For most of us, work is the central, dominating fact of life. We spend more than half our conscious hours at work, preparing for work, traveling to and from work. What we do there largely determines our standard of living and to a considerable extent the status we are accorded by our fellow citizens as well. It is sometimes said that because leisure has become more important the indignities and injustices of work can be pushed into a corner, that because most work is pretty intolerable, the people who do it should compensate for its boredom, frustrations and humiliations (羞耻) by concentrating their hopes on the other parts of their lives. I reject that as a counsel of despair. For the foreseeable future the material and psychological rewards which work can provide, and the conditions in which work is done, will continue to play a vital part in determining the satisfaction that life can offer. Yet only small minority can control the pace at which they work or the conditions in which their work is done; only for a small minority does work offer scope for creativity, imagination, or initiative. Inequality (不平等) at work and in work is still one of the cruelest and most glaring forms of inequality in our society. We cannot hope to solve the more obvious problems of industrial life, many of which arise directly or indirectly from the frustrations created by inequality at work, unless we tackle it head-on (迎面地). Still less can we hope to create a decent and humane society. The most glaring inequality is that between managers and the rest. For most managers, work is an opportunity and a challenge. Their jobs engage their interest and allow them develop their abilities. They are constantly learning; they are able to exercise responsibility; they have a considerable degree of control over their own—and others'—working lives. Most important of all, they have opportunity to initiate. By contrast, for most manual workers, and for a growing number of white-collar workers, work is a boring, dull even painful experience. They spend all their working lives in conditions which would be regarded as intolerable for themselves—by those who make the decisions which let such conditions continue. The majority has little control over their work; it provides them with no opportunity for personal development. Often production is so designed that workers are simply part of the technology. In offices, many jobs are so routine that workers justifiably feel themselves to be mere cogs in the bureaucratic (官僚的) machine. As a direct consequence of their work experience, many workers feel alienated from their work and their firm, whether it is in public or in private ownership.1 The importance of work lies in the fact that ____ .A it becomes a measurement of people's living standardB the pay from work satisfies our need for materialsC it is a typical life style in an industrial societyD it is the only way for others to judge our social status2 How does the author think of the value of work?A The psychological reward is less important than before.B The material reward is greater than that of psyne.C It is no longer important to people's life.D It's still of great importance to people's life.3 According to the passage, only a small number of people ____ .A dominate all the important positions of a company or an organizationB allocate the psychological reward to most employees in a companyC have access to a higher position and a satisfying salary in a companyD have the right to enjoy the creative and other positive aspects of work4 It can be inferred that to solve problems in an industrial society, we ____ .A should create more working opportunities for the poorB have to eliminate the unequal aspects in workC had better cancel all managing positions in a companyD should turn to individual employment and work at home5 Compared with a manager, workers ____ .A don't have any right to criticize the managementB lack the equal chances of satisfaction from the workutine work without any rewardD can make a better living in a governmental organization