Intense — интенсивный

holistic — целостный

tangible — осязаемый, материальный

Intangible — неосязаемый, нематериальный

the standard of living — жизненный стандарт, уровень жизни

monetary — денежный

productivity —производительностьindispensable —незаменимыйbrainwashing —«промывка мозгов»to handing off —передавать, отдавать

colleague — коллега

>

to engender —порождать, вызывать

to downsize —уменьшаться в размере, сокращаться

vital —живой, смертный

workload — нагрузка

pressure — давление

fear —страх

volatile —непостоянный, изменчивыйto replace —заменятьto discover —обнаруживатьit boils down to... —все сводится к...to negotiate —проводить переговорыrecognition —признаниеcommitment —обязательствоto deny —отрицать

THE VACATION SITUATION IN AMERICA

Ah, vacation. The sand, the surf. The mountains and hiking. The city streets and sidewalk cafes. I need a vacation. That's what most of the Americans think, but don't do.

They have heard all the sayings: "Vacation is a great way to relax, re­charge and come away with a fresh perspective that can drive your ca­reer to new heights. Too bad these cathartic cliches ignore the realities of the 2000s: overwork, overbearing managers and overreaching technol­ogy that never let American professionals off the hook.

The reality is that the amount of vacation time available to U.S. work­ers is at the whim of U.S. employers. While there may be some truth to the fact that a lack of government intervention in this matter is a major reason for the global dominance of the U.S. economy, they are at an extreme end of the work-life balance spectrum. And to many, the end is the wrong one.

Sure, U.S. production, wealth and work ethics are the envy of the industrial world. But, as a result, employers mandate how many weeks an employee can take off.

A dirty secret in corporate America however, is that a vacation is not a right, but a privilege. Hence the proliferation of PDA devices, laptops and mobile phones on beaches across California, Florida and Mexico.

Unlike his counterpart in Europe, it seems the U.S. worker has his Job on the brain even when the time has come to decompress, be it at home or on vacation. Despite the evident benefits to the economy and overall productivity, is it worth it?

The average vacation time in America is 12 days while in Germany It is 35, in France — 37, and in Italy the norm is an astounding 42 days щ year. This is unheard of in America. Even the British have 28 days at their disposal, which means that one of the most stringent European nations in terms of time off provides twice as much as the average Amer­ican company.

Another important consideration in this comparison is the fact that during certain times of the year, corporate Europe as a whole takes a vacation. Try doing business with a European company in August or in second half of December and early January, for example. We are dealing with a totally different mentality on the other side of the pond.

The point is the ever-elusive balance of work and life. U.S. business has a reputation for being all work and no play, while business in Europe Isless intense and more holistic.

Many Europeans however, would cite that intangible "quality of life" metric. The standard of living in the U.S. may be the highest in the in­dustrial world in terms of monetary compensation, but what about fam­ilytime, personal time and stress levels?

Another point is that technology and a major push by industry for Increased productivity have convinced many folks they are indispensable.

People don't take long vacations — if they take them at all — because Companies have been ''brainwashing" employees into feeling guilty about handing off their work to colleagues. They have engendered a sense of insecurity. Now there are all these narcissistic worker bees who, when companies downsize, are shocked because they think, 'Hey, I'm vital.'

Many workers believe that their workload simply doesn't allow them to take all the time off.

Others say it is pressure or fear that keeps them from using all their vacation, not their workload. In the volatile labor economy of the 21^st century American workers are not using their vacation days, because they're scared of being replaced while they're away or that their employer would discover that they are not indispensable.

It boils down to personal choice. You can have your cake and eat it too in America. Because government does not regulate vacation time here, there is always the possibility of negotiating more days off once you gain a certain position of recognition in the company.

No matter how many people applaud the American work ethic and commitment, nobody can deny the tangible and intangible benefits of a vacation to workers with full, busy lives.

By lan Harrison

TEXT WORK

1. Pronounce correctly and transcribe. Consult the dictionary if necessary.

Recharge, cliches, ignore, overbearing, whim, extreme, wealth de­vice, astounding, stringent, intangible, quality, industry, increased, guilty, engendered, insecurity, folks, pressure, volatile, scared, government, ap­plaud.

2. Answer the questions.

   1. Why do people need vacation?

   2. What are the realities of the 2000s?

   3. Who regulates the amount of vacation time in the US?

   4. What is the major reason for the global dominance of the US ac­cording to the author's opinion?

   5. Where is America on work-balance spectrum, the author thinks?

   6. Why does industrial world envy America?

   7. Why do you see the proliferation of computer devices on the re­sort beaches?

   8. What is the average vacation time in America and in European countries?

   9. When does all corporate Europe take vacations?

   10. What is the main difference between business in Europe and Amer­ica?

   11. What does the author say about the standard of living in the USA?

   12. What are the major reasons why American workers don't take long vacation?

   13. What is the way to get more vacation time in America?

3. Give Russian equivalents to the following words and word combinations. Find them in the text and translate sentences with them.

Sidewalk cafe, to come away with a fresh perspective, to drive the career to new heights, cathartic cliches, overbearing managers, at the whim of U.S. employers, a major reason for the global dominance, at an

extreme end of the work-life balance spectrum, dirty secret, corporate America, PDA device, laptop, unlike his counterpart in Europe, overall productivity average vacation time, astounding 42 days a year, stringent European nation, in this comparison, totally different mentality, on the other side of the pond, ever-elusive balance of work and life, less intense and more holistic, intangible metric, quality of life, in terms of mone­tary compensation, a major push by industry, increased productivity, brainwashing" employees, to engender a sense of insecurity, narcissis­tic worker bees, I'm vital, I'm not indispensable, workload, volatile la­bor economy, to be scared of being replaced, it boils down to personal choice, a certain position of recognition in the company, American work ethic and commitment.

4. Give English equivalents to the following words and word combinations.

Городские улицы; прибой; мне нужно отдохнуть; отличный способ отдохнуть и восстановить силы; реальность 2000-х годов; количество дней на отпуск; имеется в наличии / в распоряжении; недостаток правительственного вмешательства; этика работы; про­мышленный мир; зависть; в результате; отпуск — это не право, а привилегия; в отличие от европейских коллег; портативный ком­пьютер (ноутбук); мобильный телефон; сотрудники думают о ра­боте даже во время отпуска; в их распоряжении; важная мысль; в этой связи; во второй половине декабря; дело в том, что...; личное время; уровень стресса; многие люди думают, что они незамени­мы; чувствовать себя виноватым; компании уменьшаются (сокра­щаются); бояться (2); регулировать время отпуска; все сводится к личному выбору; не важно; никто не отрицает; материальная и не­материальная выгода; это неслыханно для Америки.

5. Make up word combinations. Find them in the text and trans­late the sentences.

sidewalk average evident global industrial work major fresh

dominance

choice

time

perspective

benefit

end

reason

position

world

government

extreme intervention

personal cafe

certain commitment

6. What are the full forms of these words?

PDA, US, USA, EU, GB, UK, UN, UNESCO, FIFA

7. Match pairs of synonyms and translate them. Find them in the text.

co-worker job

in this matter consideration

overall worker

work in this comparison

employee people

despite in spite of

mobile phone general

folks cell phone

thought colleague