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Unit 10

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    Do you view 认为 work as a burden or an opportunity机会, 时机? Are you the kind of person who looks for ways to save your energy or the kind that finds spending your energy satisfying? Why do people like to complain about work? Find the answers to question like these in the following essay散文, 小品文, 随笔, 短文.

WHY PEOPLE WORK

                                                               Leonard R. Sayles

    Jobs and work do much more than most of us realize to provide happiness and contentment. We're all used to thinking that work provides the material things of life -- the goods and services that make possible our modern civilization. But we are much less conscious of the extent to which work provides the more intangible难以明了的, 无形的, but more crucial极重要的；有决定性的,psychological well-being康乐, 安宁, 福利that can make the difference between a full and an empty life.

    Historically, work has been associated with slavery and sin and punishment. And in our own day we are used to hearing the traditional complaints: "I can't wait for my vacation," "I wish I could stay home today," "My boss treats me poorly," "I've got too much work to do and not enough time to do it." Against this background, it may well come as a surprise to learn that not only psychologists but other behavioral scientists have come to accept the positive contribution捐献, 贡献, 投稿 of work to the individual's happiness个人的幸福感 and sense of personal achievement个人的成就感. Work is more than a necessity for most human beings; it is the focus of their lives, the source of their identity身份；本身；本体个性; 特性and creativity.

    Rather than a punishment or a burden, work is the opportunity to realize one's potential. Many psychiatrists heading mental health clinics心理健康诊所 have observed its healing有治疗功用的 effect. A good many patients who feel depressed in clinics gain renewed self-confidence when gainfully有利益地, 有收入地 employed and lose some, if not all, of their most acute 敏锐的； 灵敏的symptoms征兆，征候，表征. Increasingly, institutions dealing with mental health problems are establishing workshops wherein在其中 those too sick to get a job in "outside" industry can work, while every effort努力, 成就 is exerted努力 to arrange "real" jobs for those well enough to work outside.

    And the reverse相反, 背面, 反面, 倒退 is true, too. For large numbers of people, the absence of work is harmful to their health. Retirement often brings many problems surrounding the "What do I do with myself?" question, even though there may be no financial cares. Large numbers of people regularly get headaches and other illnesses on weekends when they don't have their jobs to go to, and must fend for themselves. It has been observed that unemployment, quite aside from exerting financial pressures, brings enormous psychological troubles and that many individuals deteriorate使恶化；变糟 rapidly when jobless.

    But why? Why should work be such a significant有意义的, 重大的, 重要的 source of human satisfaction? A good share of the answer rests in the kind of pride that is stimulated by the job, by the activity活跃, 活动性, 行动, of accomplishing完成, 达到, 实现.

 

Pride in Accomplishment

    The human being longs for a sense of being accomplished完成的, 熟练的, 多才多艺的, of being able to do things, with his hand, with his mind, with his will. Each of us wants to feel he or she has the ability to do something that is meaningful and that serves as a tribute贡品, 礼物, 颂词, 殷勤, 贡物 to our inherent固有的, 内在的, 与生俱来的 abilities.

    It is easiest to see this in the craftsman who lovingly shapes制作, 定形, 使成形, 塑造, 使符合 some cheap material into an object that may be either useful or beautiful or both. You can see the carpenter or bricklayer stand aside and admire the product of his personal skill.

    But even where there is no obvious end product that is solely attributable可归于...的 to one person's skill, researchers have found that employees find pride in accomplishment. Our own research in hospitals suggests that even the houskeeping管家 and laundry staffs洗衣店员工 take pride in the fact that in their own ways they are helping to cure sick people -- and thus accomplishing a good deal.这样也取得很大的成绩

    We're often misled by the complaints surrounding difficult work; deep down most people regard their own capacity to conquer the tough job as the mark of their own unique唯一的, 独特的 personality. Complaining is just part of working. After all, how else do you know who you are, except as you can demonstrate the ability of your mind to control you limbs肢, 翼 and hands and words? You are, in significant measure在很大程度上, what you can do.

    Some are deceived into thinking that people like to store up energy, to rest and save themselves as much as possible. Just the opposite. It is energy expenditure花费；消耗 that is satisfying.

    Just watch an employee who must deal with countless other people because his or her job is at some central point in a communications network: a salesman at a busy counter, a stock broker 股票经纪人on the phone, a customer representative消费者代表. They will tell you how much skill and experience it takes to answer countless questions and handle various kinds of personalities every hour of the day. Not everyone can interact互相影响 with such persistence坚持, 持续 and over long hours, but those who do, pride themselves on a distinctive特殊的 ability that contributes 贡献 mightily有力地；强力地 to the running of the organization.

