9月15日作业

课后阅读 01 Most of America’s landscape is rural, but journalists don’t go there very often. By Margaret Sullivan | September 10, 2017 1. Washington journalists may be obsessed with President Trump’s Russia connections. Silicon Valley reporters may be focused on the next big tech merger. And New York media types may be hyperventilating about Vanity Fair magazine’s editor stepping down. 2. But while most American journalists stay inside their urban bubble, the Texas Observer’s staff is laboring in the fields. Poisonous crop-dusting is on their minds. So are the wildfires that result when agricultural land goes fallow. And so are the many communities that don’t have a hospital within several hours’ drive – or even a nearby doctor. “There are such fantastic stories to be found,” said Forrest Wilder, editor of the Austin-based Observer, which recently became a mostly digital operation, still publishing in print six times a year. 3. Now, with funding from the Emerson Collective, the group founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, the Observer has added a full-time rural reporter, Christopher Collins, to its newsroom staff of about a dozen. The Observer will supplement his work with a network of freelancers. “We’re going to really look for stories in far-flung, underreported – or unreported – areas,” Wilder said. There are plenty of opportunities: 3.8 million of some 25 million Texans live in rural areas, he said. 4. The underreporting in rural areas is a nationwide phenomenon, with an increasing number of journalists clustered in New York, Washington and on the West Coast. And as metro dailies shrink their staffs, rural bureaus are often one of the first casualties, said Al Cross, who runs the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky. “Larger regional papers used to do this as a public service even though there was no advertising base for it,” Cross told me. Now, with less revenue coming in as a result of print advertising’s sharp decline, and with year after year of newsroom buyouts taking their toll, rural reporting has taken a hit. “It’s triage,” Cross said of newsroom decisions about what to cover. Rural reporting rarely is seen as the most critical mission. 5. But that leaves huge swaths of the United States without coverage. And the buying-up of small papers by chains, more beholden to stockholders than to local concerns, has hollowed out the journalism even more. The term “news deserts” aptly describes the results: In many communities, there’s no one to cover government meetings, hold officials accountable, or report on events, large or small. 6. That’s a real problem. Consider the succinct question raised on the Kentucky institute’s website: “Why is rural journalism important?” According to recent U.S. Census data, the vast majority of land in the United States is rural and contains about 20 percent of the nation’s population. 7. After the presidential election, the national media’s consciousness was raised on the importance of covering what some have considered “flyover country,” and some

课后阅读 01 news organizations put more resources behind that coverage. (The Washington Post’s expanded “America desk” is one example.) 8. But coverage that is firmly rooted in a region has its own value, noted Wilder, who grew up in small-town Texas, as did Collins, the Observer’s new hire. “A reporter going in for a few days is important, but we wanted somebody who’s out there all the time, and who can approach the subject as something they have lived themselves,” he said. 9. Many community newspapers have managed to hang on, despite the changes in the newspaper business, said Tommy Thomason, director of the Texas Center for Community Journalism at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. “These are the papers that nobody has heard of, but that do such important work,” he said. “Some of these small-town officials think they’ve been elected as deities.” 10. He tells the journalists who come in for midcareer training that they have a crucial mission: “If you’re not doing it, nobody is doing it.” Many of these papers have a single newsroom employee or, more typically, four or five. (Compare this with the New York Times with well over 1,000 newsroom employees, or a metropolitan daily where the staff might be around 100.) 11. Accountability reporting in small towns, just as in Washington, often meets with resistance – which explains the title of a book Thomason co-wrote on community journalists: “You Might Want to Carry a Gun.” 12. Some of that journalism is world-class, as the 10-person staff at the 3,000-circulation Storm Lake Times in Iowa ably proved: Their work on pollution resulting from agricultural changes won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing this year. 13. Big-city reporting – on politics, government, Wall Street and technology – is indispensable. But so is its oft-neglected rural counterpart. (767words from washingtonpost.com)

