日本东京都将启动“上四休三”工作制

近日，为扭转低生育率问题，日本东京都将引入四天工作制。

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. Which inference can be drawn about the expected effect of Tokyo's “childcare partial leave” policy?

A) It will primarily benefit fathers who prefer part-time roles.

B) It intends to reduce women's workforce participation.

C) It is designed to encourage parents to stay in their careers while raising children.

D) It aims to push retirement age lower for state employees.

无注释原文：

Tokyo is turning to a 4-day workweek in a desperate attempt to help Japan shed its unwanted title of 'world's oldest population'

From: FORTUNE

Japan is facing a population crisis—so Tokyo, its largest city, will try to solve the problem with something new: a four-day workweek. 

Starting in April, the Tokyo Metropolitan government, one of the country's largest employers, is set to allow its employees to work only four days a week. It is also adding a new “childcare partial leave” policy, which will allow some employees to work two fewer hours per day. The goal is to help employees who are parents balance childcare and work, said Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike.

“We will continue to review work styles flexibly to ensure that women do not have to sacrifice their careers due to life events such as childbirth or child-rearing,” Koike said in a speech this week during the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly's regular session, the Japan Times reported. 

The new policies come as the birth rate in Japan hit a record low earlier this year. From January to June, the country recorded 350,074 births, down 5.7% from the same period in 2023, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. 

The country's total fertility rate, which represents the number of children a woman has in her lifetime, stood at 1.2 in 2023, and in Tokyo, the birth rate was even lower at 0.99. To maintain a broadly stable population, a birth rate of 2.1 is required, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The median age of a Japanese citizen is 49.9, according to the Central Intelligence Agency. In the U.S., the median age is 38.9. 

Japan has taken drastic steps toward reversing its low birth rate. Starting in the 1990s, the government required companies to offer generous parental leave, added subsidies for day care, and started offering cash payments to parents. Earlier this year, the Tokyo government also launched its own dating app to help single people find a partner and marry. 

Yet the birth rate has still fallen consistently over the past eight years, according to government data. 

Moving to a four-day workweek could help address some of the core issues associated with Japan's heavy work culture, which can especially weigh on working women. The gap between men and women when it comes to housework is one of the largest among OECD countries, with women in Japan engaging in five times more unpaid work, such as childcare and elder care, than men, according to the International Monetary Fund. 

More than half of women who had fewer children than they would have preferred said they had fewer children because of the increased housework that another child would bring, according to the IMF.

In some cases, moving to a four-day workweek has been shown to improve housework equity. Men reported spending 22% more time on childcare and 23% more time on housework during a four-day workweek trial conducted across six countries by 4 Day Week Global, which advocates for the issue.

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Tokyo is turning to a 4-day workweek in a desperate attempt to help Japan shed its unwanted title of 'world's oldest population'

From: FORTUNE

Japan is facing a population crisis—so Tokyo, its largest city, will try to solve the problem with something new: a four-day workweek.

日本正面临人口危机，为此，东京作为日本最大的城市，将尝试用一种新举措来解决这一问题：四天工作制。

desperate /ˈdes.pər.ət/ 1）表示“非常需要的；非常想要的”，英文解释为“needing or wanting something very much”举个🌰：They are desperate for help. 他们非常需要帮助。

2）表示“（因绝望而）拼命的，不顾一切的”，英文解释为“feeling that you have no hope and are ready to do anything to change the bad situation you are in”举个🌰：The doctors made one last desperate attempt/effort to save the boy's life. 医生们为挽救男孩的生命作了最后一次努力。

Starting in April, the Tokyo Metropolitan government, one of the country's largest employers, is set to allow its employees to work only four days a week. It is also adding a new “childcare partial leave” policy, which will allow some employees to work two fewer hours per day. The goal is to help employees who are parents balance childcare and work, said Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike.

从4月份开始，日本最大的雇主之一东京都政府将允许其员工每周只工作四天。此外，还将增加一项新的 “部分育儿假 ”政策，允许部分员工每天少工作两个小时。东京都知事小池百合子（Yuriko Koike）说，这样做的目的是帮助身为父母的员工平衡育儿和工作。

metropolitan /ˌmet.rəˈpɒl.ɪ.tən/ 表示“大都市的”，英文解释为“relating to a large city”如：the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York 纽约大都会艺术博物馆，a metropolitan area 大都市区。

“We will continue to review work styles flexibly to ensure that women do not have to sacrifice their careers due to life events such as childbirth or child-rearing,” Koike said in a speech this week during the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly's regular session, the Japan Times reported.

