Work-life balance: Ways to restore harmony and reduce stressFinding work-life ba

Work-life balance: Ways to restore harmony and reduce stressFinding work-life ba

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Work-life balance: Ways to restore harmony and reduce stress
Finding work-life balance in today’s frenetically paced world is no simple task.
Spend more time at work than at home, and you miss out on a rewarding personal life. Then again, when you face challenges in your personal life, such as caring for an aging parent or coping with marital problems, concentrating on your job can be difficult.
Whether the problem is too much focus on work or too little, when your work life and your personal life feel out of balance, stress — along with its harmful effects — is the result.
The good news is that you can take control of your work-life balance — and give yourself the time to do the things that are most important to you. The first step is to recognize how the world of work has changed. Then you can evaluate your relationship to work and apply some specific strategies for striking a healthier balance.
How work invades your personal life
There was a time when employees showed up for work Monday through Friday and worked eight- to nine-hour days. The boundaries between work and home were fairly clear then. But the world has changed and, unfortunately, the boundaries have blurred for many workers. Here’s why:
●Global economy. As more skilled workers enter the global labor market and companies outsource or move more jobs to reduce labor costs, people feel pressured to work longer and produce more just to protect their jobs.
●International business. Work continues around the world 24 hours a day for some people. If you work in an international organization, you might be on call around the clock for troubleshooting or consulting.
●Advanced communication technology. Many people now have the ability to work anywhere — from their home, from their car and even on vacation. And some managers expect this.
●Longer hours. Employers commonly ask employees to work longer hours than they’re scheduled. Often, overtime is mandatory. If you hope to move up the career ladder, you may find yourself regularly working more than 40 hours a week to achieve and exceed expectations.
●Changes in family roles. Today’s married worker is typically part of a dual-career couple, which makes it difficult to find time to meet commitments to family, friends and community.
Married to your work
It can be tempting to rack up the hours at work — especially if you’re trying to earn a promotion or some extra money for a child’s education or a dream vacation. For others, working more hours feels necessary in order to manage the workload.
But if you’re spending most of your time at work, your home life will likely pay the price. Consider the pros and cons of working extra hours on your work-life balance:
●Fatigue. Your ability to think and your eye-hand coordination decrease when you’re tired. This means you’re less productive and may make more mistakes. These mistakes can lead to injury or rework and negatively impact your professional reputation.
●Family. You may miss out on important events, such as your child’s first bike ride, your father’s 60th birthday or your high-school reunion. Missing out on important milestones may harm relationships with your loved ones.
●Friends. Trusted friends are a key part of your support system. But if you’re spending time at the office instead of with them, you’ll find it difficult to nurture those friendships.
●Expectations. If you regularly work extra hours, you may be given more responsibility. This could create a never-ending and increasing cycle, causing more concerns and challenges.
Sometimes working overtime is important. If you work for a company that requires mandatory overtime, you won’t be able to avoid it, but you can learn to manage it. Most importantly, say no when you’re too tired, when it’s affecting your health or when you have crucial family obligations.
Striking the best work-life balance
For most people, juggling the demands of career and personal life is an ongoing challenge. With so many demands on your time — from overtime to family obligations — it can feel difficult to strike this balance. The goal is to make time for the activities that are the most important to you.
Here are some ideas to help you find the balance that’s best for you:
●Learn to say no. Whether it’s a co-worker asking you to spearhead an extra project or your child’s teacher asking you to manage the class play, remember that it’s OK to respectfully say no. When you quit doing the things you only do out of guilt or a false sense of obligation, you’ll make more room in your life for the activities that are meaningful to you and bring you joy.
●Leave work at work. Make a conscious decision to separate work time from personal time. When with your family, for instance, turn off your cell phone and put away your laptop computer.
●Manage your time. Organize household tasks efficiently. Do one or two loads of laundry every day, rather than saving it all for your day off. A weekly family calendar of important dates and a daily list of to-dos will help you avoid deadline panic. If your employer offers a course in time management, sign up for it.
●Get enough sleep. There’s nothing as stressful and potentially dangerous as working when you’re sleep-deprived. Not only is your productivity affected, but also you can make costly mistakes. You may then have to work even more hours to make up for these mistakes.
●Communicate clearly. Limit time-consuming misunderstandings by communicating clearly and listening carefully. Take notes if necessary.
●Nurture yourself. Set aside time each day for an activity that you enjoy, such as walking, working out or listening to music.
●Set aside one night each week for recreation. Take the phone off the hook, power down the computer and turn off the TV. Discover activities you can do with your partner, family or friends, such as playing golf, fishing or canoeing. Making time for activities you enjoy will rejuvenate you.
Remember, striking a work-life balance isn’t a one-shot deal. Creating balance in your life is a continuous process. Balance doesn’t mean doing everything. Examine your priorities and set boundaries. Be firm in what you can and cannot do. Only you can restore harmony to your lifestyle.
小题1:What will happen if you’re spending most of your time at work?
A.You might lose all your friends.
B.You will lose both health and wealth.
C.You perhaps be given more responsibility.
D.You may be misunderstood by your loved ones.
小题2:According to the passage, you’d better say no to mandatory overtime when ___________.
A.you get bored with the work
B.you are not interested in the work
C.you can’t get additional allowance
D.you have crucial family obligations
小题3:What does the underlined sentence mean?
A.To do things people ask you to do can bring you a lot of joy.
B.You should do the things people ask you to do without feeling guilty.
C.You shouldn’t do the things people ask you to do if you don’t want to.
D.To do things for yourself is more meaningful than to do things for others.
小题4:What will not happen if you don’t get enough sleep?
A.You can make costly mistakes.
B.You will have low productivity.
C.You will feel stressed while working.
D.You will have no sense of exhaustion.
小题5:What does the real balance mean according to the author?
A.Being firm that working overtime will strike a work-life balance.
B.Examining priorities and deciding what is the most important to you.
C.Trying to carrying out everything you want to do whether you can do it or not.
D.Being cautious when saying no to somebody in a bid to maintain fine relationships.

