Work Hours 工作时间
Many people say that they are working too many hours. They don't have enough time with families. They can't take care of things at home. They don't have time to relax. 很多人说他们工作了太多的小时数。他们没有足够的时间和家人在一起。他们不能照顾家里的事情。他们没有时间放松休闲。
Work hours vary from one country to another. In France, people spend about 1,646 hours a year at work. In Japan, however, people work about 2,159 hours a year. That means a Japanese employee works 513 more hours a year than a French employee. That is more than 12 weeks, or three months, of extra work!工作时间因不同的国家而有所区别。在法国，人们每年花在工作上的时间约为1646个小时。然而在日本，人们每年工作大约2159个小时。这意味着日本员工每年比法国员工多工作513个小时。这可是超过12周（或3个月）的额外工作!（译者注：这课文的编写者肯定没有听说过中国的996甚至007）
Why do people work so many hours? Some people work extra hours because they want to earn more money. However, many companies don't pay overtime. Their employees don't get extra pay for extra work. These people work extra hours because they think it's their duty. Some people are afraid they will lose their job if they don't work extra hours.为什么人们工作那么长的时间呢?有些人超时工作是因为他们想挣更多的钱。然而，很多公司并不支付加班费，这些公司的员工不会因为额外的工作而得到额外的报酬。这些人加班，有的是因为他们认为这是他们的职责所在。有些人加班则是因为担心如果不加班，就会失去工作。
Many people say that their vacations are too short. In France, people get give weeks of paid vacation. In Germany, they get from four to six weeks. In the United States, two weeks of vacation is the average. Many people don't even use all of their vacation days. In one study in Great Britain, fewer than half of workers used all their vacation days. In English, people say, " All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." If that is true, there are a lot of dull people in the world.很多人说他们的带薪年假太短了。在法国，人们有好多周的带薪年假。而在德国，他们只有4到6周的带薪年假。在美国，平均有两周的带薪年假。很多人甚至并不把自己所有的带薪年假都用完。在英国的一项研究中，不到一半的员工会休完所有的带薪年假。在英国，人们会说：“只工作，不玩耍，聪明的孩子也变傻。” 如果这是真的，那世界上有很多傻子了。
