大学英语精读_双语4 (10).doc

大学英语精读_双语4 (10)Unit Ten第十单元Text课文Do you view work as a burden or an opportunity?你认为工作是一个负担还是一个机会？Are you the kind of person who looks for ways to save your energy or the kind that finds spending your energy satisfing?你是那种寻找方法去储存能量的人还是认为消耗能力感到满意的人呢？Why do people like to complain about work?为什么人们喜欢抱怨工作？Find the answers to questions like these in the following essay.在下面的文章里找出像这样问题的答案WHY PEOPLE WORK人为什么工作Jobs and work do much more than most of us realize to provide happiness and contentment.职业和工作在使人得到幸福与满足方面所起的任用比我们大多数人意识到的要多得多。

We're all used to thinking that work provides the material things of life--我们都习惯认为工作为人生提供物质的东西——the goods and services that make possible our modern civilization.提供使我们的现代文明成为可能的商品和服务But we are much less conscious of the extent to which work provides the more intangible,但是我们对工作在促进精神生活方面所起的作用，则知之甚少这方面的作用难以捉摸but more crucial,却更加至关重要，psychological well-being that can make the difference between a full and an empty life.它是人生过得充实还是空虚的决定性因素Historically, work has been associated with slavery and sin and punishment.在历史上，工作一直与奴役、罪恶和惩罚联系在一起。

And in our own day we are used to hearing the traditional complaints:现今我们还常常听到那些老一套的怨言："I can't wait for my vacation,"“我巴不得早点放假”，"I wish I could stay home today,"“今天我要是呆在家里该多好”，"My boss treats me poorly,"“我的老板待我不好”，"I've got too much work to do and not enough time to do it."“我的事情多得来不及做”等等Against this backgroud,在这种情况下，it may well come as a surprise to learn that not only psychologists but other behavioral scientists have come to accept the positive contribution of work to the individual's happiness and sense of personal achievement.当你得悉心理学家们以及其他的行为科学家们都认为，工作对个人幸福和个人成就起着积极作用，你很可能会感到惊奇。

Work is more than a necessity for most human beings; 对大多数人来说，工作不仅仅是一种必需，it is the focus of their lives,它还是人们生活的焦点，the source of their identity and creativity.是他们的个性和创造性的源泉Rather than a punishment or a burden,工作不是惩罚，也不是负担，work is the opportunity to realize one's potential.工作为个人潜在能力的发挥提供机会Many psychiatrists heading mental health clinics have observed its healing effect.许多精神病诊所的主治医生观察到工作的治疗作用A good many patients who feel depressed in clinics gain renewed self-confidence when gainfully employed and lose some,许许多多在诊所显得精神抑郁的病人。

一旦受聘从事有一定收益的工作时，便重新获得自信，并失去部分if not all, of their most acute symptoms.（如果不是全部的话）最严重的症状Increasingly, institutions dealing with mental health problems are establishing workshops where in those too sick to get a job in "outside" industry can work,越来越多的处理精神问题的机构建立起工场，病情过重在“外面的”工厂里找不到工作的病人，可以在那里工作while every dffort is exerted to arrange "real" jobs for those well enough to work outside.与此同时，这些机构还竭尽全力为那些身体条件尚可在外面工作的人，安排“真正的”工作And the reverse is ture,too.反过来也是一样For large numbers of people,对许多人来说，the absence of work is harmful to their health.没有工作反而对他们的健康有害。

Retirement often brings many problems surrounding the "What to do I do with myself?" question,退休也常常带来“今后我该怎样生活才好？”之类的话，even though there may be no financial cares.尽管没有引起经济上的忧虑Large numbers of people regularly get headaches and other illnesses on weekends when they don't have their jobs to go to,许多人一到周末便产生头痛及其他不适因为他们不上班，and must fend for themselves.而且必须自行安排生活It has been observed that unemployment,人们还观察到，quite aside form exerting financial pressures,失业除了产生经济压力之外，brings enormous psychological troubles and that many individuals deteriorate rapidly when jobless.还造成许多心理上的病痛，很多人一旦失业，身体便迅速恶化。

But why?这是为什么呢？Why should work be such a significant source of human satisfaction?为什么工作竟然是人们获得满足的如此重要的源泉呢？A good share of the answer rests in the kind of pride that is stimulated by the job,最主要的答案就在于，你能有一种自豪感基于工作，by the activity of accomplishing.和通过工作取得的成就Pride in Accomplishment对成就的自豪The human being longs for a sense of being accomplished,人们渴求取得成功，of being able to do things,渴望有能力办成事情，with his hand, with his mind, with his will. 用自己的手，用自己的脑，凭自己的意志Each of us wants to feel he or she has the ability to do something that is meaningful and that serves as a tribute to our inherent abilities.我们每个人都希望能够做出有意义、并能显示出自己天赋的事来。

It is easiest to see this in the craftsman who lovingly shapes some cheap material into an object that may be either useful or beautiful or both.这一点最容易在工匠身上看出来他深情地将某一种价值不高的材料做成一件或者是有用，或是美观，或是两者兼备的东西You can see the carpenter or bricklayer stand aside and admire the product of his personal skill.你可以看到木匠或砖瓦匠常站到一边，欣赏自己的产品But even where there is no obvious end product that is solely attributable to one person's skill,即使在没有明显的最终产品可以显示个人专长的场合，researchers have found that employees find pride in accomplishment.研究人员还发现，雇员们也对工作成就感到自豪。

Our own research in hospitals suggests that even the houskeeping and laundry staffs take pride in the fact that in their own ways they are helping to cure sick people--我们自己在医院的调查表明，即便勤杂人员和洗衣房的职工，也对自己的工作引以为荣，他们通过自身的工作协助治好了病人and thus accomplishing a good deal.——因而也就作出了不少成绩。