答案

小题1:C
小题2:D
小题3:C
小题4:D
小题5:B 
解析

试题分析:如果你的工作占用了你大部分时间,那么你就没有足够的时间来享受生活。文章提到了过度工作会使你疲劳并导致效率低下;过度工作还会占用你与家人和朋友团聚的时间,重要的是做出正确的判断和决定,判断哪些事情比较紧急,决定哪些事情对你来说是最重要的。
小题1:细节题:从Married to your work小标题下列举的过度工作可能给自己和家人或朋友带来的影响可知,文章提到了过度工作会使你疲劳并导致效率低下;过度工作还会占用你与家人和朋友团聚的时间而使亲情、友情受到影响;过度工作还会使你深陷工作泥潭以至于你肩上的担子越压越重。选C
小题2:参见Married to your work小标题下“Most importantly, say no when you’re too tired, when it’s affecting your health or when you have crucial family obligations.”一句可知,当你遇到如下三种情况的时候要对加班说“不”:太累了;影响到你的健康;有至关重要的家事。选D
小题3:细节题:参见Striking the best work-life balance小标题下画线一句可知,作者是在建议大家学会说“不”,当别人让你帮助做某事的时候,你如果不想做,可以礼貌地拒绝,而不要强迫自己去做。选C
小题4:细节题:参见Striking the best work-life balance小标题下Get enough sleep.一段所讲述的内容可知,如果你睡眠不足,你可能会在工作的时候感觉有压力;你可能会犯错误而因此付出高昂的代价;你的工作效率低下。但是文章中并没有说当你睡眠不足的时候,你就没有疲劳的感觉。选D
小题5:概括题:纵观全文可知,本文作者认为,做出正确的判断和决定,判断哪些事情比较紧急,决定哪些事情对你来说是最重要的。选B 
举一反三
Children have their own rules in playing games. They seldom need a judge and rarely trouble to keep scores. They don’t care much about who wins or loses, and it doesn’t seem to worry them if the game is not finished. Yet, they like games that depend a lot on luck, so that their personal abilities cannot be directly compared. They also enjoy games that move in stages, in which each stage, the choosing of leaders, the picking-up of sides, or the determining of which side shall start, is almost a game in itself.
Grown-ups can hardly find children’s games exciting, and they often feel puzzled at why their kids play such simple games again and again. However, it is found that a child plays games for very important reasons. He can be a good player without having to think whether he is a popular person, and he can find himself being a useful partner to someone of whom he is ordinarily afraid. He becomes a leader when it comes to his turn. He can be confident, too, in particular games, that it is his place to give orders, to pretend to be dead, to throw a ball actually at someone, or to kiss someone he caught.
It appears to us that when children play a game they imagine a situation under their control. Everyone knows the rules, and more important, everyone plays according to the rules. Those rules may be childish, but they make sure that every child has a chance to win.
小题1:What is true about children when they play games?
A.They can stop playing any time they like.
B.They can test their personal abilities.
C.They want to pick a better team.
D.They don’t need rules.
小题2:To become a leader in a game the child has to ______.
A.play wellB.be popular among his playmates
C.be confident in himselfD.wait for his turn
小题3:What do we know about grown-ups?
A.They are not interested in games.
B.They find children’s games too easy.
C.They don’t need a reason to play games.
D.They don’t understand children’s games.
小题4:The writer believes that _______.
A.children should make better rules for their games
B.children should invite grow-ups to play with them
C.children’s games can do them a lot of good
D.children play games without reasons

