短短两周内，拼多多先后因为员工下班路上猝死，跳楼自杀、被逼离职等多起事件登上热搜。多家英文媒体对此进行了报道。
《彭博社周刊》
furore
[ˈfjʊrɔːr] 这个词在新闻报道里很常见，指的是「公愤」，
cause / create / spur a furore
便表示「引起公愤」。
working practices
是一个固定词组，指「工作惯例」。
拼多多事件后，关于996加班文化的争议再次成为人们的焦点。
加班
真的有利于工作产出吗？我们来看一看《纽约时报》的观点。
第一段指出加班工作弊端之一：工作产出有上限，超时工作会使员工效率降低。
①There’s a ceiling on how much more someone can get done by simply spending more time at work. ②After about 48 hours a week, a worker’s output drops sharply, according to a Stanford economist.
加班所能提高的工作产量是有上限的。一位斯坦福大学的经济学家表示，每周工作时间超过
48
小时之后，员工的工作产量便会大幅下降。
📘
语篇分析：①句为段落的中心句，指出员工产出有上限。②句用具体数字展开说明的①句观点。
ceiling
[ˈsiːlɪŋ] 为名词，常指「天花板」。到顶了，即程度非常高，几乎不能被超越。因此
ceiling
还可以引申为「上限，最高限度」
(the largest number or amount of something that is officially allowed)
。
比如：
The government imposed a ceiling on imports of foreign cars.政府对进口外国汽车的数量规定了上限。
反义词为
floor
，表示工资或者物价的「最低额，底价」。比如：
Prices have gone through the floor.物价已经探底。
再比如《经济学人》一篇关于银行的文章有这样一句话：
The potential loss or gain is theoretically unlimited, since there is no
ceiling
(or
fl
oor
, as the world is fast learning) to rates.理论上，可能的损失或收益是无限的，因为利率没有上限（也没有下限，大家很快就发现了）。
cap
作名词，最常见的意思是「帽子」，给一个数字带上帽子，也就是限制了上限，因此cap也可以表示「最高限额」，尤其是金钱方面的限额。
我们在
经济学人：留学美国，哪些专业最容易留下来？
也遇见过这个词：
In 2011 the 65,000 visa
cap
was hit only in November. In 2017 it was hit on April 7th, within a week of applications opening.2011
年时
6.5
万个签证到
11
月才发放完毕，而去年到
4
月
7
日也就是申请开放才一周就已满额。
drop sharply
指「急剧下降」，这
是描述数据时经常用的搭配，大家记下来。
③Other research has appeared to support this finding.
④While there may be an initial burst of activity from overworking, people who work more than 55 hours a week perform worse than those who go home at a normal hour and get some rest.
其他研究也证实了这一发现。刚开始加班时，工作量的确能增加，但是和按时下班、休息的员工相比，每周工作时间
超过55小时的
员工工作表现更差。
📘
语篇分析：
③句指出还有其他研究可证明前述观点。代词this实现句间衔接。
④句紧接③句，采用对比手法和数据，指出工人加班工作效率会降低。
initial
[ɪˈnɪʃl
] 作形容词，指「开始的，最初的」
(happening at the beginning)
。副词形式为
initially
。
《纽约时报》一篇关于韩国疫情的文章也用到了这个词：
Though South Korea is sometimes portrayed as having averted an epidemic, thousands of people were infected and the government was initially accused of complacency. 尽管有人说韩国是躲过了流行病之劫，但数千人被感染，而且政府最初被指责为松懈大意。
initiate
为动词，指「开始；发起；创始」
(to make sth begin)
。
比如2012年考研英语一阅读里有这样一句话
：
The most famous of these efforts was initiated by Noam Chomsky.
这些尝试中最为著名的是由诺姆·乔姆斯基发起的。
initiator
指「发起人；创始人」
(the person who starts sth)。
initiative
为名词，指「倡议」，
比如：
the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI
) “一带一路”倡议。
initiative
作不可数名词，表示「主动权，主动性」。短语
take the initiative
表示「采取主动」。
最近热映的《送你一朵小红花》里有一句台词：小红花，奖励你第人生第一回积极主动。英文是这样翻译的：A red little flower. For taking the initiative for the first time. 看过电影的同学肯定能记住这个单词啦。
a burst of sth
表示「...的迸发」。比如：a burst of energy 能量的迸发 a burst of anger 怒火的爆发。文中a burst of activity 指「活动的迸发，劳动力的迸发」。
burst
还可作动词，常与into搭配，最常见的短语是
burst into tears
，表示「突然大哭」。
比如：
She
burst into tears
and ran from the kitchen.
她突然哭起来，跑出了厨房。
perform well / badly
指「表现得好/差等」
(to work or do something well, badly etc)
。原文处w
orse为badly的比较级。
比如：
Music sales are still performing worse, however, than in the early noughties.
