Business 2006-07-11

American workers are increasingly demanding more time off from their employers. Gerri Willis. She's live in New York with that story and wrap-up of today's action on Wall Street. Hi, Gerri.

Hey, that’s right. Hi, there, Richard. Stocks on Wall Street ended the day mixed after surrendering strong early gains, tech stocks were weak and investors¹ were bracing² for the start of second quarter earning season which kicks off with today's aftermarket report, from Dow Components³ Alcoa. At the close, the Dow added 13 points but the NASDAQ shed 2/3 of a percent. Meanwhile crude oil prices fell 48 cents to settle at $63.61.

It’s summer time and many Americans are taking time off from work to get away from it all. But whether you are jetting off abroad, reclining at the beach or just staying home to recharge, you’re always back at work before you know it. Well this could soon change. US companies are now responding to workers' demands for more time off. Experts say many employees actually want extra vacation days more than they want wage increases. Some of us want both of those things. These days Americans change jobs more frequently and people don't want to wait 5 or so years to rack up additional vacation days.

Well, who wouldn’t mind a couple of extra days. How hard a company is changing the policy here, Gerri, to answer to that?

Well, this is particularly true for small businesses due to heavy competition in the job market. Small companies typically offer just one-week of vacation time during that first year of employment. That increases to about 3 weeks after 7 years, but negotiating vacation days beyond a company's written policies is becoming increasingly common and increasingly successful. A growing number of small businesses now give extra vacation time to make up for a lack of benefits like health insurance.

And here's a potentially important trend taking root, one in five companies now have paid time off banks. Commonly known as PTOs. Now this combines all you sick days with your vacation days and sometimes holidays into one larger pool of days. This option increases your paid time off while companies also benefit because it deters⁴ workers from calling in sick just to get a day off.

Hmm, ok, now the next story you have also interesting to me. This is about video games.

Yeah. video game .That is right. Sony has a patent on a software technology that could stop you from playing your video games over at a friend's house.

En?

En, yeah. According to The EOA Time, Sony's technology will prevent people from playing used, rented or borrowed video games in its playstation consoles. Now some customers are worried it could be used in Sony PlayStation 3 which is due out this fall.

Sony was criticized earlier this year, Eray,you might remember for including software on some of its music CDs that installs itself on people's computers to prevent piracy⁵.

So are they actually going to officially have a plan using this technology?

Well, they mean tight-lipped about it. It is not unusual for companies to patent a technology and never even use it. But this patent does seem to be aimed at deterring⁶ game pri, privacy, piracy, pardon me. Industry experts say the sale of second-hand⁷ games is an increasing burden for game publishers, who receive no pre, proceeds from the resales.

Analysts⁸ estimate the used video game market is worth about a billion dollars a year. So you can see it's some important dinero there . Back to you, Richard.

It is OK. Thanks Gerri.

Welcome.

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time off :time when you are not at work or in school 休假
wrap-up :Am E a short summary at the end of something,especially a news program 简短的总结
surrender:to give something to someone in authority because you have to 交出,放弃
shed:to get rid of something that is not wanted or is no longer necessary 放弃
recline:to lie or lean in a comfortable position with your back supported by something 舒服地躺在...
rack up :to get a large number or amount of something 获得
take root:扎根,生根
call in sick:打电话请病假
tight-lipped:mainly journalism refusing to comment on something,especially to journalists 守口如瓶
dinero:informal money 钱

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

3 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

4 deters   

v.阻止，制止( deter的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The filth here deters all but the invited guest. 这里污秽不堪，除非有事，外人是裹足不前的。 来自辞典例句
• Many people believe that capital punishment deters crime. 很多人相信极刑能阻止犯罪。 来自互联网

5 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

6 deterring   

v.阻止，制止( deter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• However, investors say are a number of issues deterring business. 然而，投资者表示，有很多问题让他们却步。 来自互联网
• It's an effective way of deterring potential does online, the logic goes. 逻辑上这是抑制潜在线上威胁的有效方法。 来自互联网

7 second-hand   

adj.用过的，旧的，二手的

参考例句：

• I got this book by chance at a second-hand bookshop.我赶巧在一家旧书店里买到这本书。
• They will put all these second-hand goods up for sale.他们将把这些旧货全部公开出售。

8 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。