IV.阅读理解。认真阅读下列两篇短文，每篇短文后有5个问题。根据短文的内容从ABCD四个选项中，选择一个正确答案，并在答题纸上写上所选答案的字母。(本大题共10小题，每小题1分，共10分。)

Read the two passages and answer the questions. (10 points)

Passage 1

A century ago, the overwhelming majority of people in developing countries worked with their hands: on farms, in domestic service, in small craft shops and ( at that time still a small minority) in factories. Fifty years later, the proportion of manual workers in the American labor force had dropped to around half, and factory workers had become the largest single section of the workforce, making up 35% of the total. Now, another 50 years later, fewer than a quarter of American workers make their living from manual jobs. Factory workers still account for the majority of the manual workers, but their share of the total workforce is down to around 15%--more or less back to what it had been 100 years earlier.

Of all the big developed countries, America now has the smallest proportion of factory workers in its labor force. Britain is not far behind. In Japan and Germany, their share is still around a quarter, but it is shrinking steadily. To some extent this is a matter of definition. Data-processing employees or a manufacturing firm, such as the Ford Motor Company, are counted as employed in manufacturing, but when Ford out-sources its data processing, the same people doing exactly the same work are instantly redefined as service workers. However, too much should be made of this. Many studies in manufacturing businesses have shown that the decline in the number of people who actually work in the plant is roughly the same as the shrinkage reported in the national figures.

51. The proportion of factory workers in the workforce a century ago was around-------------

A. 15% B. 50% C. 35% d. 85%

52. It can be inferred from this passage that-------------------

A. most people in developed countries work with their hands.

B. workers in American manufacturing are not defined manual workers.

C. There are actually fewer factory workers in American industry than has not been reported.

D. The proportion of factory workers is seen as a measure of a nation’s economy.

53. The number of factory workers in other developed countries--------------.

A. is on the rise B. is decreasing gradually

C. has remained unchanged D. will surpass that of farm laborers

54. “Service workers” ( in line 8, paragraph 2) most probably refers to--------------.

A. manual workers in factories

B. those who make their living other than by manual work

C. farm laborers D. craftsmen in workshops

55. Which of the following statements best summarized the main idea of the passage?

A. Manual workers’ contribution to capitalist development

B. Today’s conditions for American factory workers

C. Evolutions in labor force over a century in developed countries

D. Working people in developed countries