托福综合写作优秀作文练习题：老美的四天工作制

 　　托福综合写作阅读材料：

　　In the United States, employees typicallywork five days a week for eight hours each day. However, many employees want towork a four-day week and are willing to accept less pay in order to do so. Amandatory policy requiring companies to offer their employees the option of workinga four-day workweek for four-fifths (80 percent) of their normal pay wouldbenefit the economy as a whole as well as the individual companies and the employeeswho decided² to take the option.

　　在美国，职员一般执行的一周五天，每天八小时工作制。然而，很多职员希望能够改为四天工作制，如果能够满足需要可以接受薪水降低。要求企业提供薪水八成工作四天的工作方式供员工选择对于国家整个经济都是有好处的，同时获益的还有个人，以及执行这个政策的公司。

　　The shortened workweek would increasecompany profits because employees would feel more rested and alert, and as aresult, they would make fewer costly³ errors in their work. Hiring more staff toensure that the same amount of work would be accomplished⁴ would not result inadditional payroll⁵ costs because four-day employees would only be paid 80percent of the normal rate. In the end, companies would have fewer overworkedand error-prone employees for the same money, which would increase companyprofits.

　　减少工作日会提高公司的利润，因为员工们会感到很轻松和精神，这样他们就会在工作中较少犯那些可能会带来损失的错误。为了完成同样的工作量将需要雇佣更多的人手，但是这不意味着需要支付更多的薪水，这是因为四天工作日只需支付给每个员工80%的工资。这样，公司花同样的钱，员工这会过于劳累和失误连连了，这样将会提高公司的利润。

　　For the country as a whole, one of theprimary benefits of offering this option to employees is that it would reduceunemployment rates. If many full-time⁶ employees started working fewer hours, someof their workload⁷ would have to be shifted to others. Thus, for every fouremployees who went on an 80 percent week, a new employee could be hired at the80 percent rate.

　　对于国家整体来说，给职员提供这样的选择选择的好处就是可以降低失业率。如果原来全职工作的人缩短了工作时间之后，他们的部分工作就需要转给其他的员工。这样，如果每个员工每周都只工作80%的时间，这样就可以以同样的工作时间来雇佣新员工了。

　　Finally, the option of a four-day workweekwould be better for individual employees. Employees who could afford a lowersalary in exchange for more free time could improve the quality of their livesby spending the extra time with their families, pursuing private interests, orenjoying leisure activities.

　　最后，这种四天工作日的选择对于员工个人来说也是有利的。那些可以接受用降低薪水来增加休息时间的员工可以提高他们的生活质量，因为他们有更多的时间陪家人、追求自己的兴趣、以及享受一些休闲生活。

　　托福综合写作阅读部分需要提取的观点是：

　　- Main point: A mandatory¹ policy requiringcompanies to offer their employees the option of working a four-day workweekfor four-fifths (80 percent) of their normal pay would benefit the economy as awhole as well as the individual companies and the employees who decided to takethe option.

　　- Sub point 1: The shortened workweek wouldincrease company profits.

　　- Sub point 2: the country as a whole willbenefits.

　　- Sub point 3: the option of a four-dayworkweek would be better for individual employees.

1 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

5 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

6 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

7 workload   

n.作业量，工作量

参考例句：

• An assistant one day a week would ease my workload.每周有一天配一个助手就会减轻我的工作负担。
• He's always grousing about the workload.他总是抱怨工作量大。