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Karoshi: the Dark Side of Dedication 努力工作的黑暗面──过劳死

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

Most people are familiar with the legendary Japanese work ethic. Indeed, the notion of a Japanese businessman working long hours at the office is burned into our consciousness. In return for this type of loyalty, Japanese companies attempt to guarantee lifelong employment, thus further goading employees into endless hours of overtime. But, is there a dark side to this business contract of lifelong dedication?

大多数人对日本人工作精神的传奇都不陌生。的确，日本上班族在办公室超时工作的印象已烙印在我们脑海。日本公司试图以终生雇用制回报员工的忠诚，反而更驱使员工永无止尽地加班下去。然而这种终生奉献给公司的工作契约，是否有其黑暗面呢？

Many Japanese are beginning to ask this very question as anxiety over a new social health problem known as “death from overwork,” or “karoshi”, is on the rise. Tetsunojo Uehata, the medical authority who coined the phrase defines karoshi as “a condition in which psychologically unsound work processes are allowed to continue in a way that disrupts the worker’s normal work and life rhythms.” These disruptions may lead to insomnia, accumulated fatigue, and ultimately, a fatal breakdown.

随着对所谓「过度工作猝死」，也就是「过劳死」这个新社会健康问题的焦虑感，逐渐增高之际，许多日本人都不禁开始要问这个问题。创出「过劳死」这个新词的医学权威上火田铁之丞，定义过劳死为「工作心理状况持续不佳，造成劳工日常工作和生活节奏四分五裂的一种情况」，可能导致失眠、经常性疲劳，甚至最后导致猝死。

Japan has become obsessed with what can be seen as a national health character flaw. Despite the known dangers of karoshi, many Japanese workers conform to group expectation and are scared to leave when their colleagues and bosses continue working. As the Japanese government has had only limited success in attempts to lower working hours, the Japanese public must question the price they pay for their dedication.

日本对这个已被视为国民健康的问题感到十分困扰。虽然深知过劳死的危险，许多日本人还是会顺应工作团队的期望，而且在同事和老板尚未离开前，不敢先行下班。目前日本政府一直未能有效的减少工时，日本民众必须自问他们全心投入、努力工作的代价是否值得。

Vocabulary

单词发音

dedication [͵dɛdəˋkeʃən] n. 奉献（精神）﹐敬业

legendary [ˋlɛdʒənd͵ɛrɪ] adj. 非常有名的﹐ 大名鼎鼎的; 传奇的

ethic [ˋɛθɪk] n. 道德标准﹐ 道德规范

notion [ˋnoʃən] n.〔尤指错误或模糊的〕概念; 观点; 看法

burn into 给…留下不可磨灭的印象  to implant something firmly in someone's head, brain, memory, etc

goad [god] v. 刺激；驱使；唆使[（+into/to/on）]

coin [kɔɪn] v. 创造，杜撰（新词等）

disrupt [dɪsˋrʌpt] v. 扰乱; 使混乱

insomnia [ɪnˋsɑmnɪə] n. 失眠

breakdown [ˋbrek͵daʊn] n.（精神、体力等的）衰弱，衰竭

obsessed [əbˋsɛst] adj. 烦扰的; 使心神不宁

flaw [flɔ] n. 缺点；瑕疵

conform [kənˋfɔrm] v. 遵照，遵守[（+to/with）]

Sentence of the Day

They work like dogs.

他们工作非常拼命。

work like a dog  to work very hard

课文讲解

While preparing to leave the office late at night, Taka speaks to Ono:  深夜，高正准备离开办公室时，和小野说话：

T: I need to finish up here and go home! I still haven’t unpacked from our trip to Hong Kong and I cannot seem to concentrate, let alone make any sense of the company’s quarterly financial report.

我得赶快做完回家！我们从香港回来后，我连行李都还没打开，而且我好像无法专心，更别说看懂公司的季财务报表了。

O: Well, if you feel you need to go, then I guess you had better go.

如果你觉得该下班了，那你最好还是走吧。

T: But what about you? Don’t you think you need a break as well? You’ve been working around the clock!

那你呢？你不觉得你也该休息了吗？你一直不眠不休地工作。

O: I don’t want to leave when our boss is still working in his office. He always seems to give me strange look when I leave before him. It’s as if he doesn’t think I’m dedicating enough time to the company. Whatever the case, it just doesn’t seem proper for me to leave while he’s still here.

老板在办公室还没有走，我不想先走。我只要比他先下班，他似乎就会用一种奇怪的眼光看我，好像在说我对工作不够投入，工作的时间不够长。不管怎么样，老板还在，我先下班，好像就是不太对。

T: True, but our boss didn’t just get back from five days of running around China and Hong Kong.

没错，但是老板并没有刚从中国和香港各地，出差五天回来。

O: It doesn’t matter. It would be an embarrassment for me to leave.

那不重要，我还是觉得不好意思先下班。

T: You should be mindful of your health. Didn’t you read that article onkaroshi in today’s paper?

你该注意一下自己的身体，你不是才在今天的报纸上看到过劳死的报导吗？

O: I haven’t had time to read anything but the stock reports.

除了股市报告，我什么都没时间看。

T: Maybe you should take a look. You may be headed toward a classic case of death from overwork.

也许你该看一下，你可能符合典型的过劳死症状也不一定。

－by Michael Loncar

Vocabulary

单词发音

finish up 做完, 完成, 结束; 对...进行最后加工  finish a task completely

unpack [ʌnˋpæk] v. 打开（包裹等）取出东西

make sense of  了解

quarterly [ˋkwɔrtɚlɪ] adj. 季度的，按季度的

around the clock 整天整夜, 夜以继日

run around 到处跑

embarrassment [ɪmˋbærəsmənt] n. 窘；难堪

mindful [ˋmaɪdfəl] adj. 留心的；警觉的；小心的

classic [ˋklæsɪk] adj. 典型的

Sentence of the Day

Don't work yourself into the ground.

别工作做到累死。

work/run oneself into the ground  把某人累垮, 使某人精疲力竭 to work so hard that one becomes very tired or ill