大学英语综合教程 第四册 Unit6A

[05:10.05]but we have to remember that it only applies to,say,half the population
[05:17.02]says Michael Willmott,director of the Future Founkdation,a London research company
[05:24.08]You've got people retiring early,you've got the unemployed,you've got other people
[05:31.31]may be only peripherally involved in the economy who don't have this situation at all.If you're unemployed
[05:40.24]your problem is that you've got too much time,not too little.
[05:45.99]Paul Edwards,chairman of the London-based Henley Centre fore-casting group,points out
[05:53.36]that the feeling of pressures can also be exaggerated,or self-imposed.Everyone talks about it so much
[06:03.00]that about 50 percent of unemployed or retired people will tell you they never have enough time to get things done
[06:11.80]he says.It's almost got to the point where there's stress envy.If you're not stressted,you're not succeeding
[06:21.54]Everyone wants to have a little bit of this stress to show they're an important person
[06:28.31]There is another aspect to all of this tooHour-by-hour logs kept by thousands of volunteers over the decades have shown that
[06:38.63]in the U.K,working hours have risen only slightly in the last 10 years,and in theU.S.,they have actually fallen
[06:48.37]even for those in professional and executive jobs,where the perceptions of stress are highest
[06:56.44]In the U.S.,John Robinson,professor of sociology at the University of Maryland,and Geoffrey Godbey
[07:06.19]professor of leisure studies at Penn State University found that,since the mid-1960s
[07:13.08]the average American had gained five hours a week in
[07:18.05]free time-that is time left after working,sleeping,commuting,caring for children and doing the chores
[07:27.03]The gains,however,were unevenly distributed.The people who benefited the most were singles and empty-nesters
[07:36.57]Those who gained the least-less than an hour-were working couples with pre-school children
[07:43.91]perhaps reflecting the trend for parents to spend more time nurturing their off-spring
[07:50.23]There is,of course, a gender is issue here,too
[07:54.96]Advances in household appliances may hae encouraged women to take paying jobs:but as we have already noted
[08:04.10]techonlogy did not end household chores.As a result,
[08:09.72]we see appalling inequalites in the distribution of free time between the sexes
[08:16.48]According to the Henley Center,working fathers in the UK average48hours of free time a week.Working mothers get14
[08:28.13]Inequalities apart,the perception of the time famine is widespread,and has provoked a variety of reactions
[08:37.41]One is an attempt to gain the largest possible amount of satisfaction from the smallest possible investment of time
[08:46.45]People today want fast food,sound bytes and instant gratification.And they become upset when time is wasted
[08:56.58]People talk about quality time.They want perfect moments ,says the Henley Centre's Edwards
[09:04.29]If you take your kids to a movie and McDonald's and it's not perfect,you've wasted an afternoon,and it's a sense
[09:12.33]that you've lost something precious.If you lose some money you can earn some more
[09:19.67]but if you waste time you can never get it back.
[09:24.17]People are also trying to buy time.Anything that helps streamline our lives is a grown market
[09:32.55]One example is what Americans call concierge services-domestic help,childcare,gardening and decorating
[09:42.27]And on-line retailer are seeing big increases in sales-though not,as yet,profits
[09:49.82]A third reaction to time famine has been the growth of the work-life debate.You hear more about people
[09:58.62]taking early retirement or giving up high pressure jobs in favour of occupations with shorter working hours
[10:07.69]And bodies such as Britain's National Work-Life Forum have sprung up
[10:13.62]urging employers to end the long-hours culture among managers and to adopt family-friendly working policies
[10:23.20]The trouble with all these reactions is that liberating time-whether by making better use of it,buying it form others
[10:32.97]or reducing the amount spent at work-is futile if the hours gained are immediately diverted to other purposes
[10:42.38]As Godbey points out,the stress we feel arises no from a shortage of time,
[10:48.39]but from the surfeit of things we try to cram into it
[10:53.87]It's the kid in the candy store,"he says. "There's just so many good things to do.The array of choices is stunning
[11:03.80]Our free time is increasing,but not as fast as our sense of the necessary.
[11:10.56]A more successful remedy may lie in understanding the problem rather than evading it.
[11:17.83]Before the industrial revolution,peole lived in small communities with limited communications
[11:25.66]Within the confines of their village,they could reasonably expect to know everything that was to be known
[11:34.15]see everything that was to be seen,and do everything that was to be done
[11:41.75]Today,being curious by nature,we are still trying to do the same
[11:48.60]But the golbal village is a world of limitless possibilities,and we can never achieve our aim.
[11:56.25]It is not more time we need:it is fewer desires.
[12:01.48]We need to switch off the cell-phone and leave the children to play by themselves
[12:08.58]We need to buy less,read less and travel less.
[12:13.28]We need to set boundaries for ourselves,or be doomed to mounting despair