    But work is more than accomplishment and pride in being able to command掌握；控制 the job, because except for a few craftsmen工匠 and artists most work takes place "out in the world," with and through other people.

Esprit de corps团队精神

    Perhasps an example will make the point:

    I remember viewing a half dozen men in a chair factory whose job it was to bend several pieces of steel and attach them so that a folding chair would result. While there were ten or twelve of these "teams" that worked together, one in particular was known for its perfect coordination and lightning-like闪电般的 efforts 成就. The men knew they were good. They would work in spurts(液体等的)喷射, 冲刺 for twenty or thirty minutes before taking a break -- to show themselves, bystanders and other groups what it was to be superbly skilled and self-controlled, to be the best in the factory.

    When I talked with them, each expressed enormous巨大的，庞大的pride in being a part of the fastest, best team. And this sense of belonging to an accomplished work group is one of the distinctive 特殊的；独特的；不一般的satisfactions of the world of work.

    One further word about work group satisfactions. Unlike many other aspects样子, 外表, 面貌, (问题等的)方面 of life, relationships among people at work tend to be simpler, less complicated, somewhat less emotional情绪的, 情感的. This is not to say there aren't arguments and jealousies妒忌，羡慕, but, on the whole, behavioral research discloses that human relations at work are just easier, perhaps because they are more regular and predictable可预知的；可预报的 and thus simpler to adjust to than the sporadic零星的；偶发性的, the more intense and less regular relationships in the community. And the work group also gently pressures its members to learn how to adjust to one another so that the "rough edges"摩察 are worked off渐渐地清除, 排除, 清理, because people know they must do certain things with and through one another each day.

    Beyond the team and the work group, there is the organization, whether it be company or hospital or university. The same pride in being part of a well-coordinated, successful unit is derived来自；源自；出自from being part of a larger collectivity全体, 集体, 总体. Working for a company that is thought of as being one of the best in the community can provide employees with both status身份, 地位, 情形, 状况and self-confidence. They assume, usually with good reason, that others regard them more highly, even envy them, and that they are more competent有能力的, 胜任的than the average because of this association with a "winner," a prestigious享有声望的, 声望很高的institution. We in truth bask感到温暖, 愉快或舒适in the reflected glory of the institution, and we seek ways of asserting断言, 声称our membership so that others will know and can recognize our good fortune.

            New Words

    contentment

n.  happiness; satisfaction 满足

    civilization

n.  文明

    intangible

a.  that can not be touched or grasped 不可捉摸的；触摸不到的, 难以明了的, 无形的

    crucial

a.  decisive; critical 决定性的，关键的

    psychological

a.  of the soul or mind 心理的

    historically

ad. in the course of history, in accordance 一致, 和谐with or in respect to history在历史上, 从历史观点上说

    associate

vt. connect or bring together in one's mind 联想

    slavery

n.  the system of having slaves; the condition of being a slave 奴隶制度；奴隶身份

    sin

n.  behavior that is against the principles of morality; an immoral不道德的, 邪恶的, 放荡的, 淫荡的 act [俗] 违背习俗, 不合情理之事, 过失, 罪过, 罪孽,[数学] 正弦函数,

    punishment

n.  punishing or being punished 惩罚

    complaint

n.  complaining; a statement expressing unhappiness, pain, dissatisfaction 抱怨

    behavioral

a.  of or having to do with behavior 行为的

    contribution

n.  act of contributing; sth. contributed捐献, 贡献, 投稿

    necessity

n.  sth. that is necessary; the condition of being necessary, needed or unavoidable 必需品；必要性

    focus

n.  the central point; centre of interest 焦点

    creativity

n.  the ability to produce new and original ideas and things; inventiveness创造

    clinic

n.  building or part of a hospital where doctors give specialized medical treatment and advice; a medical institution for special purposes 诊所

    heal

v.  (cause to) become healthy 治愈，愈合，痊愈

    depressed

a.  sad; low in spirits 精神抑郁的，情绪沮丧的

    depress

vt. make sad, low in spirits使沮丧, 使消沉, 压下, 压低, 使不活泼, 使萧条

    renew

vt. reestablish; give new life and freshness to 使更新, 使恢复, 重申, 补充, 续借, 复兴

    gainfully

ad. profitably有利益地, 有收入地,唯利是图的

    acute

a.  severe; strong 严重的，急性的

    symptom

a.  a change in the body's condition that indicates illness  症状

    institution

n.  a society, club, college or any organization established for some public or social purpose 公共机构

    workshop

n.  a room of building which contains tools or machinery for making or repairing things 车间，工场

    wherein

conj. in which在何处, 在其中

    exert                         expert

vt. use(strength, skill, etc.) 尽力

    reverse

n.  the opposite; the other way round, the back 相反，背面

    absence

n.  non-existence; lack不在, 缺席, 缺乏, 没有

    retirement

n.  instance of retiring or being retired; condition of being retired 退, 退休, 引退, 退却, 撤退

