精美英文欣赏:美国 工作狂之乡(上)（在线收听）

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 replacement hirings, more and more workers are putting in extra hours to complete the work previously 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 technological. 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 define 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。