Unit 6 Work Wang Fang

Text A Working Hard or Hardly Working?  Introductory Questions 1)Who seem to work harder, people now or in the past? 2) Do they really work harder? How do you know? 3) Is it right the more time a person spends at work, the more she or he accomplishes? 4) Why are employees working longer hours now than ever before? 5) Do most people believe more time means more work? 6) Do people work long hours only for more money?

II. Detailed Study of the Text 1.hard: with great effort e.g. Look hard at the picture. Think hard and work hard.  hardly: almost not e.g. He could hardly wait to hear the news. There’s hardly any coal left.

2.find out: to learn or discover e.g. I won’t tell you, you must find out for yourself? Please find out whether there is an express train at 10:00.  find: to discover, esp. by searching: get( something or someone that was hidden or lost) e.g. I can’t find my boots. They found him somewhere to live. 3.write down: to record in writing (esp. what has been said) e.g. Why not write down your ideas on a piece of paper before you start your essay? I wrote down the address in the back of my diary.

4.at the end of: at the final point or the last part of e.g. The task was finished at the end of  at an end; finished e.g. The war was at an end.  in the end: at last e.g. It will turn out all right in the end.

5.discover; 1) to find (something existing but not known before, often a place or a scientific fact) e.g. Columbus discovered America in I discovered a fly in my coffee. 2) to find out( a fact, or the answer to a question) e.g. We soon discovered the truth. We discovered her to be a good cook. Did you ever discover who sent you the flowers?

6. the+ 比较级, the + 比较级 “ 越 … ，越 … The more he gives his children, the more they want. The more you practice, the better you can speak English. The more I see of him, the less I like him. 7. fall off: to become worse or become less in quality, amount, etc. e.g. The quality of performance has fallen off since last year. Business fell off after Christmas. The daily number of passengers by this airline falls off.

8. in addition to: as well as e.g. In addition to the apples you asked for, I bought you some oranges. In addition to English, he has to study a second foreign language. 9. effectively: in an effective way e.g. She works everything out effectively. effective adj. e.g. He made an effective speech. 10. so that: in order that ； with the result that e.g. She worked hard so that everything would be ready in time. Nothing more was heard from him so that we began to wonder if he was dead.

11. search out: to find out or uncovered by searching e.g. The lawyer searched out the weaknesses in the witness’s statement. 12. benefit: advantage: profit: good effect e.g. He has had the benefit o first-class education. I’ve done it for his benefit. It’s of great benefit to everyone.  Profit: money gain: money gained by a business or a piece of business e.g. He sold his house at a profit: he made a profit of $1000 on the sale. There’s very little profit in selling land at present.

 Para.1Americans seem to be working harder today than ever before.  Para.2 The connection between time and productivity is not always positive.  Para.3 Employees have to spend more time on their jib because employers often consider the amount of time on the job in addition to job performance

 Para.4 Employers believe that if the employees stay at work later, they may actually do more work, which may encourage other employees to spend more time at work, too. Para.5 People do not work long hours only for more money.

 IV. Summary of the Text As shown by a recent survey, Americans work longer hours and take shorter vacations than they did in Though more time on the job doesn’t necessarily mean greater efficiency. In spite of this, people still work extra hours simply because they hope to be promoted by their employers. Head-hunters of a company also tend to believe in the seeming truth that more time leads to more work. However, it should be noted that this attitude toward work does vary from person to person and from one circle of society to another.