首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
(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
(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
admin
2019-05-24
89
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.
Which of the following is true about American workers according to the passage?
选项
A、They are more diligent than those from other developed countries.
B、They earn more than those from other developed countries.
C、They prefer to spend more time with their children but are forced to work long hours.
D、Tax policies make it profitable for American workers to work extra time.
答案
D
解析
第6段说,自20世纪70年代以来美国降低了边际税率,美国工人加班的话就更加合算了。D与此一致,是答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/iaEK777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Shop-lifterscanbedividedintothreemaincategories;theprofessionals,thedeliberateamateurs,andthepeoplewhojustcan
Onceuponatime,peoplewholivedalonetendedtobethoseoneithersideofmarriage—twentysomethingprofessionalsorwidow
Onceuponatime,peoplewholivedalonetendedtobethoseoneithersideofmarriage—twentysomethingprofessionalsorwidow
Thelandofapplepieandbaseball—theUnitedStatesofAmerica.OfcourseweallknowthereismoretoAmericathanapplepie
Thelandofapplepieandbaseball—theUnitedStatesofAmerica.OfcourseweallknowthereismoretoAmericathanapplepie
Thequestionofwhetherlanguagesshapethewaywethinkgobackcenturies;Charlemagneproclaimedthat"tohaveasecond【S1】__
Thequestionofwhetherlanguagesshapethewaywethinkgobackcenturies;Charlemagneproclaimedthat"tohaveasecond【S1】__
Forthelongesttime,Icouldn’tgetworkedupaboutprivacy:myrighttoit;howit’sdying;howwe’reheadedforanevenmore
Asmanyas40%ofuniversitylanguagedepartmentsarelikelytoclosewithinadecade,theformergovernmentadviserchargedw
Asmanyas40%ofuniversitylanguagedepartmentsarelikelytoclosewithinadecade,theformergovernmentadviserchargedw
随机试题
导致人体气虚的主要原因是()。
下列哪些药物具有行气作用
对于继发性高血压,下列哪项不正确()(2000年)
患者男,27岁,以左侧后牙自发痛、夜间痛为主诉就诊,检查前倾阻生,牙冠与远中牙颈部形成的间隙有较多的食物嵌塞,远中冠周轻度充血,冠周袋无脓,触痛(福),X线见远中牙颈部深龋。最恰当的应急处理
张某、王某、孙某和李某成立一个有限合伙企业。张某为有限合伙人,王某、孙某和李某是普通合伙人。2005年5月张某在其他合伙人不知情的情况下擅自与一个戊电子企业签订合同,戊电子企业相信张某为普通合伙人而与其交易。而该交易使合伙企业欠戊电子企业3万元钱。2006
设置在高层建筑一层内的燃气锅炉房,下面做法没必要的是()。
( )是指权利人依法对特定的物享有直接支配和排他的权利。( )是指用益物权人对他人所有的不动产或者动产,享有占有、使用和收益的权利。
已知某工程双代号网络计划的计划工期等于计算工期,且工作M的开始节点和完成节点均为关键节点,则该工作()。
企业不论在成本模式下,还是在公允价值模式下,投资性房地产取得的租金收入,均确认为其他业务收入。()
计算D2n=
最新回复
(
0
)