The Industrial Age and Employment Employment became widespread when the enclosures of the 17th and 18th centuries made many people dependent on paid work by depriving them of the use of the land, and thus of the means to provide a living for themselves. Then the factory system destroyed the cottage industries and removed work from peoples homes. Later, as transport improved, first by rail and then by road, people commuted longer distances to their places of employment until, eventually, many peoples work lost all connection with their home lives and the places in which they lived. It was not only women whose work status suffered. As employment became the dominant form of work, young people and old people were excluded-a problem now, as more teenagers become frustrated at school and more retired people want to live active lives. 1. The established work patterns may be changed with the closing of the industrial age. 2. Universal employment has brought about economic freedom. 3. Many people depended on the land for a living before the 17th century. 4. Improved transport enabled people to travel longer distances to their work places. 5. Employed women of equal qualifications are paid less than men. 6. A large number of teenagers will quit school next year. 7. Now is the time to handle the issue of employment in a practical manner. 参考答案：A B A A C C A 1. 在第一段的第二句话The industrial age may now be coming to an end, and some of the changes in work patterns which it brought may have to be reversed.中，作者提到工业时代可能会结束，而且一些工作模式会发生变化。所以答案选择A。 3. 首先，大家要判断出这是道数字题，在文中找出17th century所在的位置，在第二段的开头指出在17世纪和18世纪的圈地运动时，工作就业变得普及。其暗含的意思是说，在这之前，人们还是靠种地生活，所以该题的答案选择A。 5. 在第三段和第四段中，文中提到了关于women 女性的问题，指出就业的出现，让女性处于不利地位，并没有提及问题中所说的雇佣女性做和男性一样的工作，但女性得到的报酬低于男性，所以答案选择C. 7. 在最后一段话中，作者在第一句话中说道All this may now have to change，现在这一切很可能要进行改变，所以由此推断出答案选择A。