明年起，全国法定节假日将增加，春节和劳动节各增1天假期。
借（cèng）此（gè）机（rè）会（diǎn），我们就来看看BBC的一篇文章：没有时间去休假？这只能怪你自己。
🤔️小作业：
1. According to the article, why do many Americans avoid taking time off?
A) They fear that the company cannot function without them.
B) They have a contractual obligation to work without breaks.
C) They don't receive sufficient vacation days.
D) They prefer to save vacation days for emergencies.
无注释原文：
Taken no time off? You've only got yourself to blame
From: BBC, 4 January 2017
Every year, Erika Anderson takes five weeks off from work.
As the CEO of Proteus International, a New York-based leadership consulting firm, she works long hours, writes blog posts and books and often takes client calls at all hours. When she's on holiday, she tells her staff to leave her alone.
“I can't be a machine,” Anderson says. It's a lesson she—like many of us—didn't always embrace.
In the 1990s, when Anderson started her business, she'd put in 80-hour weeks and rarely strayed far from her office. But over time, she realised that she needed more rest and wanted to spend more time with her kids. The problem: she couldn't just leave—the company just wasn't set up to run without her there. Anderson had to make a change in how she worked. She'd have to learn how to delegate.
Many of us, especially in the US, seem to avoid days off like the plague. A 2015 survey by executive search firm Korn Ferry found that 67% of US executives had either postponed or cancelled vacation plans due to demands at work, while 57% said that they didn't plan to use all of their allotted time off. As a new year starts, many Americans are lamenting the vacation days that went unused in 2016. That stands in contrast to countries like Austria, Germany and France, where workers get, and take, 30 or more days off each year.
Many of us know that taking time off helps recharge our batteries – and it's also good for our health, reducing the risk of heart attack, for instance. Still, even if we wanted to take time off, many of us would have a hard time doing so. There are the usual reasons: we're worried about losing our jobs and it's hard to take time off when no one else is leaving. But, a big part of the no-vacation state of mind is that we don't know how to keep our offices or teams running without us.
That's by design. We slave away at work because we don't want people to think that life can go on if we're not there. “We like to believe that if we left, the place wouldn't operate as efficiently,” says Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor of organizational behaviour at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
It's all wrong without me
Many of us don't take more vacation because we don't know how to delegate. According to John Hunt, a London Business School professor, only 30% of managers think they delegate well, while only about 33% of managers are considered good delegators by their staff.
Why are we so bad at offloading work that can, and should, be done by others? Because we don't want to do it. We believe, however misguided that belief may be, that the things we work on are better because of our work, says Pfeffer. And it's not just at work—it's part of our nature to some extent. One study found, for example, that you'll bet more on a casino game if you're the one rolling the dice.
“It's the illusion of control,” says Pfeffer. “We think that everything we're involved in is better because of us.”
That's particularly true in the US. Americans and American companies put a much greater emphasis on individual efforts, whereas in Europe and Canada (which are considered social democracies) the collective is typically considered more important to success than any individual person.
Europeans also seem to have a different value set. They “work to live,” where Americans “live to work,” says Rick Lash, a Toronto-based senior client partner at Korn Ferry. In the US, individual achievements are reinforced at a young age and are regularly celebrated throughout life, he says. “We want to knock it out of the ballpark and reach our goals,” he says.
If you can't hand off work to someone else, then you can't get away.
- ◆ -
注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为BBC官方译文，仅供参考
含注释全文：
Taken no time off? You've only got yourself to blame
From: BBC, 4 January 2017
Every year, Erika Anderson takes five weeks off from work.
每年，艾丽卡·安德森（Erika Anderson）都会挤出五周时间去度假。
As the CEO of Proteus International, a New York-based leadership consulting firm, she works long hours, writes blog posts and books and often takes client calls at all hours. When she's on holiday, she tells her staff to leave her alone.
作为纽约市一家领导力咨询公司Proteus International的CEO，她每天工作时间很长，写博客、写书、接听客户来电，忙得不亦乐乎。但每当她去度假时，就会告诉员工别拿公事去打扰她。
“I can't be a machine,” Anderson says. It's a lesson she—like many of us—didn't always embrace.
“我不是一台工作机器，”安德森说。和很多人一样，她花了很长时间才得到了这个教训。
embrace
embrace /ɪmˈbreɪs/ 1）表示“欣然接受；乐意采纳”，英文解释为“to accept something enthusiastically”举个🌰：This was an opportunity that he would embrace. 这样的机会他是求之不得的。
2）表示“抱，拥抱”，英文解释为“to hold someone tightly with both arms to express love, liking, or sympathy, or when greeting or leaving someone”举个🌰：She saw them embrace on the station platform. 她看到他们在站台上拥抱。
3）表示“包括，包含”，英文解释为“to include something, often as one of a number of things”举个🌰：Linguistics embraces a diverse range of subjects such as phonetics and stylistics. 语言学包括一系列不同的科目，如语音学和文体学。
In the 1990s, when Anderson started her business, she'd put in 80-hour weeks and rarely strayed far from her office. But over time, she realised that she needed more rest and wanted to spend more time with her kids. The problem: she couldn't just leave—the company just wasn't set up to run without her there. Anderson had to make a change in how she worked. She'd have to learn how to delegate.