然而，与21世纪头十年相比，音乐销量的表现仍然很糟糕。
perform badly
还可用
perform poorly
或
underperform
替换，
比如：
Confused, muddled looking factories
underperform
, while succ
essful ones use signs to help staff and visitors find the best route to their destination.
成功的工厂会使用标志帮助工作人员和游客找到通往目的地的最佳路线，而混乱、糊涂的工厂在这方面表现不佳。
①There are other costs to employers. ②An elder-care facility in Sweden that tried a six-hour workday reportedly found that nurses took fewer sick days and were more productive.③Fatigued workers cost employers $100 billion in lost productivity.
加班还会给雇主带来其它损失。有报道称，瑞典一家养老机构试行了每天六小时工作制，结果发现，护工请病假的天数下降，工作效率也更高。疲惫不堪的员工工作效率降低，由此给雇主带来的损失可达一千亿美元。
语篇分析：①句为段落中心句，指出加班导致雇主成本增加。②③句以
瑞典一家养老机构
为例说明①句。
reportedly
[rɪˈpɔːtɪdli] 为副词，指「据说，据传，据报道」
(according to what some people say)
。
比如：
Her husband's assets are reportedly worth over $15 million
.她丈夫的资产据传超过 1,500 万美元。
再比如《金融时报》在谈及专家认为特朗普是新冠病毒高危人群时写到：
The president’s profile would classify him as vulnerable. He is aged 74 and
reportedly
overweight.
从总统各方面的个人特征看，他属于高危人群。他现年74岁，据报道说已经超重了。
fatigued
[fəˈtiːɡd] 为形容词，指「精疲力竭的」
(extremely tired)
。
以后我们想形容一个人很累，除了tired, exhausted，也可以用上fatigued这个词。
比如：
Sara looked white and fatigued.
萨拉看上去脸色苍白，精疲力竭。
Employees are fatigued from having to work at a very high pace for an extended period of time. This obviously causes stress on our employees and their families. Fatigued employees make mistakes.
长期快节奏的工作，导致员工们都很疲劳。这显然给我们的员工和他们的家人造成了压力。疲劳的员工会犯错。
drained
为形容词，也可表示「精疲力竭的；无精打采的」
(very tired and without energy)
。
比如：Suddenly, she felt totally drained.她突然感觉筋疲力尽。
fatigue
[fəˈtiːg] 为名词，指「厌倦
，疲劳」。既可指身体
上的疲劳，也可指精神上的疲倦。
But Ms. Landon and her colleagues realized that “both among ourselves and perhaps in the general reading public, there’s a little bit of a
fatigue
with the data.”
但兰登和她的同事们意识到，“无论是我们自己，或许还有普通读者，都对这些数据感到有些厌倦。”
第三段承接上段，指出过去，美国商业街发现这一规律，因此纷纷缩减工时，提高效率。
①This all became obvious to the American business community long ago.
②As strong unions pushed for a 40-hour workweek in the 1800s, business leaders who acquiesced found that their companies became significantly more profitable and productive.
很久之前，美国商业界就已经明白了这个道理。
19
世纪时，工会努力争取每周工作
40
小时，同意实行这一工作制的企业领导者发现，企业盈利及生产率都大幅提升。
📘语篇分析：①句总领本段，指出美国商业界早已明白这个道理。代词this段间衔接。
②句指出19世纪工会推行每周40小时工作制，商业领袖发现这样会使效率提高，利润更多。
long ago
指「很久以前，从前」，相当于once upon a time，long before。
比如：The trees stop producing dates long ago. 这些树很久以前就没有结枣子了。
反义词为
not long ago
表示「不久之前」。比如《纽约时报》一篇关于日本单身女性的文章有这样一句话：
Not so long ago, Japanese women who remained unmarried after age 25 were referred to as “Christmas cake,” a slur comparing them to old holiday pastries that cannot be sold after December 25.
就在不久前，年满25岁仍未结婚的日本女性会被称为“圣诞蛋糕”，被贬低成那些在12月25日后就无法再被售出的过时节日甜点。
push for sth
指「推行」。
比如：
U.S. President Donald Trump has been pushing for a vaccine. 美国总统唐纳德·特朗普一直在推动疫苗的研发。
acquiesce
[ˌækwiˈes] 为动词，指「默许，顺从」
(to do what someone else wants, or allow something to happen, even though you do not really agree with it)
。
比如：Senior government figures must have acquiesced in the cover-up. 政府高级官员必然已经默许掩盖真相。
profitable and productive
这个词组压了头韵，读起来朗朗上口，大家可以积累下来。
profitable
指「有利可图的，有益的，有用的」
(producing a profit or a useful result)
。比如：a highly profitable business 盈利高的企业。
再比如NPR一篇报道：Ford remains profitable despite weakness in Europe.虽然在欧洲表现不佳，但福特公司仍然盈利。
lucrative
表示「利润丰厚的」，
比如：He inherited a lucrative business from his father.他从父亲那里继承了一家赚大钱的公司。
近义词还有：money-making 挣钱的，profit-making盈利的，remunerative赚钱多的，报酬高的。反义词为：loss-making 亏损的。
productive
指「多产的，丰饶的，富有成效的」
(producing or achieving a lot)
。
比如：Most of us are more productive in the morning. 我们大多数人在早上较有效率。
③In 1914, Henry Ford took the lessons of these natural experiments to heart and cut shifts in his plants to eight hours without reducing pay, leading to an output boom.
