Take Away English-Blue Monday 压抑的星期一

depressed1 man" width="203" src="/upimg/allimg/080603/1057500.jpg" /> It's all too much

Psychologists in Britain have said that the last full week of January is the most depressing time of year, and labelled next Monday ‘Blue Monday’. Blue is a slang way of saying unhappy.

Mondays are generally seen as the worst day of the week because people feel grumpy and tired at having to go back to work after a weekend with a different sleep pattern.

There are various reasons why more people feel depressed at this time of year. Many people have unpaid² credit card bills for the Christmas presents they bought, and pay day is often not until the end of the month.

As the party season is over, people feel stressed because they have to go back to real life – work and commuting³; and they may be unhappy with their body image after bingeing on booze, chocolates, and other food at Christmas-time.

People may have already failed in their New Year’s resolutions, such as giving up smoking.The bad weather in January can also contribute to people feeling fed up.

Some companies are taking this quite seriously and offering counselling for any staff who are feeling depressed. They hope that helping⁴ people as soon as there are signs of depression will avoid absenteeism. Evidence shows that unreasonable⁵ managers who contribute to their staff feeling fed up at this time can expect an uncooperative workforce⁶.

However, it’s not all bad! Many people feel optimistic at this time, that things can only get better. Psychologists offer suggestions of how to combat feeling blue. These include spending 15 minutes doing a 'gratitude⁷ exercise' thinking about and writing down what you are grateful for, such as health, family, friends and so on.

Taking up a new hobby, doing some exercise, going to bed earlier, eating a healthy breakfast, and listening to some uplifting music, are all recommended as ways to feel more cheerful.

To avoid feeling blue next January, experts say that the best thing to do is to plan better next December. Spend less on presents, eat and drink less over the festive⁸ period, and make more realistic New Year’s resolutions.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

depressing 令人压抑的 sleep pattern 睡眠习惯 stressed 有压力的 body image 体形 resolutions 决心 fed up 厌倦 absenteeism 缺勤/旷工 optimistic 乐观的 gratitude 感激 the festive period 节庆季节

labelled 标为 pay day 发薪日 commuting （乘公共交通）上下班 bingeing 大吃大喝 giving up 放弃 counselling 咨询 uncooperative 不合作的 to combat 对付/应对 uplifting （令人）振奋的 realistic 现实的

 

1 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

2 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

3 commuting   

交换（的）

参考例句：

• I used the commuting time to read and answer my mail. 我利用上下班在汽车中的时间来阅读和答复给我的函电。
• Noncommuting objects are as real to the mathematicians as commuting objects. 对于数学家来说，不可交换的对象与可交换的对象是一样真实的。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

6 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

7 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

8 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。