精美英文欣赏:美国 工作狂之乡(上)

America—Home to Workaholics

美国——工作狂之乡

It is pretty likely that you—or someone you know—is a workaholic.

很可能你是，或者你认识的人是个工作狂。

Workaholics live for their work, often spending many extra ours at work, and often taking work home to complete. Americans—live in a work-hard culture, but when work becomes the sole reason for a person's existence above more important things (such as family and friends), the issue becomes critical.

工作狂的生活围绕着他们的工作，经常加班，甚至会把工作带回家完成。美国人信奉努力工作，但是当工作变成个人存在的唯一理由，把工作看得比诸如家人和朋友更重要，对这些人来说工作就是一切。

Part of the matter is societal. Americans are working more hours per week than in years past, and with all the downsizings and consolidations and lack of replacement¹ hirings, more and more workers are putting in extra hours to complete the work previously² completed by others.

工作狂的部分是社会原因。现在的美国人比过去工作的时间增长。由于公司裁员，合并或者不能及时雇佣到替代人员，越来越多的员工都要花更多的时间完成本应该是其他同事的任务。

Some studies show that as many as 40 percent of workers don't even bother to take vacations, partly because of fears they may not have a job to come back to if they do.

一些研究表明超过40%的工作人员不敢考虑休假，部分原因是他们担心如果他们这么做了，等休假回来会失去工作。

Part of the matter is technological³. We live and work in a connected environment—e-mails, instant messaging, fax machines, and cell phones—making it hard for workers to truly get time away from their work.

还有部分的原因是技术。我们生活和工作在一个普遍联系的环境中，通过电子邮件、短消息、传真机和手机联系，这也使得工人很难真正远离他们的工作。

Part of the matter is financial. Whether it is how more and more of us mistakenly define⁴ success in terms of financial measures or the fact that many Americans simply must work multiple jobs to earn a living wage and keep their families out of poverty, we are working more and more for the financial results.

还有部分是经济原因。尽管越来越多的我们错误用经济衡量是否成功，并且简单地认为很多美国人要做多份工作，赚足够多的钱来让自己的生活远离贫困。我们越来越多地出于经济上的原因而努力工作。

1 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

4 define   

vt.解释，下定义，阐述，限定，规定

参考例句：

• Please define the words.请解释这些字的意义。
• It's hard to define exactly what has changed.很难解释清楚到底发生了什么变化。