2017年英语二 完形填空

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.

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 (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.

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.

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.