Rise Of The Ergonarchy Essay
Контрольная работа по лексике №3
People and society
Read text 1. The Rise of the Ergonarchy
We could have the leisure society if we wanted it. But Samuel Smiles¹ won; our lives are ruled by a work ethic and a duty to consume.
In 1857, Charles Dickens observed that the nation was over-populated, over-pauperized, over-colonizing and overtaxed. Over-colonizing is no longer a problem – we managed to get rid of the British Empire and the cost of running it, but the rest of his description stands untouched. But we manage: we go on living longer and longer, in spite of pollution and GM foods and mercury our teeth fillings. Life expectancy will soon be twice what it was when Dick made his speech in 1857. He died, poor man, in 1870, aged 57. Here …show more content…
am I, a novelist of today, ten years older than that and still going strong, thanks to good nutrition and medical care: I'd have been dead once if it weren't for antibiotics, and twice if not for surgery.
We manage, mostly because of the rise of technology and science.
Robots dig for coal, fetch up oil, and make our motorcars and our largely prefabricated buildings; computers keep information circulating. A good deal of the work and the information is totally unnecessary, but the technological West is now search of an occupation, and is really good at inventing tasks for itself to do. Layer upon layer of bureaucracy delays decisions and makes efficiency impossible. A letter that in Dickens's time took a day to get anywhere in the country can now take up to five. Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre was in the bookshops six weeks after the unsolicited manuscript turned up at the publishers. Today, two years would not be …show more content…
unusual.
But at least everyone's working, which means consuming: this is what it takes to keep the wheels of industry and state turning. The leisure society we envisaged back in the 1960s didn't happen: on the contrary, we work harder and longer accomplishing less. It turned out that we had more appetite for employment than for leisure. It suited the nature of our species.
The problem has always been that the machine works steadily and sensibly; humans do not. In fact, we would be more productive, and our employers would be wealthier, if we worked when we felt like it. Our natural work rhythms are not nine to five daily and a weekend off: more like a week working hard with time off only for sleep, and then a week's rest. Anyone who is self-employed recognizes the pattern. Endeavour is seldom steady; as with us today, so with yesterday's peasant farmer, who worked day and night to bring the harvest in and then fell asleep until winter was over. The work patterns imposed on us since Dickens's day are unnatural. We may live longer healthier lives, but not necessarily in tranquility and contentment.
For we live in an ergonarchy: rule by a work ethic closely entwined with a consuming duty. Where once we worked in order to make things, and keep warm and fed, now we work in order to earn, and earn in order to spend in order to work. The purpose of our lives is to consume. To spend on the microwave and the convenience food in order to earn the time to get the child back from the minder and fed before going to bed, to get the sleep that humans require and which the employer has always so begrudged.
And what a hard taskmaster the ergonarchy is, for men and women both, pushing us out of bed in the morning whatever the weather, out of the house to some distant place of employment decreed by the planners, on public transport or over the road bumps into a traffic jam, stuck listening to the radio (though some claim that's the best part of the day), our children socialized by their peers and their teachers and not ourselves, family life at the end of its tether, and for what, for what? Sure, ergonarchy comes bearing gifts: a brand new car and a holiday abroad, and a pension at the end of it provided you invested your serial redundancy monies properly and retrained wisely. But he's a devil and don't forget it.
¹British writer and social reformer, 1812- 1904 Ergonarchy thrives at the citizen's expense. Lying there licking his sticky fingers while we work and spend. Just sometimes he offers us a sweet. And we never even asked him in: he just happened. And there we are: men and women together, good earners all, trudging to become the Northern Consumer Force, pride of the future.
/Fay Weldon, New Statesman, April 17, 2001/
Ex. 1. Read the article again and write if the following statements are true or false.
1. Nowadays people are not so healthy as their forebears due to pollution and unhealthy food. false 2. Regardless of the technological advances people do not work efficiently at present. true 3. Today people work harder than their ancestors, and so their accomplishments are greater. true 4. People would work more effectively if they could work according to their natural work rhythms. true 5. At present people live longer but they are more overworked and stressed out than years ago. true 6. People use convenience foods because this enables them to spend more time with their families. false Ex.2 Make up 10 wh-questions to the article and give detailed answers to them.