Passage 1 Why You Shouldn’t Work off the Clock 1. If you’re like a lot of American workers, you’re no stranger to staying late at the office or responding to work emails well into the night. In fact, 81 percent of U.S. salaried employees report that they work outside of their standard work hours, with 29 percent doing it three or more days per week, according to a new survey from Harris Poll. 2. That might get very relevant later this year when new overtime rules go into effect. Starting on December 1st, employers will need to pay overtime to employees who earn less than $47,476 per year; specifically, the law will require that those employees be paid wages of time and a half for all hours over 40 worked in a week. 3. That’s going to be quite a change, because it will mean that millions of people will need to begin tracking their hours and will probably be restricted from working any overtime at all. And yet working outside of normal work hours is so ingrained in American workers that over 90 percent of the workers in that Harris Poll survey said they would continue to do so even if it were against company policy. 4. Working off the clock might seem like it should be an employee’s choice; after all, if you’re willing to put in unpaid time to catch up on work, make sure a project goes smoothly or ensure you don’t come in to find 100 emails waiting for you in the morning, why shouldn’t you be allowed to? But there are some really good reasons why you shouldn’t work off the clock. 5. It’s illegal. First and foremost, if you’re among the majority of people who the law says must be paid overtime, your company would be breaking the law by allowing you to work off the clock. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing that work voluntarily; you can’t waive your right to overtime. And if you just work the overtime anyway and don’t record it, that could get your employer into a lot of trouble later. You would have the legal right to claim back pay and penalties from your employer later on, even if you were “volunteering” the time originally. So letting people work off the clock, even if they want to, is a serious risk for employers. 6. It gives your employer bad information about your working capacity. Your manager needs to know what can reasonably be accomplished in your position in 40 hours, in order to make accurate decisions about budgeting, staffing levels and work priorities. If you’re secretly working off the clock and your manager plans your team’s workload around that level of productivity, what’s going to happen if you suddenly decide you don’t want to or can’t put in those extra hours anymore? Furthermore, by working off the clock, you’re potentially making it harder for your manager to increase the staffing on your team, because if all the work is getting done, the company has less incentive to spend money on a new hire. 7. It’s bad for your co-workers. If the rest of your co-workers are following the law and company policy and not working unauthorized overtime while you’re secretly

making an exception for yourself, you’re going to throw off the expectations for everyone. Your manager is likely to wonder why your co-workers aren’t producing at the same levels that you are, and that can increase the pressure and stress on them. Plus, it’s going to be really bad for the person who replaces you when you move on at some point. That person will be burdened with an unrealistic workload because you set unrealistic expectations about how much could be done with the time available. 8. You deserve to be paid. Worker protections have been hard won. People fought – and in some cases even died – for your right to be paid fairly for the time you work. And you have agreed to provide a particular amount of work in exchange for money, not to sign over all your free time to your employer. 9. If you can’t realistically finish all your work in 40 hours, the solution isn’t to work off the clock and not tell your boss. Instead, in most cases you should talk with your manager about what you can and can’t get done and how you should be prioritizing things. And yes, in reality there are indeed some managers who will tell you to just find a way to get it all done, but good, reasonable managers will want you to raise the issue. (760 words)

Comprehension Exercises I. Answer the following questions with words from the passage. 1) How many Americans work outside of normal work hours? 2) When will the new overtime law go into effect? 3) How many workers in the Harris Poll survey would go on working off the clock? 4) What can people legally claim from their employers after working the unpaid overtime? 5) What do reasonable managers want you to do if you cannot finish your work in 40 hours? II. Complete the following sentences with words from the passage. 6) Working the overtime secretly gives your employers __________ on your working capacity. 7) Managers are less likely to increase __________ on those who work off the clock. 8) Secret overtime workers can increase __________ on their co-workers. 9) The person who replaces your position can be burdened with __________ due to your secret overtime work. 10) People deserve to be paid __________ for the time they work.

