Passage Three
文章三

Americans suffer from an overdose of work.
美国人正面临着超额的工作量。
Regardless of who they are or what they do, Americans spend more time at work than at any time since World War II.
不管他们是谁或者他们做什么，自二战以来，美国人都以往任何时候花更多的时间在工作上。
In 1950, the US had fewer working hours than any other industrialized countries.
在1950年左右，相比其他工业化国家，美国的工作时间更少。
Today, it exceeds every country but Japan where industrial employees log 2155 hours a year compared with 1951 in the US and 1603 in the former West Germany.
但是现在，美国以1951个小时的年工作时间超过了除日本之外的所有国家。在日本，工人一年要工作2155个小时。而前西德这一数字则为1603个小时
Between 1969 and 1989, employed Americans added an average of 138 hours to their yearly work schedules.
在1969年至1989年期间，美国的员工平均每年增加了138小时的工作时间。
The workweek has remained at about 40 hours. But people are working more weeks each year.
每周的工作时间一直保持在大约40个小时不变，但人们每年工作的周数增加了。
Specifically, pay-time-off holidays, vacations, sick leave shrank by 50% in the 1980s.
具体地说，带薪假、公共假期、病假在20世纪80年代缩减了50％
As corporations have experienced stiff competition and slower growth in productivity, they have pressed employees to work longer.
司由于面临严酷的竞争，并且产量增长缓慢，所以强迫员工延长工作时间
Cost-cutting lay-offs in the 1980s reduced the professional and managerial ranks, leaving fewer people to get the job done.
在20世纪80年代，削减成本的裁员措施减少了专业及管理队伍，这样使得只有更少的人来完成工作。
In lower paid occupations where wages have been reduced, workers have added hours in overtime or extra jobs to preserve their living standards.
由于在低报酬的职业工人的工资减少，所以工人不得不额外增加工作小时数，或者通过额外工作来维持他们的生活标准。
The government estimates that more than seven million people hold a second job.
据政府统计，约有超过七百万人拥有第二份工作。
For the first time, large numbers of people say they want to cut back on working hours even if it means earning less money.
很多人表示他们想减少工作时间，即使这意味着会挣不到钱。
But most employers are unwilling to let them do so.
但是大多数雇主不愿意他们这样做。
The government, which has stepped back from its traditional role as a regulator of work time, should take steps to make shorter hours possible.
已经从一个工作时间调节者这一传统角色回归的政府应该采取相关措施，让工作时间的变短成为可能。