1. When did Charles Dickens die?
2. Who was Charles Dickens?
3. What is the most popular Charlotte Bronte’s book?
4. What does a natural work rhythm mean?
5. Why do people are not so healthy today?
6. Why do people use convenience food?
7. When did Dickens make his speech?
8. Who was Samuel Smiles?
9. Who is term ergonarchy mean?
10. Who does work instead people on factories nowadays?
Ex. 3 Find equivalents for the following in the text:
1. остаться неизменным
Stands untouched
2. средняя продолжительность жизни
Life expectancy
3. хорошее питание и медицинское обслуживание
Good nutrition and medical care
4. сборные дома
Prefabricated buildings
5. общество всеобщей праздности
Leisure society
6. не допускать сбоев в промышленности и работе государственной машины
Keep the wheels of industry and state turning
7. старание, усилие
Endeavor
8. правление, в основе которого лежат нормы поведения, предполагающие необходимость работать в сочетании с обязанностью потреблять
Rule by a work ethic closely entwined with a consuming duty
9. пища быстрого приготовления
Convenience food
10. на грани развала (распада)
At the end of the tether
11. переквалифицироваться
Retrain
12. процветать за счет граждан
Thrives at the citizen’s expense
13. идти с трудом устало тащиться
Trudging
Ex.4 Match the letters to the numbers
1 run h. manage
2 circulate f. go round
3 consume b. use up
4 accomplish a. finish
5 produce i. manufacture
6 impose c. enforce
7 requirement j. demand
8 begrudge d. be stingy
9 invest e. deposit
10 efficiency g. productivity
Ex.5 Fill in the prepositions on, with, against, in, from, in, in
1 We’ll be staying in St. Regis. In case you want to keep in touch.
2 Progressive thinkers in Britain are clear that various restrictive conditions imposed on people from the black Commonwealth countries are deeply unjust.
3 It’s dangerous to invest the military authorities with extraordinary powers of killing and of arrest without warrant and of housebreaking.
4 You are running a big risk in trusting him.
5 Even if the increase in productivity shifted higher, there would be no reason to expect, as a result, greater stability year by year.
6 I hate trains. I slept all the way to London, and woke up with a headache and a grudge against the whole journey.
7 It’s very difficult to withdraw the counterfeit bills from circulation since the quality is remarkably high.
Text 2. The American holidays
Each of the 50 states establishes its own legal holidays. The federal government, through the President and Congress, can legally set holidays only for federal employees and for the District of Columbia. Most states, however, accept the federal legal holidays. Holidays for all federal offices, most state and local government offices, and many (but not all!) businesses are:
New Year's Day (January 1)
Martin Luther King's Birthday (third Monday in January)
Washington's Birthday, sometimes called "Presidents’ Day"
(third Monday in February)
Memorial Day (last Monday in May)
Independence Day (July 4)
Labor Day (first Monday in September)
Columbus Day (second Monday in October)
Veterans' Day (November 11)
Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November)
Christmas Day (December 25)
Perhaps the two "most American" of the holidays are the Fourth of July -Independence Day - and Thanksgiving. The Fourth of July is like a big, nationwide birthday party. Yet, it's a party that takes place in neighborhoods, on beaches or in parks, or on suburban lawns throughout the country. Some towns and cities have parades with bands and flags, and most politicians will try to give a patriotic speech or two, should anyone be willing to listen. But what makes the Fourth of July is the atmosphere and enjoyment of, for instance, the family beach party, with hot dogs and hamburgers, volleyball and Softball, the fireworks and rockets at night (and, often, a sunburn and a headache the next morning). The nation's birthday is also the nation's greatest annual summer party.
Like Christmas, Thanksgiving is a day for families to come together.
Traditional foods are prepared for the feast - turkey or ham, cranberry sauce and corn dishes, breads and rolls, and pumpkin pie. At the same time, Thanksgiving is a solemn occasion, a day to remember the many who are less well off, in America and throughout the world.
/ from American Life and Institutions/
Ex. 6. Answer the questions on the text
1 Who can legally set holidays in America?
The federal government, through the President and Congress, can legally set holidays only for federal employees and for the District of Columbia.
2 What are the federal legal holidays in America? They are New Year's Day, Martin Luther King's Birthday, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans' Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
3 When is Independence Day celebrated?
It is celebrated on 4th of
July.
4 How do the Americans celebrate the nation’s birthday?
Families to come together. Traditional foods are prepared for the feast - turkey or ham, cranberry sauce and corn dishes, breads and rolls, and pumpkin pie.
5 American families come together only on Christmas Day, don’t they?
No, they don’t.
6 Why is Thanksgiving considered to be a solemn occasion? Thanksgiving is a solemn occasion, a day to remember the many who are less well off, in America and throughout the world.
Ex. 7. Make a list of public holidays celebrated in Russia. Describe the two “most Russian” of the holidays.
