2014年托福考试精选练习及答案(第七套)_第4页

　　Listening

　　Offering employees the options of four-day work week won’t affect company profits, economic conditions or the lives of employees in the ways the reading suggests?

　　First, offering a four-day work week will probably force companies to spend more, possibly a lot more. Adding more workers means putting much more money into providing training and medical benefits. Remember, the costs of things like health benefits can be the same whether employees works four days or five. And having more employees also requires more office space and more computers. These additional costs will quickly cut into company profits.

　　Second, with respect to overall employment, it doesn’t follow that when some employees choose a four-day work week, many more jobs will become available. Hiring a new worker is costly, as I argued a moment ago; and companies have other options: they might just choose to ask their employees to work overtime to make up the difference. Worst, companies might raise their expectations; they might start to expect their four-day employees can do the same amount of work they used to do in five days. If this happens, then no additional jobs will be created, and current jobs will become more unpleasant.

　　Finally, while a four-day work week offers employees more free time to invest on their personal lives, it also presents some risks that could end up reducing their quality of their live. Working a shorter week can decrease employees’ job stabilities and harm their chances for advancing their careers. Four-day employees are likely to be the first to lose their jobs during an economic downturn. They may also be passed over for promotions because companies might prefer to have five-day employees in the management positions to ensure continuous coverage and consistent supervision for the entire work week.