Unit Ten Text (点击收听全文) Do you view work as a burden or an opportunity?
Are you the kind of person who looks for ways to save
yrncr energy or the kind that finds spending your ener-
gy satisfying? Why do people like to complain about
work? Find the answers to questions like these in the
following essay.
WHY PEOPLE WORK Leonard R. Sayles
Jobs and work do much more than most of us realize to provide happi-
ness and contentxnent. We're all used to thinking that work provides the
material things of life -- the goods and services that make possible our
modern civilization. But we are much less conscious of the extent to which
5 work provides the more intangible, but more crucial, psychological well--
being that can make the difference between a full and an empty life .
Historically, work has been associated with slavery and sin and punish-
ment. And in our own day we are used to hearing the traditional complaints:
"I can't wait for my vacation," "I wish I could stay home today," "My boss
10 treats me poorly," "I've got too much work to do and not enough time to do
it." Against this background, it may well come as a surprise to learn that
not only psychologists but other behavioral scientists have come to accept
the positive contribution of work to the individual's happiness and sense
of personal achievement. Work is more than a necessity for most human
15 beings; it is the focus of their lives, the source of their identity and
creativity.
Rather than a punishment or a burden, work is the opportunity to reali-
ze one's potential. Many psychiatrists heading mental health clinics have
observed its healing effect. A good many patients who feel depressed in
20 clinics gain renewed self-confidence when gainfully employed and lose some,
if not all; of their most acute symptoms. Increasingly, institutions dealing
with mental health problems are establishing workshops wherein those too
sick to get a job in "outside" industry can work, while every effort is
exerted to arrange "real" jobs for those well enough to work outside.
25 And the reverse is true, too. For large numbers of people, the absence
of work is harmful to their health. Retirement often brings many problems
surrounding the "What do I do with myself?" question, even though there
may be no financial cares: Large numbers of people regularly get headaches
and other illnesses on weekends when they don't have their jobs to go to,
30 and must fend far themselves. It has been observed that unemployment, quite
aside from exerting financial pressures, brings enormous psychological
troubles and that many individuals deteriorate rapidly when jobless.
But why? Why should work be such a significant source of human satis-
faction? A good share of the answer rests in the kind of pride that is
35 stimulated by the job, by the activity of accomplishing.
Pride in Accomplishment
The human being longs for a sense of being accomplished, of:being able
to do things, with his hand, with his mind, with his will. Each of us wants
40 to feel he or she has the ability to do something that is meaningful and
that serves as a tribute to our inherent abilities.
It is easiest to see this in the craftsman who lovingly shapes some
cheap material into an object that may be either useful or beautiful or
both. You can see the carpenter or bricklayer stand aside and admire the
45 product of his personal skill.
But even where there is no obvious end product that is solely attribu-
table to one person's skill, researchers have found that employees find
pride in accomplishment. Our own research in hospitals suggests that even
the houskeeping and laundry staffs take pride in the fact that in their
50 own ways they are helping to cure sick people -- and thus accomplishing a
good deal.
We're often misled by the complaints surrounding difficult work; deep
down most people regard their own capacity to conquer the tough job as the
mark of their own unique personality. Complaining is just part of working.
55 After all, how else do you know who you are, except as you can demonstrate
the ability of your mind to control you limbs and hands and words? You
are, in significant measure, what you can do.
Some are deceived into thinking that people like to store up energy, to
rest and save themselves as much as possible. Just the opposite. It is
60 energy expenditure that is satisfying.
Just watch an employee who must deal with countless other people be-
cause his or her job is at some central point in a communications network:
a salesman at a busy counter,a stock broker on the phone,a customer repre-
sentative. They will tell you how much skill and experience it takes to an-
65 swer countless questions and handle various kinds of personalities every
hour of the day. Not everyone can interact with such persistence and over
long hours, but those who do, pride themselves on a distinctive ability
that contributes mightily to the runnlng of the organization.
But work is more than accomplishment and pride in being able to com-
70 mand the job, because except for a few craftsmen and artists most work
takes place "out in the world, " with and through other people.
Esprit de corps
Perhaps an example will make the point :
75 I remember viewing a half dozen men in a chair factory whose job it
was to bend several pieces of steel and attach them so that a foiding
chair would result. While there were ten or twelve of these "teams" that
worked together, one in particular was known for its perfect coordination
and lightning-like efforts. The men knew they were good. They would work in
80 spurts for twenty or thirty minutes before taking a break - to show them-
selves, bystanders and other groups what it was to be superbly skilled and
self-controlled, to be the best in 'the factory.
When I talked with them, each expressed enormous pride in being a part
of the fastest, best team: And this sense of belonging to an accomplished
85 work group is one of the distinctive satisfactions of the world of work.
One further word about work group satisfactions. Unlike many other
aspects of life, relationships among people at work tend to be simpler; less
complicated, somewhat less emotional. This is not to say there aren't argu
90 ments aiid jealousies, but, on the whole, behavioral research discloses that
human relations at work are just easier, perhaps because they are more reg-
ular and predictable and thus simpler to adjust to than the sporadic; the
more intense and less regular relationships in the community. And the work
group also gently pressures its members to learn how to adjust to one ano-
95 ther so that the "rough edges" are worked off because people know they
must do certain things with and through one another each day.
Beyond the team and the work group, there is the organization, whether
it be company or hospital or university. The same pride in being ' part of
a well-coordinated, successful unit is derived from being part of a larger
100 collectivity. Working for a company that is thought of as being one of
the best in the comrnunity can provide employees with both status and
selfconfidence. They assume, usually with good reason, that others regard
them more highly, even envy them, and that they are more competent than
the average because of this association with a "winner," a prestigious
105 institution. We in truth bask in the reflected glory of the institution,
and we seek ways of asserting our membership so that others will know and
can recognize our good fortune.
New Words Phrases & Expressions associate with connect with ( often mentally)把…与…联系在一起
rather than instead of
fend for oneself look after oneself 照料自己; 自行谋生
aside from besides, apart from 除了…以外
long for desire (to have) sth. strongly 渴望
take pride in feel pleased and happy because of 为…而感到得意
store up put away for future use 储存, 储备
pride oneself on regard as a special reason for pride or
satisfaction 以…自豪
make the/one'S point prove that sth. is true 证明一个论点
in particular especially
at work busy at a job; doing work
on the whole considering everything; in general
work off get rid of, dispose 除去, 清除
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