New Year's Day (January 1)
Christmas Day (January 7)
Motherland Defender’s Day (February 23)
Women’s Day (March 8)
Labor Day (May 1)
Victory’s Day (May 9)
Russia’s Day (June 12)
Nation Unity Day (November 4)
New Year’s Day is a family holiday for many Russians. Dinner usually starts late on December 31. Traditional meals include Russian salad, herring and sparkling wine. A pre-recorded address by the country’s president appears on TV, listing the achievements of the past year, at 11.55pm (23:55) local time in each of Russia’s time zones. Many people watch his address and raise a toast to the chiming of the Kremlin clock. The Russian national anthem begins at midnight and people congratulate each other and exchange presents. Some people go out to make a snowman or light fire crackers in their backyards.
People may celebrate the day at a friend’s house or attend the fireworks in their city. Celebrations for children include a decorated fir tree and Grandfather Frost, the Russian equivalent of Santa Claus, who gives presents. Grandfather Frost often comes with his granddaughter, Snegurochka (“The Snow Girl”). As things quieten down later in the day, many people visit their friends or relatives. Another tradition is to wish a “Happy New Year” to passers-by throughout January 1.
Many people attend a local military parade and watch the fireworks at night on Victory Day. The biggest parade is in Moscow’s Red Square, showcasing Russia’s military forces. Most veterans wear their medals as they head to the parade or an event organized by a local veteran organization.
Another tradition is to give flowers, usually red carnations, to veterans in the street and to lay wreaths at the war memorial sites. Neighborhood schools may host a program prepared by the students, featuring wartime songs and poetry.
At home, families gather around a festive table to honor surviving witnesses of World War II and remember those who passed away. They may also watch a favorite Soviet film based on the events of World War II, which is also known as the Great Patriotic War. These films are repeated each year but the audience seems to never grow tired of them.
Text 3. Read the extract about leisure activities.
Traditional leisure activities date from the days when free time was brief and had to be enjoyed near or in the home. They include many forms of sports, gardening, fishing, collecting hobbies, board and card games, eating out, gambling, and drinking. Since the 1960s a great increase in time available for leisure in the industrialized nations has come about through a combination of factors, among them the shorter working week and longer holidays, the liberating effects of automation in the workplace, and greater life expectancy, better diet and health care, greater mobility through car ownership, the growth of cheap air travel, and, in wealthy countries, the availability of land no longer required for agriculture, have encouraged tourism and outdoor leisure pursuits. The changing times have produced a greater appetite for continuing education. Such leisure activities are largely confined to the industrialized world; in most developing countries concepts such as leisure, personal fitness, and holidays are regarded as scarce luxuries.
/ from The Oxford Interactive Encyclopedia/
Ex. 8. Complete a questionnaire “Students’ use of leisure time”
Holidays
yes no 1. going to the seaside; abroad / at home
2. going to the countryside
3. hitchhiking
4. going to historical places: at home / abroad
5.
Time out
times a week times a month
1. going to the cinema
2. going to the theatre, opera, concerts, etc.
3. playing amateur music and drama
4. dancing
5. going to evening classes
6.
At Home
hours a day
1. listening to music
2 reading books
3. watching TV
4. playing computer games
5.
People and society
Read text 1. The Rise of the Ergonarchy
We could have the leisure society if we wanted it. But Samuel Smiles¹ won; our lives are ruled by a work ethic and a duty to consume.
In 1857, Charles Dickens observed that the nation was over-populated, over-pauperized, over-colonizing and overtaxed. Over-colonizing is no longer a problem – we managed to get rid of the British Empire and the cost of running it, but the rest of his description stands untouched. But we manage: we go on living longer and longer, in spite of pollution and GM foods and mercury our teeth fillings. Life expectancy will soon be twice what it was when Dick made his speech in 1857. He died, poor man, in 1870, aged 57. Here …show more content…
am I, a novelist of today, ten years older than that and still going strong, thanks to good nutrition and medical care: I'd have been dead once if it weren't for antibiotics, and twice if not for surgery.
We manage, mostly because of the rise of technology and science.
Robots dig for coal, fetch up oil, and make our motorcars and our largely prefabricated buildings; computers keep information circulating. A good deal of the work and the information is totally unnecessary, but the technological West is now search of an occupation, and is really good at inventing tasks for itself to do. Layer upon layer of bureaucracy delays decisions and makes efficiency impossible. A letter that in Dickens's time took a day to get anywhere in the country can now take up to five. Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre was in the bookshops six weeks after the unsolicited manuscript turned up at the publishers. Today, two years would not be …show more content…
unusual.
