大学英语第四册精读第十单元MP3及文本.docVIP

Unit Ten 　 　 Click the button to listen to the text 　 　 Do you view work as a burden or an opportunity? Are you the kind of person who looks for ways to save your energy or the kind that finds spending your energy 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 contentment. Were 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 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 cant wait for my vacation, I wish I could stay home today, My boss treats me poorly, Ive 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 individuals happiness and sense of personal achievement. Work is more than a necessity for most human 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 ones potential. Many psychiatrists heading mental health clinics have observed its healing effect. A good many patients who feel depressed in 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 exert