① 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.
② 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
③ ____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.
④ 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.
⑤ 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.
1.1.
A boasting
B denying
C warning
D ensuring
解析：选C。1.C 考查动词辨析。根据上下文，学者、作家和活动家正在"警告"技术正在取代人类工人，与后文的负面预测相呼应。
2.2.
A inequality
B instability
C unreliability
D uncertainty
解析：选A。2.A 考查名词辨析。后文描述"少数富人拥有所有资本，大众在贫困中挣扎"，这体现的是"不平等"。
3.3.
A policy
B guideline
C resolution
D prediction
解析：选D。3.D 考查名词辨析。这是关于未来的另一种"预测"，与第一段的"想象"相呼应。
4.4.
A characterized
B divided
C balanced
D measured
解析：选A。4.A 考查非谓语动词。be characterized by是固定搭配，表示"以...为特征"。
5.5.
A wisdom
B meaning
C glory
D freedom
解析：选B。5.B 考查名词辨析。没有工作赋予生活"意义"，人们会变得懒惰和抑郁。
6.6.
A Instead
B Indeed
C Thus
D Nevertheless
解析：选B。6.B 考查状语从句（递进关系）。Indeed表示进一步强调，用当前失业者的状况来佐证前述观点。
7.7.
A rich
B urban
C working
D educated
解析：选C。7.C 考查形容词辨析。与失业者相对的是"在职"美国人，形成对比关系。
8.8.
A explanation
B requirement
C compensation
D substitute
解析：选A。8.A 考查名词辨析。对死亡率上升等现象的"解释"是缺乏高薪工作。
9.9.
A under
B beyond
C alongside
D among
解析：选D。9.D 考查介词辨析。问题出现"在"受教育程度低的中年人群"中"。
10.10.
A leave behind
B make up
C worry about
D set aside
解析：选C。10.C 考查动词短语。正因为看到当前问题，所以许多人"担心"无工作未来的痛苦乏味。
11.11.
A statistically
B occasionally
C necessarily
D economically
解析：选C。11.C 考查副词辨析。not necessarily表示"不一定"，这些发现不一定能推导出无工作世界必然充满不安。
12.12.
A chances
B downsides
C benefits
D principles
解析：选B。12.B 考查名词辨析。这种愿景是基于在就业型社会中失业的"弊端"。
13.13.
A absence
B height
C face
D course
解析：选A。13.A 考查名词辨析。in the absence of是固定搭配，表示"在缺乏...的情况下"。
14.14.
A disturb
B restore
C exclude
D yield
解析：选D。14.D 考查动词辨析。yield表示"产生"不同的情况，与different circumstances搭配。
15.15.
A model
B practice
C virtue
D hardship
解析：选C。15.C 考查名词辨析。此处指工作的"优点"可能被夸大，与后文许多工作的缺点形成对比。
16.16.
A tricky
B lengthy
C mysterious
D scarce
解析：选D。16.D 考查形容词辨析。scarce表示"稀缺"，与后文用空闲时间来平衡工作压力形成逻辑关系。
17.17.
A demands
B standards
C qualities
D threats
解析：选A。17.A 考查名词辨析。demands指工作的"要求"，人们用空闲时间来平衡工作中的智力情感要求。
18.18.
A ignored
B tired
C confused
D starved
解析：选B。18.B 考查形容词辨析。一天辛苦工作后感到"疲劳"是最符合逻辑的感受。
19.19.
A off
B against
C behind
D into
解析：选D。19.D 考查介词辨析。throw himself into是固定搭配，表示"投身于"某项活动。
20.20.
A technological
B professional
C educational
D interpersonal
解析：选B。20.B 考查形容词辨析。通常保留给"职业"事务的强度，与无工作世界形成对比。
