2017年考研英语二完形填空原文翻译及答案解析

People have speculated for centuries about a future without work. Today is no different, with academics, writers, and activists once again ___1___ that technology is replacing human workers. Some imagine that the coming work-free world will be defined by ___2___: A few wealthy people will own all the capital, and the masses will struggle in an impoverished wasteland.

数百年来，人们一直在推测一个没有工作的未来。今天也不例外，学者、作家和活动家再次警告说，技术正在取代人类工人。一些人想象，即将到来的无工作世界将被不平等所定义：少数富人将拥有所有资本，而大众将在贫瘠的荒地中挣扎。

A different and not mutually exclusive ___3___ holds that the future will be a wasteland of a different sort, one ___4___ by purposelessness: Without jobs to give their lives ___5___, people will simply become lazy and depressed. ___6___, today's unemployed don't seem to be having a great time. One Gallup poll found that 20 percent of Americans who have been unemployed for at least a year report having depression, double the rate for ___7___ Americans. Also, some research suggests that the ___8___ for rising rates of mortality, mental-health problems, and addiction ___9___ poorly-educated, middle-aged people is a shortage of well-paid jobs. Perhaps this is why many ___10___ the agonizing dullness of a jobless future.

另一种并不互斥的预测认为，未来将是另一种荒地，其特征是缺乏目标感：没有工作来赋予生活意义，人们将变得懒惰和抑郁。确实，如今的失业者似乎过得并不好。一项盖洛普民意调查发现，至少失业一年的美国人中，20%报告患有抑郁症，是在职美国人的两倍。此外，一些研究表明，受教育程度低的中年人死亡率、心理健康问题和成瘾率上升的解释是缺乏高薪工作。或许这就是为什么许多人担忧无工作未来的痛苦无聊。

But it doesn't ___11___ follow from findings like these that a world without work would be filled with unease. Such visions are based on the ___12___ of being unemployed in a society built on the concept of employment. In the ___13___ of work, a society designed with other ends in mind could ___14___ strikingly different circumstances for the future of labor and leisure. Today, the ___15___ of work may be a bit overblown. “Many jobs are boring, degrading, unhealthy, and a waste of human potential,” says John Danaher, a lecturer at the National University of Ireland in Galway.

但这样的发现并不必然意味着一个没有工作的世界将充满不安。这些设想基于在建立在就业概念之上的社会中失业的负面影响。在没有工作的情况下，一个以其他目标为设计出发点的社会可能会为未来的劳动和休闲带来截然不同的境况。今天，工作的艰辛可能被夸大了一些。“许多工作无聊、有辱人格、不健康，并且浪费人类潜力，”爱尔兰国立大学戈尔韦分校的讲师约翰·达纳赫说。

These days, because leisure time is relatively ___16___ for most workers, people use their free time to counterbalance the intellectual and emotional ___17___ of their jobs. “When I come home from a hard day's work, I often feel ___18___,” Danaher says, adding, “In a world in which I don't have to work, I might feel rather different” — perhaps different enough to throw himself ___19___ a hobby or a passion project with the intensity usually reserved for ___20___ matters.

如今，由于大多数工人的闲暇时间相对较少，人们利用空闲时间来平衡工作的智力和情感需求。“当我辛苦工作一天回家时，我经常感到疲倦，”达纳赫说，并补充道，“在一个我不必工作的世界里，我可能会感觉大不相同”——也许不同到足以让他以通常用于人际事务的热情投入到一个爱好或激情项目中。