But at least everyone's working, which means consuming: this is what it takes to keep the wheels of industry and state turning. The leisure society we envisaged back in the 1960s didn't happen: on the contrary, we work harder and longer accomplishing less. It turned out that we had more appetite for employment than for leisure. It suited the nature of our species.
The problem has always been that the machine works steadily and sensibly; humans do not. In fact, we would be more productive, and our employers would be wealthier, if we worked when we felt like it. Our natural work rhythms are not nine to five daily and a weekend off: more like a week working hard with time off only for sleep, and then a week's rest. Anyone who is self-employed recognizes the pattern. Endeavour is seldom steady; as with us today, so with yesterday's peasant farmer, who worked day and night to bring the harvest in and then fell asleep until winter was over. The work patterns imposed on us since Dickens's day are unnatural. We may live longer healthier lives, but not necessarily in tranquility and contentment.
For we live in an ergonarchy: rule by a work ethic closely entwined with a consuming duty. Where once we worked in order to make things, and keep warm and fed, now we work in order to earn, and earn in order to spend in order to work. The purpose of our lives is to consume. To spend on the microwave and the convenience food in order to earn the time to get the child back from the minder and fed before going to bed, to get the sleep that humans require and which the employer has always so begrudged.
And what a hard taskmaster the ergonarchy is, for men and women both, pushing us out of bed in the morning whatever the weather, out of the house to some distant place of employment decreed by the planners, on public transport or over the road bumps into a traffic jam, stuck listening to the radio (though some claim that's the best part of the day), our children socialized by their peers and their teachers and not ourselves, family life at the end of its tether, and for what, for what? Sure, ergonarchy comes bearing gifts: a brand new car and a holiday abroad, and a pension at the end of it provided you invested your serial redundancy monies properly and retrained wisely. But he's a devil and don't forget it.
¹British writer and social reformer, 1812- 1904 Ergonarchy thrives at the citizen's expense. Lying there licking his sticky fingers while we work and spend. Just sometimes he offers us a sweet. And we never even asked him in: he just happened. And there we are: men and women together, good earners all, trudging to become the Northern Consumer Force, pride of the future.
/Fay Weldon, New Statesman, April 17, 2001/
Ex. 1. Read the article again and write if the following statements are true or false.
1. Nowadays people are not so healthy as their forebears due to pollution and unhealthy food. false 2. Regardless of the technological advances people do not work efficiently at present. true 3. Today people work harder than their ancestors, and so their accomplishments are greater. true 4. People would work more effectively if they could work according to their natural work rhythms. true 5. At present people live longer but they are more overworked and stressed out than years ago. true 6. People use convenience foods because this enables them to spend more time with their families. false Ex.2 Make up 10 wh-questions to the article and give detailed answers to them.
1. When did Charles Dickens die?
2. Who was Charles Dickens?
3. What is the most popular Charlotte Bronte’s book?
4. What does a natural work rhythm mean?
5. Why do people are not so healthy today?
6. Why do people use convenience food?
7. When did Dickens make his speech?
8. Who was Samuel Smiles?
9. Who is term ergonarchy mean?
10. Who does work instead people on factories nowadays?
Ex. 3 Find equivalents for the following in the text:
1. остаться неизменным
Stands untouched
2. средняя продолжительность жизни
Life expectancy
3. хорошее питание и медицинское обслуживание
Good nutrition and medical care
4. сборные дома
Prefabricated buildings
5. общество всеобщей праздности
Leisure society
6. не допускать сбоев в промышленности и работе государственной машины
Keep the wheels of industry and state turning
7. старание, усилие
Endeavor
8. правление, в основе которого лежат нормы поведения, предполагающие необходимость работать в сочетании с обязанностью потреблять
Rule by a work ethic closely entwined with a consuming duty
9. пища быстрого приготовления
Convenience food
10. на грани развала (распада)
At the end of the tether
11. переквалифицироваться
Retrain
12. процветать за счет граждан
Thrives at the citizen’s expense
13. идти с трудом устало тащиться
Trudging
Ex.4 Match the letters to the numbers
1 run h. manage
2 circulate f. go round
3 consume b. use up
4 accomplish a. finish
5 produce i. manufacture
6 impose c. enforce
7 requirement j. demand
8 begrudge d. be stingy
9 invest e. deposit
10 efficiency g. productivity
Ex.5 Fill in the prepositions on, with, against, in, from, in, in
1 We’ll be staying in St. Regis. In case you want to keep in touch.
2 Progressive thinkers in Britain are clear that various restrictive conditions imposed on people from the black Commonwealth countries are deeply unjust.
