首页
登录
职称英语
(1)Oscar Wilde said that work is the refuge of people who have nothing bette
(1)Oscar Wilde said that work is the refuge of people who have nothing bette
游客
2024-11-09
28
管理
问题
(1)Oscar Wilde said that work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do. If so, Americans are now among the world’s saddest refugees. Factory workers in the United States are working longer hours than at any time in the past half-century. America once led the rich world in cutting the average working week—from 70 hours in 1850 to less than 40 hours by the 1950s. It seemed natural that as people grew richer they would trade extra earnings for more leisure. Since the 1970s, however, the hours clocked up by American workers have risen, to an average of 42 this year in manufacturing.
(2)Several studies suggest that something similar is happening outside manufacturing: Americans are spending more time at work than they did 20 years ago. Executives and lawyers boast of 80-hour weeks. On holiday, they seek out fax machines and phones as eagerly as Germans bag the best sun-loungers. Yet working time in Europe and Japan continues to fall. In Germany’s engineering industry the working week is to be trimmed from 36 to 35 hours next year. Most Germans get six weeks’ paid annual holiday; even the Japanese now take three weeks. Americans still make do with just two.
(3)Germany responds to this contrast with its usual concern about whether people’s aversion to work is damaging its competitiveness. Yet German workers, like the Japanese, seem to be acting sensibly: as their incomes rise, they can achieve a better standard of living with fewer hours of work. The puzzle is why America, the world’s richest country, sees things differently. It is a puzzle with sinister social implications. Parents spend less time with their children, who may be left alone at home for longer. Is it just a coincidence that juvenile crime is on the rise?
(4)Some explanations for America’s time at work fail to stand up to scrutiny. One blames weak trade unions that leave workers open to exploitation. Are workers being forced by cost-cutting firms to toil harder just to keep their jobs? A recent study by two American economists, Richard Freeman and Linda Bell, suggests not: when asked, Americans actually want to work longer hours. Most German workers, in contrast, would rather work less.
(5)Then, why do Americans want to work harder? One reason may be that the real earnings of many Americans have been stagnant or falling during the past two decades. People work longer merely to maintain their living standards. Yet many higher-skilled workers, who have enjoyed big increases in their real pay, have been working harder too. Also, one reason for the slow growth of wages has been the rapid growth in employment—which is more or less where the argument began.
(6)Taxes may have something to do with it. People who work an extra hour in America are allowed to keep more of their money than those who do the same in Germany. Falls in marginal tax rates in America since the 1970s have made it all the more profitable to work longer.
(7)None of these answers really explains why the century-long decline in working hours has gone into reverse in America but not elsewhere(though Britain shows signs of following America’s lead). Perhaps cultural differences—the last refuge of the defeated economist—are at play. Economists used to believe that once workers earned enough to provide for their basic needs and allow for a few luxuries, their incentive to work would be eroded, like lions relaxing after a kill. But humans are more susceptible to advertising than lions. Perhaps clever marketing has ensured that "basic needs"—for a shower with built-in TV, for a rocket-propelled car—expand continuously. Shopping is already one of America’s most popular pastimes. But it requires money—hence more work and less leisure.
(8)Or try this: the television is not very good, and baseball and hockey keep being wiped out by strikes. Perhaps Wilde was right. Maybe Americans have nothing better to do. [br] In the United States, working longer hours is _____.
选项
A、confined to the manufacturing industry
B、a traditional practice in some sectors
C、prevalent in all sectors of society
D、favoured by the economists
答案
C
解析
文章第1段最后一句说,美国人劳动时间延长;第2段开头即说,这一情况不局限于制造业,其他行业也一样。可见,美国各行业都出现了工作时间延长的现象。C“在社会各部门都很普遍”正确。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3838651.html
相关试题推荐
Aswehaveseen,thereisnothingaboutlanguageassuchthatmakeslinguis
Aswehaveseen,thereisnothingaboutlanguageassuchthatmakeslinguis
Aswehaveseen,thereisnothingaboutlanguageassuchthatmakeslinguis
Aswehaveseen,thereisnothingaboutlanguageassuchthatmakeslinguis
Aswehaveseen,thereisnothingaboutlanguageassuchthatmakeslinguis
Whatpersonalqualitiesaredesirableinateacher?Probablynotwopeoplew
Whatpersonalqualitiesaredesirableinateacher?Probablynotwopeoplew
Whatpersonalqualitiesaredesirableinateacher?Probablynotwopeoplew
Whatpersonalqualitiesaredesirableinateacher?Probablynotwopeoplew
Whatpersonalqualitiesaredesirableinateacher?Probablynotwopeoplew
随机试题
[originaltext]W:Therewasanewquizshowontelevisionlastnight,butwewer
[originaltext]W:Cometomyhouseifyoucanbetherebefore11o’clock,Mike.
根据国务院2002年9月1日起施行的《医疗事故处理条例》的规定,不属于医疗事故的
正常周期性负载是指在周期性负载中,某段时间环境温度较高,或超过额定电流,但可以由
1996-148.组成药物中含牡丹皮的方剂是A.秦艽鳖甲散B.青蒿鳖甲散C.
()会计要素没有反映企业在一定时点上的财务状况。A.负债 B.所有者权
投资项目决策分析与评价的基本要求包括贯彻落实科学发展观、资料数据准确可靠和()
按工程进度编制施工阶段资金使用计划,首要进行的工作是()。A.计算单位时间
在国际工程承包合同中,采用DAB(争端裁决委员会)方式解决争端的优点有()。A.
运用建设工程的项目信息门户辅助施工项目进度控制,属于进度控制的()措施。A
最新回复
(
0
)