据《日本时报》报道，小池在本周东京都议会常会期间的一次演讲中说：“我们将继续灵活调整工作方式，以确保女性不必因为生育或育儿等人生大事而牺牲自己的事业。”

flexibly /ˈflek.sə.bli/ 表示“可变动地；灵活地；可变通地”，英文解释为“in a way that is able to change or be changed easily according to the situation”举个🌰：Today's schedule of events is organized flexibly so that people can decide for themselves what they want to do. 今天的活动安排很灵活，人们可以自己决定他们想做什么。

sacrifice /ˈsæk.rɪ.faɪs/ 表示“牺牲；献出”，英文解释为“the act of giving up something that is valuable to you in order to help someone else”举个🌰：We had to make sacrifices in order to pay for our children's education. 为了支付孩子们的教育费用，我们不得不作出牺牲。

child-rearing /ˈtʃaɪldˌrɪə.rɪŋ/ 表示“养育子女”，英文解释为“the work of taking care of children until they are old enough to take care of themselves”举个🌰：Why shouldn't a woman have a job after years of child-rearing? 女性养育孩子多年后为什么不应该有份工作呢？

assembly /əˈsem.bli/ 1）表示“（尤指为特定目的而经常）聚集在一起的人，（所有）与会者；集合，聚集”，英文解释为“a group of people, especially one that meets regularly for a particular purpose, such as government, or, more generally, the process of coming together, or the state of being together”如：the United Nations General Assembly 联合国大会；

2）表示“（多个班级参加的）集体活动，集会”，英文解释为“a meeting in a school of several classes, usually at the beginning of the school day, to give information or to say prayers together”举个🌰：All pupils are expected to attend school assembly. 所有学生都要参加校会。

3）表示“装配；组装；组合体；总成”，英文解释为“the process of putting together the parts of sth such as a vehicle or piece of furniture”举个🌰：Putting the bookcase together should be a simple assembly job. 组装书橱应该是个简单的装配活。

session /ˈseʃ.ən/ 1）表示“（议会等机构的）会议；（法庭的）开庭”，英文解释为“a formal meeting or series of meetings of an organization such as a parliament or a law court”举个🌰：The parliamentary session is due to end on 10 November. 议会会议将于11月10日结束。

2）表示“（从事某项活动的）一段时间（或集会）；一场；一节”，英文解释为“a period of time or meeting arranged for a particular activity”举个🌰：The runner twisted his ankle in a training session. 这位赛跑运动员在训练时扭伤了脚踝。

3）表示“学年；学期；上课时间”，英文解释为“at a college, any of the periods of time that a teaching year or day is divided into, or the teaching year itself”举个🌰：He taught a class during the summer session. 在夏季开学期间他教了一堂课。

The new policies come as the birth rate in Japan hit a record low earlier this year. From January to June, the country recorded 350,074 births, down 5.7% from the same period in 2023, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare.

新政策出台之际，日本的出生率在今年早些时候创下了历史新低。根据日本厚生劳动省的数据，今年1月至6月，日本的出生人数为350,074人，比2023年同期下降了5.7%。

The country's total fertility rate, which represents the number of children a woman has in her lifetime, stood at 1.2 in 2023, and in Tokyo, the birth rate was even lower at 0.99. To maintain a broadly stable population, a birth rate of 2.1 is required, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The median age of a Japanese citizen is 49.9, according to the Central Intelligence Agency. In the U.S., the median age is 38.9.

2023年，日本的总和生育率（女性一生中生育的子女数量）为1.2，而东京的出生率更低，仅为0.99。根据经济合作与发展组织（OECD）的数据，要维持人口总体稳定，出生率必须达到2.1。根据日本中央情报局的数据，日本公民的年龄中位数为49.9岁。而美国则为38.9岁。

fertility /fəˈtɪl.ə.ti/ 表示“富饶；丰产；生殖力；能生育性；可繁殖性”，英文解释为“the state of being fertile”如：a fertility symbol 生殖力的象征，declining fertility rates 下降的生育率，the fertility of the soil/land 土壤的肥沃；土地的丰饶，a god of fertility 丰收之神，fertility treatment (= medical help given to a person to help them have a baby) 不孕症治疗。

median /ˈmiː.di.ən/ 作名词，表示“中位数”，英文解释为“the value that is the middle one in a set of values arranged in order of size”

作形容词，表示“中间的，居中的；中位数的”，英文解释为“The median value is the middle one in a set of values arranged in order of size.”如：median household income 中等家庭收入。

Japan has taken drastic steps toward reversing its low birth rate. Starting in the 1990s, the government required companies to offer generous parental leave, added subsidies for day care, and started offering cash payments to parents. Earlier this year, the Tokyo government also launched its own dating app to help single people find a partner and marry.

