托福阅读背景之“unlimited vacation无限假期”

 　Like all-you-can-eat shrimp¹ or the right to consume candy and ice cream all day because your parents can’t stop you anymore, unlimited² vacation time isn't quite as fabulous³ as you might think.

　　就像自助餐吃大虾和随意吃糖果冰淇淋而没有父母唠叨一样，“无限假期”其实也没有你想的那么光鲜。

　　LinkedIn is the latest employer to offer what's known as "discretionary time off," or "DTO" in corporate⁴ HR-speak. Starting on Nov. 1, the job networking site’s approximately 6,000 US employees will be able to take as much time off as they want every year.

　　领英公司成为提供“自主休假”或者“DTO”的又一位雇主，他们刚在人力资源部的讲话中宣布此事。新政策自11月1日开始实行。领英是一个聚焦工作人际关系的网站，在全美境内约有6000名员工，他们今后将能按自己的意愿休年假。

　　Sort of.

　　差不多是这样。

　　“The purpose is to empower managers and employees,” Pat Wadors, LinkedIn’s chief human resource officer, told The Huffington Post. Employees are adults who don’t need to be micromanaged or wait to accrue⁵ vacation days after a designated period, she said.

　　领英现任首席人力资源官帕特·沃多尔表示“其目的就是授予经理和员工权力，”她向赫芬顿邮报如此说道。她称，雇员是成年人，他们不再需要被从头管到脚，也无需等到过完指定时间后再休年假。

　　But there are limits to the new policy. Workers can’t create an alternative work schedule, such as three-day weeks. They can’t take six months off. “That’s a leave of absence, not a vacation,” Wadors said. Employees need to work out their days off with their managers.

　　但新政策也有限制。员工们不能制定另类的工作时间表，比如一周只工作三天。他们也不能休六个月的假。“那是旷工，而非休假，”沃尔多表示。雇员们得和他们的经理协调好自己的假期。

　　It’s not really unlimited vacation, in other words. It's a tricky⁶ bit of push and pull, in which employees must figure out how much time to take off without overloading⁷ their own work schedules or those of their colleagues -- and still convince their bosses that they're devoted⁸ employees. Wadors said that LinkedIn managers know to offer feedback to employees so they don't feel insecure about what to do.

　　这并非实打实的“无限假期”，换句话说，这就是场拉锯战，员工必须盘算出休假的最佳长度，既要保证不让自己和同事超负荷工作，又得让上司相信自己是忠诚上进的员工。沃尔多透露道，领英的经理们会为自己的员工提供反馈，确保他们不会对如何休假感到不安。

　　The company joins a number of white-collar employers who give their workers the power to decide how much vacation to take, including General Electric Co., Netflix and Virgin⁹ Group.

　　和领英一样让自己员工“量体定假”的公司还有通用电气，Netflix和维珍集团。

　　The knock against unlimited vacation policies is that they may actually wind up pushing employees to take less vacation. Kickstarter last month dropped its unlimited vacation policy for this very reason. Now the crowdfunding company offers a generous 25 days of vacation a year.

　　无限假期的反效果就是到头来员工休的假反而更少。Kickstarter上个月就因为这个原因而放弃了无限假期政策。现在这个众筹公司每年为员工提供多达25天的假期。

　　Matt Yglesias even suggested in an article for Slate¹⁰ a few years ago that unlimited vacation is a sinister¹¹ plot cooked up by the overlords to passive-aggressively force people to work more. Employees will feel too insecure to actually take a vacation, he said. That seems a bit overwrought -- these policies do seem fairly well-intentioned.

　　马特·伊格雷西亚斯前几年曾为Slate杂志撰文指出：无限假期就是一项邪恶计划，目的就是为了变相偷偷强迫人们做更多的工作。他表示，员工们会对休假感到不安。这似乎有点想多了，因为这些政策的本意的确是好的。

　　The companies who put unlimited vacation policies in place say that they trust their workers. But in order for it to really work, employees must also trust their bosses.

　　践行“无限假期”政策的公司表示，他们信任自己的员工。但是为了保证这能真正有效，员工们也必须要相信自己的老板。

　　Generally speaking, Americans don’t take enough vacation. So, it doesn't hurt when bosses remind workers to take time off -- and take time off themselves. Even when companies specify¹² a set amount of time off, workers leave a lot of unused vacation days on the table. US workers don’t take about 40 percent of their available vacation time, according to one 2014 survey.

　　通常来说，美国人休的假都不够长。所以，老板提醒员工和自己去休假也没什么大不了。就算公司已经给他们设定好了休假的时间，员工每年都有很多假没休掉。2014年的一项调查显示，美国的员工们实际休假的时长，连规定假期的40%都不到。

　　Some employers are getting more creative about forcing workers out of the office: One startup actually gives workers $7,500 to take vacation. Other bosses send out email reminders¹³ to people to tell them to take time off. Evernote gives a $1,000 bonus to workers who take at least one full week off in a year, according to an article from the Society for Human Resource Management.

　　有些雇主为了让员工休假更是花样百出：一家初创公司拿出7500美金鼓励员工休假。有的老板则是给员工发邮件提醒他们该休假了。据人力资源管理协会的一篇文章报道，印象笔记公司给每位每年休假一周以上的员工1000美金的补贴。

　　Still, unlimited vacation is a pretty rare policy. Only about 1 percent of employers offer it, Society for Human Resource Management data shows. About 20 percent of workers in the private sector¹⁴ don’t have any paid vacation at all.

　　不过，人力资源管理协会数据显示，“无限假期”还是一项比较少见的福利。只有约1%的雇主提供这类政策。20%就职于私企的员工根本就没有带薪假期。

　　Vocabulary

　　discretionary: 自由决定的

　　accrue: 获得;积累

1 shrimp   

n.虾，小虾；矮小的人

参考例句：

• When the shrimp farm is built it will block the stream.一旦养虾场建起来，将会截断这条河流。
• When it comes to seafood,I like shrimp the best.说到海鲜，我最喜欢虾。

2 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

3 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

4 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

5 accrue   

v.(利息等)增大，增多

参考例句：

• Ability to think will accrue to you from good habits of study.思考能力将因良好的学习习惯而自然增强。
• Money deposited in banks will accrue to us with interest.钱存在银行，利息自生。

6 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

7 overloading   

过载，超载，过负载

参考例句：

• Enables multiple users to search the site without overloading the server. 使多个用户搜索网站，而无需超载的服务器上。
• The driver got stripped down again for overloading his trunk. 那位卡车司机因为超载又受到责备。

8 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

9 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

10 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

11 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

12 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

13 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

14 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。