UNIT 10 Do They Save Time or Waste Time?
Integrated Skills Development
Passage Overload: More Time Is Less Time
So you think you have some of the good things in life. You've got a video tape recorder and a device that answers the phone for you. And there's a gadget that turns off the lights when you're out. How about the electric knife, the coffee maker, the ice maker?
Feel good about having all that stuff? Or do you wonder whether the gadgets are running you instead of you them?
Americans apparently feel more hurried than ever these days. Part of the reason is trying to keep up with the demands on their time to purchase, store, service, repair, replace, and protect all those "time saving" machines. Add to them the problems of the extra car and the bigger house. And there's the RV parked on the side lawn. "Americans are eating up their leisure time by overloading themselves with all kinds of gadgets..." So says one expert in marketing.
The downfall of lots of homes is trying to keep up with all the things that go wrong. There's the time spent to call repair people. Next we must wait for them to show up. Then there's the high hourly rates. These may force many people into poor do-it-yourself jobs. And costly tools often save little time because of the small scale of home repairs.
Likewise, "labor-saving" appliances may lighten the house-work. But they save little time. Looking for the right electric knife or other new gadget and getting it ready for use often can take more time than doing the job by hand. Studies show we spend even more time on laundry than our grandparents did. That's because we have more clothes and wash them more often. Vacuum cleaners have raised standards of cleanliness. But they tempt people to spend more time than with a broom or dust rag.
Cars are another time gobbler. One expert says that tires and batteries last longer than they used to. But U.S. cars are more prone to break down than they were. Plus, there are more gadgets on them to go wrong. The growing complexity of the car means most owners can no longer play with a screwdriver and wrench under the hood to fix things themselves.
Another problem we face more and more is dealing with computers in place of people. Impersonal, cold, and error-prone machines are replacing clerks. So to fix errors in bills and other problems with a product or service often is a slow and maddening process.
The number of video games and other free time objects grows. And the pressure of choice joins in. Just to choose a free time activity from all the options taxes many people. And as people crowd their lives with things that eat up too much of their time, they come to feel that time is short. They feel they are in danger of wasting it.
In the end, then, the possessions we consume end up consuming us.
New Words and Expressions
add
V. 加，增加
apparently
ad. 表面上；明显地
appliance
n. 用具，器具，器械
battery
n. 电瓶，电池
broom
n. 扫帚
cleanliness
n. 清洁
complexity
n. 复杂（性）
consume
v. 消费，消耗
costly
a. 昂贵的；价值高的
device
n. 器械，装置
downfall
n. 衰败（的原因）
dust
n. 灰尘，垃圾，灰烬
error
n. 错误，谬误；差错
error-prone
a. 容易犯错误的
force
v. 强迫，迫使
gadget
n. 小工具，小机械
gobbler
n. 狼吞虎咽的人，并吞者
grandparent
n. 祖父或祖母
hood
n. 汽车发动机罩
hourly
a. 每小时的，以小时计的
impersonal
a. 客观的，和个人无关的
labor-saving
a. 节省劳力的；减轻劳动强度的
laundry
n. 洗衣；洗衣店
lawn
n. 草地，草坪
leisure
n. 空闲时间；悠闲
lighten
v. 减轻；照亮
likewise
ad. 同样地；也，又
madden
v. 使发狂，激怒
maker
n. 制造者
object
n. 物，物体；目的
option
n. 选择，取舍
overload
v. （使）超载
possession
n. 所有物；财产
pressure
n. 压力
prone
a. 易于…的
rag
n. 抹布；破布
recorder
n. 录音机
replace
v. 替换，更换
scale
n. 规模
screwdriver
n. 螺丝起子
stuff
n. 材料
v. 装，填，塞
tape
n. 带，磁带，录像带
tax
v. 耗费，使负重担
n. 税
tire
n. 轮胎
v. 疲劳，累；厌倦
vacuum
n. 真空
video
a. 录像的
n. 录像机
wrench
v. 拧，扭伤
n. 拧
show up
出现
break down
出毛病，损坏；垮掉，（健康）变得衰弱
go wrong
出毛病
in (the) place of
代替
Merry Learning
Does the Dog Know the Proverb?
One day a Frenchman went to visit his English friend. When he came up to his house, a big dog ran out and began to bark at him.
The Frenchman was frightened and stopped. At that moment the Englishman came out and saw his friend. "Don't be afraid!" he said. "Don't you know the proverb 'Barking dogs don't bite?'" "Oh, yes," was the quick answer. "I know the proverb, and you know the proverb, the dog... Does the dog know the proverb?"
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