英语听力—环球英语 538 The Museum of Laziness

　　Voice 1
Hello. I’m Ruby¹ Jones.
Voice 2
And I’m Ryan Geertsma. Welcome to Spotlight². This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
‘You need to finish your school work!’
Voice 4
‘But mother, I do not want to.’
Voice 3
‘Stop being so lazy. Just do your work.’
Voice 1
Around the world most parents try and teach their children to work hard. They do not want them to become lazy adults. There are many negative expressions and stories about people who do not want to work - lazy people. In today’s Spotlight we explore ideas about work and laziness in Japan and Colombia. How has world business culture affected³ people’s ideas? But first we tell a famous story about laziness.
Voice 2
Aesop was a writer from ancient Greece. He is famous for his fables⁵ - short stories that have a clear meaning at the end. Rachel Hobson reads Aesop’s fable⁴ ‘The Ant and the Grasshopper⁶.’
Voice 5
It was summer. A grasshopper was jumping in the fields. The large green insect was enjoying himself. He was chirping⁷ and singing in a way that made his heart happy. Suddenly, he saw a small black insect pass by. This ant was carrying an ear of corn. The corn was very heavy for the small ant. The ant struggled to take the corn to his home.
The grasshopper was surprised. He said ‘Why not come and talk with me instead of working?’ But the ant said ‘I am helping⁸ to store food for the winter. I suggest that you do the same.’ But the grasshopper said, ‘Why worry about winter? We have plenty of food at present.’ The ant did not listen to the grasshopper. Instead he continued working.
When the winter came the grasshopper did not have food. He was dying⁹ of hunger. He saw the ant with many other ants. They had plenty of food - corn and grain. It was the food they had collected all summer. Then the grasshopper knew ‘It is best to prepare for days of need.’
Voice 1
This story shows how the grasshopper suffered because he was lazy. Most people would agree that laziness is not good. It is much better to work hard. But is there such a thing as too much work? In some countries, people are asking this question. Japan is one such country. Japan was left in a weak condition after World War Two. The Japanese knew that they would have to work very hard to rebuild their country.
Voice 2
The news magazine “The Economist” explains how Japanese companies spent a lot of time and money training their employees¹⁰. The companies wanted to keep these people working for them. They promised employees many things - housing¹¹, low-cost food and good pay when they retired¹². The company rewarded¹³ long-time employees with better jobs and better pay - a better salary. So, Japanese workers stayed with the same company for their whole working lives. It was usually men who did this. People call these men salarymen.
Voice 1
The salarymen were thankful to the companies for taking care of them and their families. To show their thankfulness, they showed great loyalty¹⁴ to the companies. In Japan loyalty is an extremely¹⁵ important part of the culture. But it was not easy to show loyalty. To do this the men could not leave work at a normal time. They could not leave before their manager left. They had to stay very late, often until twelve AM. Many of them lived far from work. The trip home took a long time. Then they had to go back to work the next day. This caused many people to feel extremely tired. Some people have even died from working too much. There is a Japanese word for this - karoshi.
Voice 2
In the 1980’s, the government recognized karoshi as a cause of death. But for a while nothing seemed to change. However, in recent years many families have been winning¹⁶ court cases against companies for karoshi. When a family wins, the company could have to pay out a large amount of money for the employee’s death.
Voice 1
Hiroko Uchino won a legal¹⁷ case against the company Toyota. Her husband worked many extra hours every month. He did this for six months. Finally, Kenichi died of karoshi. He was only thirty years old. Before he died he told his wife his thoughts. He said he was happiest when he could sleep.
Voice 2
Slowly things are starting to change in Japan. Companies such as Toyota are promising¹⁸ to take better care of their workers. In modern times, more people work fewer hours. They are part time workers. Companies cannot make the same demands on part-time workers. Also, young workers are not prepared to devote¹⁹ their lives to companies. They are openly saying they want more time with their families.
Voice 1
The number of hours people work is a problem all over the world. International companies are competing with each other for business. In order to make more profit, they often require their employees to work longer hours. The city government of Bogota, Colombia became concerned about this situation. It wanted to make people think about the issues²⁰ of work and laziness. In January 2008, it paid for a temporary museum. People would not see art in this museum. Instead visitors would find large hammocks and beds to sleep in. There were also soft chairs and sofas for people to sit in. The museum let people do the things they are normally²¹ called lazy for doing! It let them sleep, watch television, and just sit around. This museum was called the Museum of Laziness. Marcela Arrieta, the museum director²² explained the purpose of the project:
Voice 6
“People think about laziness as an enemy of work. So we wanted to explore that. We wanted to make people think about the social meanings of - taking a short sleep break, being without a job, or in believing that maybe we are wasting time - we wanted to ask ourselves about that.”
Voice 2
People cannot always choose how many hours they work. Sometimes they have to work long hours to keep their jobs. Sometimes they may not be able to find work at all. But where possible, most people agree that there should be a balance between work and rest. For some, the idea is even part of their religion. The Jewish²³ and Christian²⁴ Bible²⁵ says that God himself rested for a day after spending six days creating the world. It says that people should also rest one day a week. To such people, these are the creator’s instructions! A day of rest is a time to renew²⁶ the body and spirit.
 