20世纪90年代，安德森开始创业。当时，她每周工作80小时，很少到远离办公室的地方去。但是随着时间的推移，她越来越感到需要休息，希望能有更多时间和孩子在一起。但是问题在于：她无法彻底离开。公司刚刚成立，一切都没有走上正轨，离开了她就无法正常运转。于是，安德森不得不调整工作方式，学会如何授权委托他人运营公司。
stray
stray /streɪ/ 表示“偏离原路；越过限定区域”，英文解释为“to travel along a route that was not originally intended, or to move outside a limited area”举个🌰：A herd of cattle had strayed into the road. 一群牛偏了道，上了公路。
delegate
delegate /ˈdel.ɪ.ɡət/ 作名词，表示“（尤指会议的）代表”，英文解释为“a person chosen or elected by a group to speak, vote, etc. for them, especially at a meeting”
作动词，表示“（把…）委派（给…），（把…）委托（给…）；授权（给…）”，英文解释为“to give a particular job, duty, right, etc. to someone else so that they do it for you”举个🌰：As a boss you have to delegate (responsibilities to your staff). 你作为老板必须要分派工作。
📍政府工作报告中经常出现的简政放权就是：streamline administration and delegate power，
Many of us, especially in the US, seem to avoid days off like the plague. A 2015 survey by executive search firm Korn Ferry found that 67% of US executives had either postponed or cancelled vacation plans due to demands at work, while 57% said that they didn't plan to use all of their allotted time off. As a new year starts, many Americans are lamenting the vacation days that went unused in 2016. That stands in contrast to countries like Austria, Germany and France, where workers get, and take, 30 or more days off each year.
很多人，尤其是美国人会像躲避瘟疫一样逃避休假。高管猎头公司光辉国际（Korn Ferry）于2015年进行的一项调查表明，有67%的美国高管人士由于工作需要而推迟或取消了度假计划，57%的高管则表示它们没有制定如何休完全部假期的计划。当下正逢辞旧迎新之际，许多美国人都对2016年没休完而浪费掉的假期耿耿于怀。而奥地利、德国和法国等国企业员工的年休假时间要比美国人至少长30天。
plague
plague /pleɪɡ/ 1）作名词可表示“瘟疫，疫病”，如：a fresh outbreak of plague 瘟疫的新一轮爆发；
2）作动词表示“不断困扰，折磨，使苦恼”，英文解释为“to cause pain, suffering, or trouble to someone, especially for a long period of time”，举个🌰 ：She was plagued by weakness, fatigue, and dizziness. 她受虚弱、疲劳和眩晕所折磨。
🎬电影《白宫管家》（The Butler）中的台词提到：It's time we take a stand against these injustices that have plagued our community. 现在是时候该表明立场和采取行动来对抗这些已困扰我们很久了的不公。
postpone
postpone /pəʊstˈpəʊn/ 表示“推迟，延缓，使延期”，英文解释为“If you postpone an event, you delay it or arrange for it to take place at a later time than was originally planned.”举个🌰：He decided to postpone the expedition until the following day. 他决定将探险活动推迟到第二天。
allotted
allotted /əˈlɒt.ɪd/ 表示“分配的，配置的”，英文解释为“given or made available for a particular purpose”举个🌰：Did you finish your essay in the allotted time? 你在规定的时间内完成了论文吗？
lament
lament /ləˈment/ 1）作动词，表示“对…感到悲痛，对…表示失望，痛惜”，英文解释为“to express sadness and feeling sorry about something”举个🌰：My grandmother, as usual, lamented the decline in moral standards in today's society. 和往常一样，我奶奶对当今社会世风日下深感痛惜。
2）作名词，表示“挽歌；悼诗；悼文”，英文解释为“a song, poem, or other piece of writing that expresses sadness about someone's death”
Many of us know that taking time off helps recharge our batteries – and it's also good for our health, reducing the risk of heart attack, for instance. Still, even if we wanted to take time off, many of us would have a hard time doing so. There are the usual reasons: we're worried about losing our jobs and it's hard to take time off when no one else is leaving. But, a big part of the no-vacation state of mind is that we don't know how to keep our offices or teams running without us.
