張芮嘉

在日本，一周長時(shí)間的工作影響了人的身心健康，也影響了人們的工作效率。對此，日本一家公司實(shí)施一周休息三天的做法，大大提高了員工的工作效率。

Since the early 1950s， few cultures could rival Japan s seemingly tireless work tradition. While the global average is around 40 hours per week， Japanese workers often work for 80 or even 100 hours a work. Unfortunately， it s starting to show those long hours have given rise to widespread depression among employees—and even a Japanese phenomenon called karoshi， which means “death by work”.

This is why in August， Microsoft Japan decided to shorten the workweek with no cut in pay. For the month， employees were given Fridays off， and the idea was to see if happier， healthier employees could do more in less time. ?What were the results？ During that month， worker productivity， as measured by how many sales were made， improved by nearly 40%. What s more， 58.7% fewer pages were printed， 23.1% less electricity was used and employees took fewer days off during the month.

How does this happen？ One key factor was the focus on more tightly run company meetings. As part of the experiment， they were limited to 30 minutes， and their overall frequency was reduced. The shortened workweek made time more precious—too precious for planning meetings， and problem solving meetings. If anything， an abundance of meetings demonstrate that managers have more time on their hands than staffers do. At Microsoft Japan， that luxury was taken away across the board.

It goes without saying that staff morale also got a lift. In its report， Microsoft Japan noted that 92.1% of employees approved of the shortened week. But the shortened workweek still has a long way to go because a corporate mindset has long pushed in the opposite direction. Working hours in Britain and the US have actually increased since the 2000s.

As the BBC reports， some industry leaders actually want more from their employees. Even Microsoft Japan， though encouraged by its success， hasn t committed to making a four day workweek the new normal. But at least， the trial offers hope for those still trying to get a work life balance.

1. Why did Microsoft Japan decide to lengthen their weekends？

A. To reduce their expenses and save bills.

B. To improve their employees well beings.

C. ?To make their working environment better.

D. To allow the employees to treat their illness.

2. What did Microsoft Japan do during their experiment？

A. Luxurious things were forbidden.

B. They had meetings less frequently.

C. They had much more short meetings.

D. The workers were allowed to work flexibly.

3. How did the experiment benefit Microsoft Japan？

A. It made the employees keep healthier.

B. It improved workers time management.

C. It contributed to real cost reductions.

D. It caused little damage to the staff morale.

4. What does the author think of making a short workweek normal in companies？

A. It is most probable.

B. It is relatively easy.

C. It is well accepted.

D. It is very difficult.

難句分析

But the shortened workweek still has a long way to go because a corporate mindset has long pushed in the opposite direction. 但縮短工作周的做法還有一段很長的路要走，因?yàn)殚L期以來企業(yè)心態(tài)都是朝著相反方向推進(jìn)的。

該句為主從復(fù)合句，句中because引導(dǎo)原因狀語從句。

背景知識(shí)

四天工作制

所謂的“四天工作制”，最初并不是指一周只工作四天，而是每周都有一天可以讓員工做自己崗位職責(zé)之外的事情。發(fā)展到現(xiàn)在，一些歐美國家的政府機(jī)構(gòu)和私企已經(jīng)開始大力推行一周4天工作制。在保證工作總量不變的前提下，采取一周4天工作制單位的人們一天要上10個(gè)小時(shí)的班，而許多人也欣然接受了這種變化。不少人認(rèn)為，這樣一來他們每周可以少支出兩筆交通費(fèi)，多享受一天的假日。有些國家甚至出臺(tái)政策，讓一部分員工先試行“四天工作制”，并對這部分員工給予一定補(bǔ)貼，以獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)他們節(jié)約能源。