1914年，亨利·福特从这些例子中认真汲取经验，将把自己工厂的轮班时间减少为每班8小时，而薪资维持不变，之后工
厂产量迅速增长。
📘
语篇分析：③句接着举例证明缩短工时的好处：1914年，亨利·福特再次缩短工时，促使产量提高。
take sth to heart
是一个词组，「把某事放在心上，为某事耿耿于怀」
(to consider what someone says to you very seriously, often because it upsets you)
。
比如：We took Stephen's warnings to heart. 我们牢记了斯蒂芬的警告。
再比如BBC报道提到：Experts say people should protect themselves from cyberbullying by not taking everything to heart. 专家告诫人们不要把一切都放在心上，以保护自己不受网络欺凌的伤害。
shift
此处为名词，指「轮班；轮班工作时间」。
比如：to be on the day / night shift at the factory 在工厂上日班/夜班。
We think during the shift change.
④By 1938, that 40-hour workweek was enshrined into law by the Fair Labor Standards Act, which requires time-and-a-half pay beyond that threshold.
1938
年，每周
40
小时工作制被写入《公平劳动标准法》，并要求给予加班员工一倍半的工资。
📘
语篇分析：④句指出每周40小时工作时间写入了法律。
enshrine sth in / into sth
指「把…庄严地载入」
(to make a law, right, etc. respected or official, especially by stating it in an important written document)
，后面一般跟法律、宪法等等。
比如《纽约时报》一篇关于中国就业性别歧视的文章有这样一句话：
While gender equality is enshrined in China’s constitution, the laws on employment discrimination are vague, and enforcement has been weak.
尽管性别平等被载入中国宪法，但就业歧视方面的法律含混不清，执法力度薄弱。
名词
shr
ine
为本来是「圣地」的意思，加上动词前缀enshrine，表示「把...放在圣地」，引申为「视…为神圣，把...庄严地载入」。
threshold
[ˈθreʃhəʊld] 为名词，指「门槛」，同时也表示某事开始发生或产生效果的「起始点，限度」
(the level at which something starts to happen or have an effect)
。
Well, I have a high threshold for pain.
be on the threshold of sth
表示「在... 的开端」，相当于on the brink/verge of。
比如：The creature is on the threshold of extinction.
这种生物已濒临灭绝。
第四段把目光拉回现在，指出如今
《公平劳动标准法》
的效力逐渐减弱。
①The strength of the law has been whittled away over recent decades, however, to the point that millions fewer Americans are guaranteed extra pay for extra work than in 1979.
②That allows employers to push more employees to put in more hours essentially free.
然而，最近数十年间，该法案的效力逐步削弱，以至于到了
1979
年，能拿到加班费的美国人数量下降了数百万，这就使得雇主越来越强迫员工免费加班。
📘语篇分析：
①句指出
《公平劳动标准法》
的效力逐渐减弱
。②句说明①句结果。代
词that实现句
间
衔接。
whittle away sth
是一个词组，表示「削减，减少，降低」
(to gradually reduce the amount or effectiveness of something, especially something that you think should not be reduced)
。
whittle
本来是「削」木头的意思，引申为抽象意义上的「削减」时，尤其指逐渐减少，逐渐削减。
举个例子：The museum is worried that government funding
will be whittled away.
博物馆担心政府拨款将会被削减。
whittle down sth
也是外刊里的高频词组，表示「减少，缩减」 …的大小或数目。比如He had whittled eight interviewees down to two.他已经逐渐将参加面试的人数由8人减少到2人。
再比如我们在外刊精读社学过一篇关于美国离婚率的文章，文中有这样一句话：
This asymmetry is especially profound for African-American women, whose store of available men has been
whittled down
further by higher rates of incarceration and mortality.这种不对称性对非洲裔美国女性的影响尤其深刻。高犯罪率和高死亡率使得适龄非洲裔美国男性数量缩减。
to the point of sth / to the point that +
同位语从句
表示「达到某种程度；近乎」。比如：He was rude to the point of being aggressive. 他粗鲁到蛮不讲理的地步。
The number of international students choosing to study in Australia has surged over the past few years
to the point that
Australia is overtaking the UK as the world’s second-biggest destination for international students, behind the US, according to researchers at University College London’s Centre for Global Higher Education.伦敦大学学院(University College London)全球高等教育中心(Centre for Global Higher Education)的研究人员称，过去几年，求学澳大利亚的留学生数量大幅增长。澳大利亚正取代英国，成为仅次于美国的全球第二大留学目的地。
The movie’s depiction of cultural change is tidy
to the point of
being facile, which isn’t to say it’s ineffective.
