alleviated because of the policies of the American Federation of Labor.
答案是C
*108. In using the word “understandable” (line 14), the author most clearly conveys
(A) sympathy with attempts by the Brotherhood between 1925 and 1935 to establish an independent union.
(B) concern that the obstacles faced by Randolph between 1925 and 1935 were indeed formidable
(C) ambivalence about the significance of unions to most Black workers in the 1920’s.
(D) appreciation of the attitude of many Black workers in the 1920’s toward unions.
(E) regret at the historical attitude of unions toward Black workers.
答案是D
*109. The passage suggests which of the following about the response of porters to the Pullman Company’s own union?
(A) Few porters ever joined this union.
(B) Some porters supported this union before 1935.
(C) Porters, more than other Pullman employees, enthusiastically supported this union.
(D) The porters’ response was most positive after 1935.
(E) The porters’ response was unaffected by the general skepticism of Black workers concerning unions.
答案給B,回到第二段後段去看
*110. The passage suggests that if the grievances of porters in one part of the United States had been different from those of porters in another part of the country, which of the following would have been the case?(A) It would have been more difficult for the Pullman Company to have had a single labor policy.
(B) It would have been more difficult for the Brotherhood to control its channels of communication.
(C) It would have been more difficult for the Brotherhood to build its membership.
(D) It would have been easier for the Pullman Company’s union to attract membership.
(E) It would have been easier for the Brotherhood to threaten strikes.
答案給C,難題,小心
111. The passage suggests that in the 1920’s a company in the United States was able to
(A) use its own funds to set up a union
(B) require its employees to join the company’s own union
(C) develop a single labor policy for all its employees with little employee dissent.
(D) pressure its employees to contribute money to maintain the company’s own union
(E) use its resources to prevent the passage of federal legislation that would have facilitated the formation of independent unions.
*112. The passage supplies information concerning which of the following matters related to Randolph?
(A) The steps he took to initiate the founding of the Brotherhood
(B) His motivation for bringing the Brotherhood into the American Federation of Labor
(C) The influence he had on the passage of legislation overturning race restrictions in 1944
(D) The influence he had on the passage of legislation to bar companies from financing their own unions
(E) The success he and the Brotherhood had in influencing the policies of the other unions in the American Federation of Labor
答案是B,就是看Randolph這個人的動機,也是暗示本題是敘述類型文章,沒有態度的