What does the word they in “Or are they easing our workload?...

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                      Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed


   The battle between men and machines goes back centuries. Are they taking our jobs? Or are they easing our workload? A study by economists at the consultancy Deloitte seeks to shed new light on the relationship between jobs and the rise of technology by searching through census data for England and Wales going back to 1871. 

    Their conclusion is that, rather than destroying jobs, technology has been a “great job-creating machine”. Findings by Deloitte such as rise in bar staff since the 1950s or a surge in the number of hairdressers this century suggest to the authors that technology has increased spending power, therefore creating new demand and new jobs. Their study argues that the debate has been twisted towards the job-destroying effects of technological change, which are more easily observed than its creative aspects. 

      Going back over past  figures paints a more balanced picture, say authors Ian Stewart and Alex Cole. “The dominant trend is of contracting employment in agriculture and manufacturing being more than balanced by rapid growth in the caring, creative, technology and business services sectors,” they write. “Machines will take on more repetitive and laborious tasks, but they seem no closer to eliminating the need for human labor than at any time in the last 150 years.”

   According to the study, hard, dangerous and dull jobs have declined. In some sectors, technology has quite clearly cost jobs, but they question whether they are really jobs we would want to hold on to. Technology directly substitutes human muscle power and, in so doing, raises productivity and shrinks employment. “In the UK the first sector to feel this effect on any scale was agriculture,” says the study.

   The study also found out that ‘caring’ jobs have increased. The report cites a “profound shift”, with labor switching from its historic role, as a source of raw power, to the care, education and provision of services to others. Technological progress has cut the prices of essentials, such as food, and the price of bigger household items such as TVs and kitchen appliances, notes Stewart. That leaves more money to spend on leisure, and creates new demand and new jobs, which may explain the big rise in bar staff, he adds. “_______ the decline in the traditional pub, census data shows that the number of people employed in bars rose fourfold between 1951 and 2011,” the report says.

   The Deloitte economists believe that rising incomes have allowed consumers to spend more on personal services, such as grooming. That in turn has driven employment of hairdressers. So, while in 1871 there was one hairdresser or barber for every 1,793 citizens of England and Wales; today there is one for every 287 people.


                 (Adapted from: https://goo.gl/7V5vuw. Access: 02/02/2018.)

What does the word they in “Or are they easing our workload? “(paragraph 1) refer to?
Alternativas

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A alternativa correta é C - Machines.

Vamos entender o raciocínio por trás dessa resposta. A questão exige que o aluno identifique a referência da palavra they na frase “Or are they easing our workload?” do primeiro parágrafo. Para isso, é essencial que o aluno compreenda a estrutura do texto e o contexto em que essa frase está inserida.

No primeiro parágrafo, o texto discute a antiga batalha entre homens e máquinas. O autor questiona se as máquinas estão tomando nossos empregos ou facilitando nosso trabalho. Portanto, a palavra they está se referindo a machines (máquinas).

Vamos analisar as alternativas incorretas para esclarecer ainda mais:

A - Centuries: "Centuries" (séculos) não faz sentido no contexto, pois a frase está discutindo quem ou o quê está facilitando nosso trabalho, e séculos não poderiam desempenhar essa função.

B - Jobs: "Jobs" (empregos) também não se encaixa, já que empregos não podem facilitar a carga de trabalho, mas sim serem afetados pelo que está sendo discutido — no caso, as máquinas.

D - Men: "Men" (homens) não é a resposta correta, pois a frase contrapõe homens e máquinas, e o objetivo é descobrir se as máquinas estão facilitando o trabalho dos homens, e não se os homens estão facilitando seu próprio trabalho.

Portanto, a alternativa correta é C - Machines, pois a palavra they se refere às máquinas que estão sendo discutidas no contexto do parágrafo.

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O que significa a palavra "they" em “Or are they easing our workload?" (parágrafo 1)?

Traduzindo o parágrafo 1 temos:

A batalha entre homens e máquinas remonta a séculos. Elas estão tomando nossos empregos? Ou elas estão facilitando nossa carga de trabalho?

Dessa forma, vemos que a palavra "they", nesse caso pode ser traduzida como "elas" se referir às máquinas.

A) Incorreta - Centuries - séculos

B) Incorreta - Jobs = empregos

C) Correta - Machines = máquinas

D) Incorreta - Men = homens

Gabarito: C

The battle between men and machines goes back centuries. Are they taking our jobs? Or are they easing our workload?

(A batalha entre homens e máquinas remonta a séculos. Elas estão tirando nossos empregos? Ou elas estão facilitando nossa carga de trabalho?)

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