礼节美语 Business Etiquette 145 Working Overtime (1)

　　星期五晚上，Jason和Wanda准备下班，跟同事Larry说再见。
Jason: Goodnight, Larry! I'm heading home. It's been a long day.
Larry: Goodnight, Jason. Have a good evening.
Wanda: You're not going home, Larry?
L: Na...thought I'd try and finish up this project I've been working on.
J: But it's already 9:30! How many more hours do you plan to work?
L: Oh, I'd say this project will be done in six hours or so.
W: So you're going to work through the night? Larry...have you ever heard of "karoshi?"
Jason准备下班回家，I'm heading home. Larry却说要把手头项目做完，finish up the project. 当时已经九点半了，Larry估计还要六个小时才能完事，所以一定要熬夜，work through the night. Wanda问Larry听没听说过karoshi.
L: Karaoke?
W: No...karoshi, the Japanese word for death by overwork! You've been putting in overtime¹ every night this week!
J: You know, Wanda has a point. We all need some down time. If you put in too many hours, it can hurt your body and it can affect your work.
L: So people in Japan actually die from working too hard?
W: Yep. It's becoming a big problem. More than 100 people die from overwork in Japan every year.
原来，karoshi是个日本词，意思是工作过度而死，俗称过劳死，Wanda说，日本每年有一百多人过劳死，劝 Larry不要太玩命，put in too many hours, 工作太长时间。Jason也说，We all need some down time. 所有人都要劳逸结合，down time就是放松的时间。
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L: But I have so much to do, it seems the best way to get it all done is to plow² through it until it's complete!
J: Well, that might seem like a smart way but you might be shooting yourself in the foot.
W: These days we are connected to each other with computers, cell phones and email...and that means work can find us at any time. If you're not careful, you'll never get time off!
Larry说，自己永远有做不完的事。Jason警告他说，you might be shooting yourself in the foot. 这样做可能是在搬起石头砸自己的脚，因为现在有电脑、手机，工作随时随地会找上门来，如果不小心，you'll never get time off，就永远没有时间休息。
J: Scientists say rest is one of the most important things a human brain needs. Did you know you will have more creative ideas if you are well-rested?
L: These days I hardly have any good ideas. I drink a lot of coffee and I always finish my work, but I'm not having many creative ideas.
W: Maybe that's because your brain is overloaded³. You know how you have to "defragment" your computer? Well, sometimes our brains need some defragmenting, too!
科学家说，大脑需要休息，休息好了，就能有更多的创意，creative ideas. Wanda也表示，不能让大脑负荷过重，overload, 人脑跟电脑一样，也需要defragmenting，清理清理。

1 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

2 plow   

n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough

参考例句：

• At this time of the year farmers plow their fields.每年这个时候农民们都在耕地。
• We will plow the field soon after the last frost.最后一场霜过后，我们将马上耕田。

3 overloaded   

a.超载的，超负荷的

参考例句：

• He's overloaded with responsibilities. 他担负的责任过多。
• She has overloaded her schedule with work, study, and family responsibilities. 她的日程表上排满了工作、学习、家务等，使自己负担过重。