影片（指《芳华》）对文化变迁的描绘非常简洁，甚至可以说肤浅单薄，然而并非毫无效果。
口语里也经常用这个词，举一个美剧《摩登家庭》里的例子：
I think I may have bored her
to the point of
fleeing.
guarantee sb sth
表示「保证某人有某物」。举一个《经济学人》中的例子：The wealthy use their influence to shape laws and society in order to guarantee themselves a better return on their wealth.富人会运用自己的权势来影响法律和社会，以此保证自己的财富能获得更好的回报。
put in sth
是一个词组，表示「花费，投入」时间或精力。
比如：They've put in time and effort to keep the strike going.他们花费了很多时间和精力以使罢工持续下去。
③President Barack Obama proposed an update in 2016 that would have offered new or strengthened overtime protection to over 13 million workers; it was struck down by the courts, and President Trump’s version, proposed in March, will help 8.2 million fewer workers, thanks to a lower salary threshold and a failure to index it to inflation.
2016年，时任总统奥巴马提出一项修正法案，旨在为超过1300万的劳动者提供新的或者进一步的加班保护，然而法案没有得到法院的批准。
特朗普总统在今年三月（指2019年）也提出了类似的法案，不过，由于该法案设置的可获得加班费的薪资门槛较低，也没有将薪资门槛与通货膨胀挂钩，因此能够从中受益的劳动者数量要比奥巴马法案的低
820
万。
📘语篇分析：③句承接上文，指出近年来总统奥巴马和特朗普的提案，但
不佳。
propose
指「提议，建议」
(to suggest a plan, an idea, etc. for people to think about and decide on)
。名词为
proposal
。
strengthen
是「加强，增强，巩固」的意思。文中strengthened为过去分词作前置定语，修饰名词overtime protection，指「增强的加班保护措施」。
strike down
表示「废止，取缔，终结」法律或规定。惯用词组是
strike down a law 废止一项法律
比如：The Supreme Court today
struck down
a law that prevents criminals from profiting from books or movies about their crimes. 最高法院今天废止了一项关于禁止罪犯把其罪行写成书或拍成电影而从中牟利的法律。
index sth to sth
表示「将…与…挂钩」。比如：Minimum pensions and wages are to be indexed to inflation. 最低养老金和最低工资要与通货膨胀挂钩。
①Business leaders seem to have forgotten the lessons they learned in the past: Humane schedules benefit employee and employer alike. ②China may have its 996 culture, but the United States doesn’t fare much better.
企业领导者似乎已经忘记了他们过去学到的经验：人性化的工作时间能让雇主和员工都受益。中国可能的确盛行
996
文化，但是美国也没有好到哪里
去。
③Nearly a third of us put in 45 hours or more each week, while nearly 10 million clock 60 or more. ④The average European puts in between 7 percent and 19 percent less time on the job.
近三分之一的美国人每周工作
45
小时甚至更长时间，有近一千万人每周的工作时长达到
60
小时及以上，而欧洲人的平均工作时长比美国低
7%
至
19%
。
humane
[hjuːˈmeɪn] 指「人道的，善良的，仁慈的」，反义词为
inhumane
。
A and B alike
强调 A 和 B 两者都... 我们在写作中可以使用这一单词表示用一类事物的两方，替换 both 和 equally，比如：
women and men alike
the young and the old alike
teachers and students alike
employers and employees alike 等等。
再举个外刊中例子，《纽约时报》中一篇论述中国经济增长的文章这样写道：Within the arena of financial market,
Chinese and western leaders alike
argued that the fears demonstrated in rocky markets were overstated. 就金融市场而言，中国和西方领导人都认为动荡市场表现出的恐惧有所夸大。
再比如《经济学人》一篇关于假期的文章有这样一句话：
Holidays are good for workers and companies alike.假期对员工和公司均有裨益。
fare well
是一个外刊高频词组，表示「表现好，成功，进展良好」。
fare
义为「进展，进行」
(used for saying how well or how badly someone does something)
，常用搭配为
fare well
,
fare badly
,
fare better
,
fare worse
，表示「成功/失败/更成功/ 更失败」