题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
People have been listening to music to get in the mood for hundreds of years. Recently, there is scientific research to back up what we have always known about music. The studies have shown that when people are excited or happy they are more helpful. The opposite happens when people feel aggressive(好斗的) or under stress. The use of music can influence how helpful people can be.
Dr Adrian North made a study with 256 university students. Half the group took exercise in the gymnasium listening to music which can bring happiness and the other half exercised to aggressive music. When leaving the gym, the students were asked to hand out flyers (传单) in support of the local disabled athlete’s foundation.
The results showed that nearly half of the group that listened to happy music were willing to hand out flyers. But in the group that heard the aggressive music, less than 20% were willing. This study suggests that our choice of music can influence our willingness to cooperate(合作).
While a study also shows that productivity (生产效率) can increase with the right choice of background music in the workplace. As music stimulates (刺激) workers’ minds, job satisfaction is often positively influenced. Other studies have shown that workers who are in a good mood report more job satisfaction than those in a bad mood.
These studies show that music can have a powerful influence on a person’s ability to cooperate. Moods have a direct influence on cooperation and job satisfaction, etc. These factors also have a direct relationship to the success of a business.
小题1:The underlined words “back up” in the paragraph can be replaced by _____.
A.supportB.leaveC.refuseD.compare
小题2:In the studies mentioned in the passage, music is used to _____.
A.express people’s ideasB.change people’s moods
C.improve people’s healthD.show people’s love of arts
小题3:According to the passage, people who are in a good mood _____.
A.can understand the musicB.have a good taste in music
C.might do well in their workD.are influenced by others
小题4:The passage is mainly about _______.
A.effort and successB.music and science
C.work and lifeD.music and mood

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You can mail a letter or package under 16 oz. (unit of weight, 454g) in a mailbox, a blue box found on many street corners in U.S. cities and towns. Each mail box should have pick-up times clearly posted on top.
!Packages over 16 oz. placed in a mailbox will not be sent. Bring the package to the post office or retail (零售的) mailing shop instead. The clerk will process if for you.
The Post Office
In the larger cities, when you go to the post office you must take a number and wait in line. Post offices tend to be extremely crowded around Christmas. Try to go as early in the morning as possible. Post office branches open at 9 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. while main branches close at 6 p.m.
Buying Stamps
! The cost of a first-class postage stamp to mail a letter is currently 39 cents, although rates tend to change often.
Stamps are sold individually or in booklets (小册子) of 10 (US$3.90) or 20(US$7.80) or in rolls of 100(US$9.00). You can buy stamps at the following locations:
·online, if you have a computer.
Link to the U.S. Postal Service website (http://www. usps.com) and click on “stamps online”.
·at your local post office
·at some ATMs (automated teller machine)
·at some supermarkets
·by mail
·retail mailing stores(you may have to pay extra for stamps and to mail packages through the U.S. Postal Service)
Postal Rates and Fees
The U.S. Postal Service’s online postage calculator(计算器) tells you the cost to mail a letter or package anywhere in the world. But you should know the weight of the package and the post code of the package’s origin and destination. If you don’t know the weight of the letter or package to be mailed, you can go to your local post office and the postal clerk will weigh it for you.
小题1:When do the post office main branches close?
A.At 9 p.m.B.At 6 p.m.C.At 5 p.m.D.At 5:30 p.m.
小题2:If you have only 39 cents, you can NOT buy a stamp at_____.
A.a local post officeB.a supermarket
C.an ATMD.a retail mailing store
小题3:The cost to mail a letter can be calculated when you know _____.
①its weight   ②its origin   ③its destination
④its origin’s post code     ⑤its destination’s post code
A.①③④
B.①④⑤
C.①②③
D.①②⑤