1 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

2 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 fable   

n.寓言；童话；神话

参考例句：

• The fable is given on the next page. 这篇寓言登在下一页上。
• He had some motive in telling this fable. 他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

5 fables   

n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说

参考例句：

• Some of Aesop's Fables are satires. 《伊索寓言》中有一些是讽刺作品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Little Mexican boys also breathe the American fables. 墨西哥族的小孩子对美国神话也都耳濡目染。 来自辞典例句

6 grasshopper   

n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱

参考例句：

• He thought he had made an end of the little grasshopper.他以为把那个小蚱蜢干掉了。
• The grasshopper could not find anything to eat.蚱蜢找不到任何吃的东西。

7 chirping   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The birds,chirping relentlessly,woke us up at daybreak. 破晓时鸟儿不断吱吱地叫，把我们吵醒了。
• The birds are chirping merrily. 鸟儿在欢快地鸣叫着。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

10 employees   

n.雇工，雇员( employee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She is always polite and considerate towards her employees. 她对待雇员总是客客气气，关心体谅。
• The company has a strict dress code—all male employees are expected to wear suits. 公司有严格的着装规定—所有男职员都要穿西服。

11 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。

12 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

13 rewarded   

v.酬谢，奖赏( reward的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His persistence was finally rewarded when the insurance company agreed to pay for the damage. 保险公司同意赔偿损失，他的坚持不懈终于得到了回报。
• Her efforts were justly rewarded with a British Empire Medal. 不列颠帝国勋章是对她的努力的公正奖赏。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

15 extremely   

adv.极其，非常，极度

参考例句：

• The film is extremely good,I just cannot miss it.这部电影太精彩了，我非看不可。
• The old man was extremely difficult to get along with.这个老人极难相与。

16 winning   

adj.获胜的，胜利的；吸引人的，有说服力的

参考例句：

• Team A has no chance of winning.A队没有获胜的可能。
• They have great hopes of winning.他们获胜的希望极大。

17 legal   

adj.法律的，依照法律的，合法的，法定的，正当的

参考例句：

• He is my legal adviser.他是我的法律顾问。
• This is partly a political and partly a legal question.这个问题部分是政治问题，部分是法律问题。

18 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

19 devote   

vt.将…奉献(给)，把...专用于，致力于

参考例句：

• I devote myself to helping the poor.我致力于帮助穷人。
• He is determined to devote his life to sicence.他决心把毕生精力贡献给科学事业。

20 issues   

（水等的）流出( issue的名词复数 )； 出口； 放出； （特别重要或大众关注的）问题

参考例句：

• Let's start with the more easily addressable issues. 我们先从较容易处理的问题着手。
• Employment and taxation are the bread-and-butter issues of politics. 就业和征税是很重要的政治问题。

21 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

22 director   

n.主管，导演；主任；理事；董事；处长

参考例句：

• The director has taken the visitors off to his office.经理把客人带到他办公室去了。
• The new director is easy to get along with.新来的主任很好处。

23 Jewish   

adj.犹太人的，犹太民族的

参考例句：

• The coin bears a Jewish symbol.硬币上有犹太标记。
• They were two Jewish kids;I was friendly with both of them.他们是两个犹太小孩；我同他们都很要好。

24 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

25 bible   

n.《圣经》；得到权威支持的典籍

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• This dictionary should be your Bible when studying English.学习英语时，这本字典应是你的主要参考书。

26 renew   

vt.使更新，复始，使恢复，补充；vi.更新，重新开始

参考例句：

• The most important thing is to renew your health.最重要的是恢复你的健康。
• We must renew our supplies of coal.我们必须补充煤的储备。