我们都知道，休假放松就等于给电池重新充电一样-休假能够增进人体健康，例如可以降低心脏疾患的患病风险。然而，即便人们想去休假，许多人也发现自己根本脱不开身。常见原因包括：我们担心丢掉工作；别人不休假我也不能休等等。另外一个重要原因在于，我们不知道如何让公司或团队在自己缺席的情况下顺利运转。
That's by design. We slave away at work because we don't want people to think that life can go on if we're not there. “We like to believe that if we left, the place wouldn't operate as efficiently,” says Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor of organizational behaviour at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
这是一个业务流程设计的问题。我们每天忙忙碌碌，是为了不让他人产生“离开这人一切照常”的感觉。“我们倾向于相信，如果我们缺席，业务运营就会受到影响，”斯坦福商学院组织行为学教授杰弗里·费弗（Jeffrey Pfeffer）说。
slave
slave /sleɪv/ 作名词，表示“奴隶”，作动词，表示“拼命工作，苦干”，英文解释为“to work very hard at something”举个🌰：We slaved away all week at the report. 我们整整一周都在忙那份报告。I've been slaving over a hot stove (= cooking) all morning. 我一上午都在炉子边忙个不停。
It's all wrong without me 离开我就不行
Many of us don't take more vacation because we don't know how to delegate. According to John Hunt, a London Business School professor, only 30% of managers think they delegate well, while only about 33% of managers are considered good delegators by their staff.
许多人不愿去休假是由于不知道如何委托和授权他人。伦敦商学院教授约翰·亨特（John Hunt）称，只有30%的经理人士认为他们能够有效委托他人，同时只有33%的经理人士被下属员工认为是合格的委托者。
Why are we so bad at offloading work that can, and should, be done by others? Because we don't want to do it. We believe, however misguided that belief may be, that the things we work on are better because of our work, says Pfeffer. And it's not just at work—it's part of our nature to some extent. One study found, for example, that you'll bet more on a casino game if you're the one rolling the dice.
为什么有的人能轻松卸下工作重担，而我们却不能？真正原因在于我们不愿去这样去做。我们倾向于错误地相信，我们的存在能一定能让工作结果更好，费弗说。这种心态不仅出现在工作领域-在某种程度上，这是人性的一部分。例如，有一项研究表明，赌场里的赌徒往往会相信，如果自己掷骰子，就会更容易赢钱。
offload
offload sth/sb (on/onto sb)表示“把（担子等）转移（给别人）；减轻（负担）；卸（包袱）；卸去（累赘）；把（不想要的东西转移（给别人）”，英文解释为“to get rid of something that you do not want by giving it to someone else”举个🌰：I managed to offload some of our old furniture onto a friend who just bought a house. 我已把我们的一些旧家具给了我一位刚买了房的朋友。
roll the dice
roll /rəʊl/ 表示“（使）翻滚；（使）滚动”，英文解释为“to (cause something to) move somewhere by turning over and over or from side to side”举个🌰：The vase rolled off the edge of the table and smashed. 花瓶从桌边滚落下来摔得粉碎。The dog rolled over onto its back. 那只狗翻了个身四爪朝天躺着。
roll作名词，熟词僻义，表示“脂肪堆积的部位，肥胖的部位（尤指腰部）；（人或动物身上由于肥胖而突起的）赘肉，肥肉”，英文解释为“an area of too much fat on your body, especially around your waist”举个🌰：Rolls of fat hung over his belt. 一堆肥肉坠在他的腰带上。
📍roll a die 表示“摇骰子”，英文解释为“Rolling a die means throwing the shape into the air to obtain a certain number to move forward in any game.”
📍英式 dice，美式/旧式用法 die，表示“骰子”，英文解释为“a small cube (= object with six equal square sides) with a different number of spots on each side, used in games involving chance”，复数也是dice.
“It's the illusion of control,” says Pfeffer. “We think that everything we're involved in is better because of us.”
“这是一种与控制感有关的错觉，”费弗说。“我们会认为，事情会因为自己的参与而变得更好。”
That's particularly true in the US. Americans and American companies put a much greater emphasis on individual efforts, whereas in Europe and Canada (which are considered social democracies) the collective is typically considered more important to success than any individual person.
美国人的这种情节尤其严重。美国人和美国公司高度强调个人奋斗，而在欧洲和加拿大（人们称之为“社会民主国家”），人们则认为，集体努力对成功所起到的作用比个人奋斗更大。
Europeans also seem to have a different value set. They “work to live,” where Americans “live to work,” says Rick Lash, a Toronto-based senior client partner at Korn Ferry. In the US, individual achievements are reinforced at a young age and are regularly celebrated throughout life, he says. “We want to knock it out of the ballpark and reach our goals,” he says.
欧洲人秉持一种不同的价值观。他们“工作是为了生活，”而美国人“生活是为了工作，”光辉国际常驻多伦多的高级客户合伙人里克·拉什（Rick Lash）说。美国人从小就强化个人成就的重要性，对个人成就的追求则贯穿一生，他说。“每天都像是去球场打球并且争取胜利，”他说。
reinforce
reinforce /ˌriː.ɪnˈfɔːs/ 1）表示“加强；充实；使更强烈；进一步证实（观点、看法等）”，英文解释为“to make a feeling, an idea, etc. stronger”举个🌰：Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
2）表示“加固；使更结实”，英文解释为“to make a structure or material stronger, especially by adding another material to it”举个🌰：All buildings are now reinforced to withstand earthquakes. 所有建筑现都已加固，以抗地震。
If you can't hand off work to someone else, then you can't get away.
你要是不把手头的工作转给他人，就永远无法脱身去度假。
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