书城外语每天都是精彩:英语诵读美文240篇(英汉对照)
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第179章

Work,Labor,and Play[B]

Guidance for Reciting

The long hours in the office or the factory bring with them as their reward,not only the means of sustenance,but a keen appetite for pleasure even in its ******st and most modest forms.

The antithesis to labor is play. When we play a game,we enjoy what we are doing,otherwise we should not play it,but it is a purely private activity;society could not care less whether we play it or not.

Between labor and play stands work. A man is a worker if he is personally interested in the job which society pays him to do;what from the point of view of society is necessary labor is from his own point of view voluntary play. Whether a job is to be classified as labor or work depends,not on the job itself,but on the tastes of the individual who undertakes it.

Notes

1.antithesis [An5tiWisis] n.对立面

2.stand [stAnd] v.处于某种状态

工作,劳作和娱乐(2)

诵读导言

在办公室或工厂里长时间工作给他们带来了酬劳,这不仅是谋生的手段,而且还带来了寻找乐趣的强烈欲望,哪怕是最简单的、最低等的乐趣。

与劳作相对的是玩,当玩耍时我们在享受,否则是不会去玩的,不过这纯粹是私人活动,社会对我们玩或不玩是极不关心的。

处于劳作和玩之间的是工作。如果一个人对社会付酬给他的工作感兴趣的话,他就是工作者;从社会的观点看,工作是必要的劳作也是个人心目中自愿的玩。一件工作被看作是劳动还是工作不取决于工作本身,而是取决于承担这件工作的人的喜好。