Passage 2 How Many Calories We Burn When We Sit, Stand or Walk 1. There are many compelling reasons to get up out of your desk chair and stand more at work. But weight control is probably not one of them, according to a new study that precisely measured how many calories people burn during everyday office activities. The new study’s results suggest that engaging frequently in one type of activity while at work may help many of us avoid weight gain. But that activity is not standing up. 2. Most of us sit more than we should, and a majority of our sitting time occurs at work, since many modern professions are sedentary. Many of us spend six or seven hours tied to our desks each day. These long, uninterrupted periods of physical lethargy have been linked with increased risks for diabetes, heart disease, premature mortality and, not least, weight gain. 3. In response, many people have begun to look for ways to break up our sitting time. We download smartphone apps that chirp and tell us to stand up several times every hour. Health-minded supervisors organize walking meetings, in which employees discuss business while hoofing along hallways. And standing desks have also become popular. 4. Recent studies indicate that measures that get us off our seats can help us better regulate blood sugar and lessen the risks for diabetes and chronic disease. But more to the point, many of us are rising from our chairs in the hopes that sitting less will help keep our waistlines and nether quarters from spreading. 5. Surprisingly few studies, however, have closely tracked how many additional calories we burn if we stand up or walk around our offices. So for the new experiment, which was published this month in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, researchers from the Physical Activity and Weight Management Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh rounded up 74 healthy volunteers. Most were in their mid-20s, of normal weight, and with some acquaintance with office life. 6. These volunteers were randomly assigned to four different groups. One group was asked to sit and type at a computer for 15 minutes and then stand up for 15 minutes, moving around and fidgeting as little as possible. Another group also sat for 15 minutes, but watched a television screen and didn’t type. Afterward, they immediately moved to a treadmill and walked for 15 minutes at a gentle, strolling pace. The third group stood up for 15 minutes and then sat down for 15 minutes. And the final group walked on the treadmills for 15 minutes and then sat. 7. Throughout, the volunteers wore masks that precisely measured their energy expenditure, which means how many calories they were using. Unsurprisingly, sitting was not very taxing. The volunteers generally burned about 20 calories during their 15 minutes of sitting, whether they were typing or staring at a television screen. More unexpected, standing up was barely more demanding. While standing for 15 minutes,

the volunteers burned about 2 additional calories compared to when they sat down. It didn’t matter whether they stood up and then sat down or sat down and then stood up. The total caloric expenditure was about the same and was not sizable. Over all, in fact, the researchers concluded, someone who stood up while working instead of sitting would burn about 8 or 9 extra calories per hour. 8. But walking was a different matter. When the volunteers walked for 15 minutes, even at a fairly easy pace, they burned about three times as many calories as when they sat or stood. If they walked for an hour, the researchers calculated, they would incinerate about 130 more calories than if they stayed in their chairs or stood up at their desks, an added energy expenditure that might be sufficient, they write, to help people avoid creeping, yearly weight gain. 9. The upshot of this experiment is that if your goal is to control your weight at work, then “standing up may not be enough,” said Seth Creasy, a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh and the lead author of the new study. You probably need to also incorporate walking into your office routine, he said. Maybe “put the printer at the other end of the hallway, or get up to walk to the water fountain every hour or so” instead of keeping a water bottle at your desk. “Brief periods of walking can add up to make a big difference” in energy expenditure, he said, while standing barely budges your caloric burn. 10. Of course, standing up almost certainly has other health benefits apart from weight management, Mr. Creasy said, including better blood sugar control and less back and shoulder pain associated with hunching in a chair all day. So don’t dismantle or abandon your stand-up desk just yet. But don’t expect it to counteract that extra cookie with lunch. (811 words)

