经济学人:巴托比专栏: 休息一会(2)

 At some point after the war Europeans decided¹ to take more time off, while Americans opted² (or were persuaded) to keep their shoulders to the wheel for longer. 战后的某时刻，欧洲人决定休息更长时间，而美国人选择（或被说服）奋力拼搏更长时间。

A survey by Project Time Off found that the main reason why Americans are reluctant to take all their vacation is fear of being replaceable. Project Time Off的一项调查发现美国人不愿意休完所有假期的主要原因是害怕被替换掉。

Other factors are heavy workloads³ and lack of cover from fellow employees. 其他因素有工作繁重以及没有同事可以顶他们的班。

One useful feature of public holidays is that workers worry less about bunking⁴ off if everyone else does the same. 公共假期的一个有益特点是如果其他所有人都做一样的工作，那么他们就不用太担心早退的影响。

Forgoing⁵ holiday time does not always please the boss. 放弃假期并不总能取悦老板。

A study by the Harvard Business Review in 2016 found that those who took 11 or more days off a year 《哈佛商业评论》2016年的一项研究发现一年休假11天或更长时间的员工

were almost twice as likely to get a raise or a bonus as those who took ten days off or fewer 与那些一年少休10天或更多的员工相比，前者加薪和拿到奖金的可能性是后者的近两倍

(although the causation could be the other way around; star workers may feel they can afford to take a break). （虽然因果关系可能正好相反；明星员工或许觉得他们可以休息一会）。

Nor do extra hours automatically lead to higher productivity. An analysis of figures from the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, 加班也不一定有更高产出。富裕国家的俱乐部OECD2013年的一项数据分析发现

in 2013 found a negative correlation⁶ between GDP per hour and the number of hours worked across member countries. 每小时的GDP和成员国工作时长之间呈负相关。

Again, the causation is unclear—workers in richer nations may feel they can take more time off. But there is plenty of other evidence. 其中因果关系仍不明确—富裕国家的员工或许会觉得他们休息天数可以更长。但还有很多其他证据。

A study of munitions⁷ workers in the first world war found that their output per hour tended to decline once they spent over 50 hours a week toiling⁸. 对一战军火工人的研究发现一周工作时长一旦超过50小时，他们每小时的产出就会下降。

The Institute for Employment Studies in Britain reviewed academic research on the subject 英国劳动研究所对该主题的学术研究进行评估

and concluded that "long hours working (more than 48 hours a week) was associated with (but was not proved to cause) various negative effects, 并总结到“工作时长（每周超过48小时）和各种负面影响相联系（但这种因果关系未得到证实），

such as decreased productivity, poor performance, health problems, and lower employee motivation." 比如效率下降、工作表现不佳、健康问题和较低的员工激励。”

The danger is that long hours simply lead to wasted effort. C. Northcote Parkinson, a management theorist, wrote that "work expands to fill the time available". 危险之处在于长时间的工作会导致事倍功半。管理理论家诺思科特·帕金森写到“工作会扩张到占满所有可用时间”。

Every editor knows that many journalists only deliver their articles when the deadline is imminent⁹. 每位编辑都知道很多记者都是在临近截止日期的时候才交稿子。

Workers may be staring at their computers, but how many have disappeared down the rabbit hole of Twitter spats¹⁰? 员工们可能会盯着他们的电脑，但有多少人已经迷失在了推特口水战中？

The modern world is supposedly moving in a direction where routine tasks are automated¹¹, leaving the more creative processes to the humans. 现代世界可能正朝着这样一个方向前进—日常任务自动化，更加创造性的工作由人类处理。

And humans are undoubtedly¹² more creative when they are not feeling tired or jaded¹³. 毫无疑问，人们在感觉不疲惫的时候会更具创造力。

So enjoy the break, American workers, and maybe take the next week off as well. 所以享受假期吧，美国员工们，或者下周再休息一周。

 

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

3 workloads   

（某一人或组织）工作量，工作负担( workload的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Project management software can provide such visibility into everyone's skills and workloads. 项目管理软件可以提供这样的能见度到每个人的技能和工作量。
• Doctors have complained of heavy workloads. 医生投诉工作越来越繁重。

4 bunking   

v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的现在分词 )；空话，废话

参考例句：

• A tacit friendship had developed between them since they had been bunking together. 他们俩自从睡在一个帐篷里以来，彼此之间已悄然结下了友谊。 来自辞典例句
• Bunking the tube was easy on the outward journey. 外出旅游期间，睡在睡袋里是件很容易的事情。 来自互联网

5 forgoing   

v.没有也行，放弃( forgo的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Everything, in short, is produced at the expense of forgoing something else. 总之，每一种东西的生产，都得以牺牲放弃某些其他东西为代价。 来自互联网
• These aren't the only ones forgoing the morning repast, of course. 当然，他们并不是放弃早餐的唯一几个。 来自互联网

6 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

7 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

8 toiling   

长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉

参考例句：

• The fiery orator contrasted the idle rich with the toiling working classes. 这位激昂的演说家把无所事事的富人同终日辛劳的工人阶级进行了对比。
• She felt like a beetle toiling in the dust. She was filled with repulsion. 她觉得自己像只甲虫在地里挣扎，心中涌满愤恨。

9 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

10 spats   

n.口角( spat的名词复数 )；小争吵；鞋罩；鞋套v.spit的过去式和过去分词( spat的第三人称单数 )；口角；小争吵；鞋罩

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid that removes grease spats. 汽油是一种能脱去油迹的有溶解能力的液体。 来自辞典例句
• Then spats took a catnap, and the bird looked out for dogs. 然后斯派茨小睡了一会儿。小鸟为它站岗放哨，防止狗跑过来。 来自互联网

11 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

12 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

13 jaded   

adj.精疲力竭的；厌倦的；（因过饱或过多而）腻烦的；迟钝的

参考例句：

• I felt terribly jaded after working all weekend. 整个周末工作之后我感到疲惫不堪。
• Here is a dish that will revive jaded palates. 这道菜简直可以恢复迟钝的味觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》