    financial

a.  relating to money 财政的；金融的

    weekend

n.  Saturday and Sunday, esp. when considered as a holiday from work周末, 周末休假

    fend

vi. provide(for) 供养；照料

    unemployment

n.  the state of being unemployed失业, 失业人数

    significant

a.  of noticeable importance or effect有意义的, 重大的, 重要的,具有特殊意义的； 意味深长的

significance

n. 意义, 重要性

    satisfaction

n.  be state of being satisfied 满足

satisfactory

a. 令人满意的；符合要求的；合适的

    accomplished

a.  skilled, expert 有才艺的；有造诣的

     tribute

n.   material evidence of one's worth, virtue, etc. 贡品, 礼物, 颂词, 殷勤, 贡物

    inherent

a.  existing as a natural and permanent part or quality of 内在的，生来的

    craftsman

n.  a highly skilled workman 手艺人，（名）工匠

    bricklayer

n.  a workman who builds with bricks泥水匠

    attributable

a.  that can be attributed 可归因于……的

    attribute

vt. 把……归因为

    housekeeping

n.  management of a home and its affairs 家政

    staff

n.  the group of workers who carry on a job （全体）员工

    capacity

n.  ability, power; the amount that sth. can hold or produce 能力；容量

    tough

a.  difficult to do or deal with 艰巨的

    unique

n.  being the only one of its type唯一的,独特的

    limb

n.  the leg, arm. or wing of an animal 肢，翼

    opposite

n.  a person or thing that is entirely different from another 对立面，对立物

    countless

a.  very many; too many to be counted无数的, 数不尽的

    broker

n.  person who buys and sells for others 经纪人，掮客

    stock broker

n.  a person who buys and sells stocks and bonds for other for a commission 证券经纪人

    representative

n.  a person acting in place of one or more others  代表

    interact

vi. act on each other 相互作用

    persistence

n.  the act or fact of keeping on doing sth in spite of difficulty or opposition 坚持, 持续

persist 

vi. 坚持, 持续

    distinctive

a.  clearly marking a person or thing as different from other 特殊的；与众不同的

    mightily

ad. with power and strength; greatly强烈地, 非常地

    esprit de corps

n.  (French) spirit of loyalty忠诚, 忠心 and devotion which unites the members of a group or society 团体精神，集体荣誉感

    coordination

n.  harmonious和谐的, 协调的, 和睦的, 悦耳的 adjustment or working together 协调

coordinate 

vt. 调整, 整理

    lightning

    闪电

    bystander

n.  a person standing near but not taking part in an event or activity; onlooker 旁观者

    superbly

ad. magnificently; first class雄伟地, 壮丽地

    aspect

n.  one side or view of a subject 方面

    relationship

n.  a friendship between people; connection 关系

    disclose

vt.  make known; show by uncovering 揭示,揭露, 透露

    sporadic

a.  occurring now and then; occasional 零星发生的,偶尔的

    collectivity

n.  people collectively, especially as forming a community or state 集体

collective

a. 集体的

    status

n.  (high) social or professional position 地位,身份

    envy

vt. feel admiration or ill-will toward (sb.) because he has the good fortune one wishes to have 羡慕;妒忌

    winner

n.  one that wins or seems destined to win or be successful

    prestigious

a.  having respect that results from the good reputation (of a person, nation, etc.)有声望的

    bask

vi. sit or lie in enjoyable warmth and light (舒适地) 取暖,享受,晒太阳(享受温暖), 感到温暖, 愉快或舒适

    reflect

vt. throw back (light, heat, sound or image) 反射;反映

    assert

vt. demonstrate示范, 证明, 论证 the existence存在, 实在, 生活, 存在物, 实在物 of; declare forcefully 宣称,断言

    membership

n.  the state of being a member, of a club, society, etc. all the members of a club, society, etc成员资格, 成员人数.

      Phrases  &  Expressions

  associate with                 connect with (often mentally) 把…与…联系在一起

  rather than                    instead of胜于,代替, 而不是

  fend for oneself               look after oneself 照料自己，自行谋生

  aside from                   besides, apart from 除…以外

  long for                     desire (to have )sth. strongly 渴望

  take pride in                  fell please and happy because of 为…而感到得意

  store up                      put away for future use 储存，储备

  pride oneself on                regard as a special reason for pride or satisfaction 以……自豪

  make the/one's point            prove that sth. is true 证明一个论点

  in particular                    especially

  at work                      busy at a job; doing work在工作, 在运转

  one the whole                 considering everything; in general通常,大体上, 一般而言

  work off                      get rid of, dispose 除去，清除