题型:阅读理解 题类:常考题 难易度:普通
山西省太原市第五中学2016-2017学年高一下学期英语5月月考试题
Americans drove more miles in 2015 than any year since the U.S. government started keeping records 45 years ago. The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDT) recently reported that Americans drove a record of 3.148 trillion miles last year. In case you are wondering, that is enough to take 337 round trips from Earth to Pluto.
There are a number of reasons why Americans are driving more miles. The social experts agree that the first is the price of gas, which has dropped to the level of the year 2004 in the past year. The American Automobile Association (AAA) said that the average price of gas was just $1.71 a gallon. That could be the lowest price since 2004.
P.J. Sriraj, a director of the Urban Transportation Center at the University of Chicago, notes that the lower cost to fill up a car is just one reason. Another reason is that more Americans are back to work after the 2008 economic recession, and they drive to their jobs.
Besides, more Americans have to travel a long distance every day between home and the office. There are a lot of Americans who must travel more than 45 miles per day for their jobs. And as for many, there is not enough public transportation.
Because of the heavy traffic, roads are becoming more and more crowded. While modern cars are more fuel-efficient, the improvement is not enough to offset more cars on the road. “There is no doubt that driving more will make the air dirtier,” said P.J. Sriraj. And many Americans showed a great concern in a recent survey.
The most wonderful time of the year (the Christmas season) is also the most stressful for lots of people struggling to fit in increased end-of-the-year workloads, holiday parties, shopping, guest hosting, travel, and seeing friends and relatives who you'd otherwise avoid. Luckily, the same coping mechanisms that can help relieve stress and find better balance during the year also work for this holiday.
Here are four tips to finding work—life balance during this season.
1) Know and avoid your stressors(压力源).
If cooking for a large group, baking cookies, or Christmas shopping are your key stressors, don't do them. Lots of grocery stores will help cater your next holiday meal. Bakeries exist for a reason, and gift cards are much appreciated by all. Stop trying to live up to someone else's expectations of the holidays and stay merry by outsourcing the pain points.
2) Get flexible at work.
If you normally travel an hour each way at work, see if your boss will let you work from home in this special season to save time, get more done, and reduce your stress. Or ask if you can start work from home in the mornings and come to the office later in the day to avoid peak hours. Leave early and finish your day from the comfort of home, too.
3) Make your own list and check it twice.
Make a to-do list for yourself, for both work and life, then divide it up into categories like “must do,” “want to do,” and “feel obligated to do.” If you can remove any or all of your required list, the rest of your to-dos will start to look a lot easier.
Once you have your lists in order, it's time to start crossing things off. In between your must-dos tasks, include a want-to-do task to break things up and re-energize yourself. Yes, this holiday is a time to give back to others and be selfless, but there's still a bit of “self” in selflessness, isn't there?
4)If you start to feel a cold coming on, come to a full and complete stop.
The best way to stop a cold from exploding into a weeks-long sickness is to stop it at the start. Unless a task or activity is an absolute necessity, cancel your plans, put away your to-do lists, and settle in for a long winter's nap. A day of rest and enough sleep is the only thing you NEED right now. Feel bad about declining holiday invitations from your friends and family? You're doing them a favor. Once people hear that you're sick, they'll be glad you stayed away — they don't want to come down with a cold during the holiday any more than you do!
It is certain that you can feel less stressed in this hectic season when you stop expecting so much from yourself, because nobody puts so much expectation on you as you do to yourself. Trying to satisfy clients, co-workers, friends and family can be draining and can finally negatively impact you in many ways. When you simplify things up front, you relieve the stress off of yourself and everyone else in the process. Stop focusing on what you feel like you're obligated to do, and start focusing on what you want and need to do, the load will get lighter and you will feel a lot merrier under the Christmas tree.
{#blank#}1{#/blank#} | Four Ways to Find Work-life Balance during the Christmas Season |
Introduction | ◆The Christmas {#blank#}2{#/blank#} is often a time when work and social activities collide with each other. ◆Luckily, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} relief mechanisms can be found to cope with the problem. |
Four Tips | ◆Your stressors like cooking, baking and shopping can be {#blank#}4{#/blank#} because there is enough outsourcing for you to turn to and it is OK if you fail to live up to people's {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. ◆You can talk to your boss for a {#blank#}6{#/blank#} schedule. ◆You can make a list of what really {#blank#}7{#/blank#} and let go of the obligatory list. ◆Your friends and family don't want to come{#blank#}8{#/blank#} with a cold at all, so feel free to cancel all your plans when {#blank#}9{#/blank#}. |
Conclusion | ◆Start {#blank#}10{#/blank#} on what you want to do and you can enjoy the season better. |
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