Jon Clark’s study of the effect of
the modernization of a telephone
exchange on exchange maintenance
work and workers is a solid contribution
(5) to a debate that encompasses two
lively issues in the history and sociol16
ogy of technology: technological
determinism and social constructivism.
Clark makes the point that the char-
(10) acteristics of a technology have a
decisive influence on job skills and
work organization. Put more strongly,
technology can be a primary determinant
of social and managerial organ-
(15) ization. Clark believes this possibility
has been obscured by the recent sociological
fashion, exemplified by
Braverman’s analysis, that emphasizes
the way machinery reflects social
(20) choices. For Braverman, the shape of
a technological system is subordinate
to the manager’s desire to wrest control
of the labor process from the
workers. Technological change is
(25) construed as the outcome of negotiations
among interested parties who
seek to incorporate their own interests
into the design and configuration of the
machinery. This position represents
(30) the new mainstream called social constructivism.
The constructivists gain acceptance
by misrepresenting technological determinism:
technological determinists are
(35) supposed to believe, for example, that
machinery imposes appropriate forms
of order on society. The alternative to
constructivism, in other words, is to
view technology as existing outside
(40) society, capable of directly influencing
skills and work organization.
Clark refutes the extremes of the
constructivists by both theoretical and
empirical arguments. Theoretically he
(45) defines “technology” in terms of relationships
between social and technical
variables. Attempts to reduce the
meaning of technology to cold, hard
metal are bound to fail, for machinery
(50) is just scrap unless it is organized
functionally and supported by appropriate
systems of operation and main17
tenance. At the empirical level Clark
shows how a change at the telephone
(55) exchange from maintenance-intensive
electromechanical switches to semielectronic
switching systems altered
work tasks, skills, training opportunities,
administration, and organization of
(60) workers. Some changes Clark attributes
to the particular way management
and labor unions negotiated the introduction
of the technology, whereas
others are seen as arising from the
(65) capabilities and nature of the technology
itself. Thus Clark helps answer
the question: “When is social choice
decisive and when are the concrete
characteristics of technology more
important?”
123. The information in the passage suggests that which
of the following statements from hypothetical
sociological studies of change in industry most clearly
exemplifies the social constructivists’ version of
technological determinism?
(A) It is the available technology that determines
workers’ skills, rather than workers’ skills
influencing the application of technology.
(B) All progress in industrial technology grows out
of a continuing negotiation between
technological possibility and human need.
(C) Some organizational change is caused by
people; some is caused by computer chips.
(D) Most major technological advances in industry
have been generated through research and
development.
(E) Some industrial technology eliminates jobs, but
educated workers can create whole new skills
areas by the adaptation of the technology.
Ans:A
Application
Th is question requires understanding diff erent
points of view discussed in the passage. In the
fi rst paragraph, the passage mentions the debate
involving technological determinism and social
constructivism. In the second and third
paragraphs, the passage uses Braverman’s analysis
to illustrate the social constructivists’ position and
in the third paragraph suggests that the
constructivists are misrepresenting technological
determinism
(lines 25–26). In lines 31–32, the
constructivists are reported to hold that
technological determinism views technology as
existing outside society, capable of directly infl uencing
Clark的观点: Clark makes the point that the char-
(10) acteristics of a technology have a
decisive influence on job skills and
work organization.
--> 科技会影响job skills and work organization
CS用来误解TD的观点：The alternative to
constructivism, in other words, is to
view technology as existing outside
(40) society, capable of directly influencing
skills and work organization(逻辑主语：technology). --> 科技的确会影响job skills and work organization，何来误解之说