日本已采取强有力的措施来扭转低出生率的局面。从20世纪90年代开始，日本政府要求公司更长的育儿假、增加日托补贴，并开始向父母发放现金奖励。今年早些时候，东京政府还推出了自己的交友应用，帮助单身人士寻找伴侣并结婚。

reverse /rɪˈvɜːs/ 1）作名词，表示“失败；挫折”，英文解释为“a defeat or failure”也可以表示“相反的情况（或事物）；对立面”，英文解释为“the opposite of what has been suggested”

📍in reverse (order) 表示“向相反方向；倒；逆”，英文解释为“in the opposite order or way”举个🌰：To stop the engine, you repeat the same procedures, but in reverse (order). 要想关掉发动机，你得按相反顺序重复同样的步骤。

2）还可以表示“倒车挡”，英文解释为“the method of controlling a vehicle that makes it go backwards”举个🌰：To go backwards, you must put the car in/into reverse (gear). 要想倒车，你得挂倒车挡。

3）作动词，表示“（使）反向；（使）倒转；彻底改变；推翻”，英文解释为“to change the direction, order, position, result, etc. of something to its opposite”举个🌰：The new manager hoped to reverse the decline in the company's fortunes. 新经理希望能够扭转公司江河日下的状况。

parental leave /pəˌren.təl ˈliːv/ 表示“亲子假，育儿假”，英文解释为“time that a parent is allowed to spend away from work to take care of his or her baby”

subsidy /ˈsʌb.sɪ.di/ 表示“补助金；津贴，补贴”，英文解释为“money given as part of the cost of something, to help or encourage it to happen”举个🌰：The company received a substantial government subsidy. 公司得到了大笔的政府津贴。

Yet the birth rate has still fallen consistently over the past eight years, according to government data.

然而，根据日本政府数据，过去八年来日本出生率持续下降。

Moving to a four-day workweek could help address some of the core issues associated with Japan's heavy work culture, which can especially weigh on working women. The gap between men and women when it comes to housework is one of the largest among OECD countries, with women in Japan engaging in five times more unpaid work, such as childcare and elder care, than men, according to the International Monetary Fund.

四天工作制或许能缓解与日本高压工作文化相关的一些核心问题，尤其是对职业女性的影响。根据国际货币基金组织（IMF）的数据，日本男女在家务分担上的差距是经济合作与发展组织国家中最大的，日本女性从事家务劳动的时间是男性的五倍。

weigh on sb/sth 表示“（问题、责任等）使（某人）焦虑不安，使（某人）担忧”，英文解释为“If a problem or responsibility weighs on you, it makes you worried or unhappy.”举个🌰：He's under huge pressure at work and it's really weighing on him. 他工作压力很大，内心负担很重。

More than half of women who had fewer children than they would have preferred said they had fewer children because of the increased housework that another child would bring, according to the IMF.

根据国际货币基金组织的数据，育儿数量低于预期的女性中，超过半数表示，她们之所以少生孩子，是因为多生孩子会增加家务劳动。

In some cases, moving to a four-day workweek has been shown to improve housework equity. Men reported spending 22% more time on childcare and 23% more time on housework during a four-day workweek trial conducted across six countries by 4 Day Week Global, which advocates for the issue.

在某些情况下，四天工作制已被证明能改善家务分担的公平性。根据“四天工作制全球倡议”（4 Day Week Global）组织在六个国家的试验数据，男性在四天工作制下花在育儿上的时间增加了22%，花在家务上的时间也提升了23%。

equity /ˈek.wɪ.ti/  1）表示“（公司的）股本，股票值；股票”，英文解释为“the value of a company, divided into many equal parts owned by the shareholders, or one of the equal parts into which the value of a company is divided”举个🌰：He sold his equity in the company last year. 他去年卖掉了这家公司的股票。

2）表示“公平；公正”，英文解释为“the situation in which everyone is treated fairly and equally”如：a society based on equity and social justice 建立在公平公正和社会正义基础之上的社会。

📍private equity (PE) 私募股权；私人股本。据百度百科介绍，PE也就是私募股权投资，从投资方式角度看，是指通过私募形式对私有企业，即非上市企业进行的权益性投资，在交易实施过程中附带考虑了将来的退出机制，即通过上市、并购或管理层回购等方式，出售持股获利。

- 词汇盘点 -

- 词汇助记 By ChatGPT -

LearnAndRecord

2015年2月8日

2024年12月24日

第3608天

每天持续行动学外语