题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
For those who make journeys across the world, the speed of travel today has turned the countries into a series of villages. Distances between them appear no greater to a modern traveler than those which once faced men as they walked from village to village. Jet planes fly people from one end of the earth to the other, allowing them a freedom of movement undreamt of a hundred years ago.
Yet some people wonder if the revolution in travel has gone too far. A price has been paid, they say, for the conquest (征服) of time and distance. Travel is something to be enjoyed, not endured (忍受). The boat offers leisure and time enough to appreciate the ever-changing sights and sounds of a journey. A journey by train also has a special charm about it. Lakes and forests and wild, open plains sweeping past your carriage window create a grand view in which time and distance mean nothing. On board a plane, however, there is just the blank blue of the sky filling the narrow windows of the airplane. The soft lighting, in-flight films and gentle music make up the only world you know, and the hours progress slowly.
Then there is the time spent being ‘processed’ at a modern airport. People are conveyed like robots along walkways; baggage is weighed, tickets produced, examined and produced yet again before the passengers move to another waiting area. Journeys by rail and sea take longer, yes, but the hours devoted to being ‘processed’ at departure and arrival in airports are luckily absent. No wonder, then, that the modern high-speed trains are winning back passengers from the airlines.
Man, however, is now a world traveler and cannot turn his back on the airplane. The working lives of too many people depend upon it; whole new industries have been built around its design and operation. The holiday-maker, too, with limited time to spend, patiently endures the busy airports and the limited space of the flight to gain those extra hours and even days, relaxing in the sun. Speed controls people’s lives; time saved, in work or play, is the important thing—or so we are told. Perhaps those first horsemen, riding free across the wild, open plains, were enjoying a better world than the one we know today. They could travel at will, and the clock was not their master.
小题1: What does the writer try to express in Paragraph 1?
A.Travel by plane has speeded up the growth of villages.
B.Man has been fond of traveling rather than staying in one place.
C.The speed of modern travel has made distances relatively short.
D.The freedom of movement has helped people realize their dreams.
小题2:How does the writer support the underlined statement in Paragraph 2?
A.By giving examples.
B.By giving instructions.
C.By analyzing cause and effect.
D.By following the order of time.
小题3:According to Paragraph 3, passengers are turning back to modern high-speed trains because ______.
A.they pay less for the tickets
B.they feel safer during the travel
C.they can enjoy higher speed of travel
D.they don’t have to waste time being ‘processed’
小题4: What does the last sentence of the passage mean?
A.They could travel with their master.
B.They needed the clock to tell the time.
C.They preferred traveling on horseback.
D.They could enjoy free and relaxing travel.

题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
Roger Alvarez, 22, was one of the 52 percent of students who didn’t make it through his senior year at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles.
He dropped out several years ago, but by the time he was in ninth grade, Alvarez says he already knew he wasn’t going to graduate.
“There’s a certain amount of knowledge you have to have when you enter in a specific grade, and I didn’t have it.” Alvarez says,“Every class I used to go in, I was like, ‘Do I know this? I don’t know this.’”
It was a shameful attitude, he tells his former English teacher, Antero Garcia, 29.
“You were determined to help me, but what was I willing to give? I could have actually tried.”
For his part, Garcia wants to know how he could have reached out to Alvarez better, but Alvarez says Garcia had always been helpful.
“I mean, you could cheer me up, and then I see other students doing way better,” Alvarez says,“So then, I get nervous. I get stuck, and then my motivation goes to the floor.” He felt the situation was hopeless.
“You talked to me like if I could do it, but inside me, I knew I couldn’t.” he tells Garcia,“I just didn’t want you to think that I’m…stupid.”
Now, school is a life tool that Alvarez says he’s missing—but his teacher isn’t to blame.
“Always, I just wanted you to know…you were a good teacher, and I always respected you.” he tells Garcia,“Some teachers, I felt like they only wanted to teach a certain group of people. But you looked at me and you paid attention.”
“Maybe it didn’t get me to graduate, but there’re a lot of teachers, they don’t take the time to take a look. And it was never your fault.”
Alvarez now works the night shift at a loading dock(码头). He still hopes to get his degree one day.
小题1:When Alvarez entered a grade, he was sure that ___________.
A.he wasn’t going to pass the class
B.he would do better than other students
C.he might learn an amount of knowledge
D.he would try his best to learn at class
小题2:By saying “my motivation goes to the floor”,  Alvarez meant __________.
A.he hid his goal from othersB.he lost heart gradually
C.he built up his motivationD.he fell to the ground completely
小题3:In the opinion of Alvarez, most teachers _______.
A.paid no attention to teachingB.had no time to read books
C.didn’t care about what he didD.showed no respect to students
小题4:The passage mainly tells us that _________.
A.a dropout complains about being treated badly
B.a dropout plans to get his degree again
C.a dropout shows respect for not graduating
D.a dropout has thanks to his teacher not blame

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