Comprehension Exercises I. Decide whether the following sentences are true (T) or false (F). 1) A new study indicates standing up at work may help people avoid weight gain. 2) Most of the new experiment’s volunteers are of normal weight. 3) One group of the volunteers was asked to stand up for 15 minutes and then walk on the treadmills for 15 minutes. 4) People who walk for 15 minutes may burn 130 more calories than those sitting or standing. II. Complete the following sentences with words from the passage. 5) Most of our sitting time occurs when we are __________. 6) Some supervisors arrange __________ to break up their employees’ sitting time. 7) Studies show people can better regulate __________ by standing more. 8) The volunteers’ __________ were accurately measured through the masks they wore. 9) People should include walking into their __________ to avoid weight gain. 10) Standing up helps relieving the pain in people’s __________.

Reading Passage 1 Should you rely on the snooze button? A few more minutes. When faced with the decision to hop out of bed or grab a luxurious few more minutes of sleep, which do you choose? Believe it or not, that one decision could make a world of difference in the rest of your day. About 85 percent of Americans use an alarm clock to wake up in the mornings, according to sleep researcher Till Roennenber in his book, “Internal Time.” And while there are no official numbers on snoozing, a quick survey of social media makes it clear that hitting the snooze button is a popular pastime. As to how the snooze button will affect your day, scientists have mixed opinions. A British study led by evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa found that people who hit the snooze button in the mornings are actually more intelligent, more creative and happier than their up-and-at-’em peers. Kanazawa’s argument is that nothing in our evolution has prepared us for the use of the snooze button. Therefore, it takes someone with outstanding intelligence and creativity to learn how to use this modern invention and incorporate it into their daily lives. On the flip side are scientists who claim that hitting the snooze button will ruin your life, or at the very least your day. “I feel that the snooze button has got to be one of the worst things to ever happen to human sleep,” somnology researcher Jonathan Horowitz tells MNN. “The chances of you ‘snoozing’ and actually experiencing a meaningful rest are close to nil.” According to some sleep experts, your body gets confused when you allow yourself to dip in and out of sleep cycles in the morning. You could wind up feeling drowsier than you would have if you had just gotten out of bed after the first set of beeps. This grogginess may linger throughout the day, making you less productive, less likely to exercise and more likely to make poor food choices. “When hitting the snooze button, you are in fact confusing your body and mind, throwing yourself into a deeper state of drowsiness,” explains Horowitz. “The bodily waking process needs to be accommodated, not side-stepped ... therefore, when returning to what will be a light sleep for a brief period of time, you are putting your body back into a sleeping mode before waking it again. At that point your body won’t know what it wants, resulting in a sort of half-awakened state that is known as sleep inertia.” So is using the snooze button a sign of greater intelligence or the portent of a bad day? If you really want to take advantage of an extra morning snooze, the key, some experts say, is to use the snooze button strategically, to supplement a healthy sleep cycle. Focus your efforts on getting enough sleep each night and waking around the same time each day so that when your alarm goes off you feel rested. Then if you want to use the snooze button as an insurance policy while you stretch and enjoy a 1

few extra minutes under the covers, it shouldn’t affect your sleep or the rest of your day. (530 words) Questions 1-2 Answer the following questions with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from this passage. (1) What does Till Roennenber do? (2) What does Kanazawa think make one “snooze”? Questions 3-4 Fill in each blank in the following statements with NO MORE THAN THREE words from this passage. (3) Unwise morning “snoozing” makes one’s body __________. (4) The drowsy state of one’s body caused by “snoozing” is called________. Questions 5-8 Decide if the following statements are true or false based on the information presented in the passage and write: True if the statement is true according to the passage False if the statement contradicts the passage NI if information is not given about this in the passage (5) About 70% of Americans often use their alarm clocks’ snooze button. (6) Some scientists don’t think “snoozing” brings one meaningful rest. (7) Horowitz believes “snoozing” makes people less drowsy. (8) Strategic “snoozing” can make one’s sleep cycle healthier. 2