3 It’s dangerous to invest the military authorities with extraordinary powers of killing and of arrest without warrant and of housebreaking.
4 You are running a big risk in trusting him.
5 Even if the increase in productivity shifted higher, there would be no reason to expect, as a result, greater stability year by year.
6 I hate trains. I slept all the way to London, and woke up with a headache and a grudge against the whole journey.
7 It’s very difficult to withdraw the counterfeit bills from circulation since the quality is remarkably high.
Text 2. The American holidays
Each of the 50 states establishes its own legal holidays. The federal government, through the President and Congress, can legally set holidays only for federal employees and for the District of Columbia. Most states, however, accept the federal legal holidays. Holidays for all federal offices, most state and local government offices, and many (but not all!) businesses are:
New Year's Day (January 1)
Martin Luther King's Birthday (third Monday in January)
Washington's Birthday, sometimes called "Presidents’ Day"
(third Monday in February)
Memorial Day (last Monday in May)
Independence Day (July 4)
Labor Day (first Monday in September)
Columbus Day (second Monday in October)
Veterans' Day (November 11)
Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November)
Christmas Day (December 25)
Perhaps the two "most American" of the holidays are the Fourth of July -Independence Day - and Thanksgiving. The Fourth of July is like a big, nationwide birthday party. Yet, it's a party that takes place in neighborhoods, on beaches or in parks, or on suburban lawns throughout the country. Some towns and cities have parades with bands and flags, and most politicians will try to give a patriotic speech or two, should anyone be willing to listen. But what makes the Fourth of July is the atmosphere and enjoyment of, for instance, the family beach party, with hot dogs and hamburgers, volleyball and Softball, the fireworks and rockets at night (and, often, a sunburn and a headache the next morning). The nation's birthday is also the nation's greatest annual summer party.
Like Christmas, Thanksgiving is a day for families to come together.
Traditional foods are prepared for the feast - turkey or ham, cranberry sauce and corn dishes, breads and rolls, and pumpkin pie. At the same time, Thanksgiving is a solemn occasion, a day to remember the many who are less well off, in America and throughout the world.
/ from American Life and Institutions/
Ex. 6. Answer the questions on the text
1 Who can legally set holidays in America?
The federal government, through the President and Congress, can legally set holidays only for federal employees and for the District of Columbia.
2 What are the federal legal holidays in America? They are New Year's Day, Martin Luther King's Birthday, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans' Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
3 When is Independence Day celebrated?
It is celebrated on 4th of
July.
4 How do the Americans celebrate the nation’s birthday?
Families to come together. Traditional foods are prepared for the feast - turkey or ham, cranberry sauce and corn dishes, breads and rolls, and pumpkin pie.
5 American families come together only on Christmas Day, don’t they?
No, they don’t.
6 Why is Thanksgiving considered to be a solemn occasion? Thanksgiving is a solemn occasion, a day to remember the many who are less well off, in America and throughout the world.
Ex. 7. Make a list of public holidays celebrated in Russia. Describe the two “most Russian” of the holidays.
New Year's Day (January 1)
Christmas Day (January 7)
Motherland Defender’s Day (February 23)
Women’s Day (March 8)
Labor Day (May 1)
Victory’s Day (May 9)
Russia’s Day (June 12)
Nation Unity Day (November 4)
New Year’s Day is a family holiday for many Russians. Dinner usually starts late on December 31. Traditional meals include Russian salad, herring and sparkling wine. A pre-recorded address by the country’s president appears on TV, listing the achievements of the past year, at 11.55pm (23:55) local time in each of Russia’s time zones. Many people watch his address and raise a toast to the chiming of the Kremlin clock. The Russian national anthem begins at midnight and people congratulate each other and exchange presents. Some people go out to make a snowman or light fire crackers in their backyards.
People may celebrate the day at a friend’s house or attend the fireworks in their city. Celebrations for children include a decorated fir tree and Grandfather Frost, the Russian equivalent of Santa Claus, who gives presents. Grandfather Frost often comes with his granddaughter, Snegurochka (“The Snow Girl”). As things quieten down later in the day, many people visit their friends or relatives. Another tradition is to wish a “Happy New Year” to passers-by throughout January 1.
Many people attend a local military parade and watch the fireworks at night on Victory Day. The biggest parade is in Moscow’s Red Square, showcasing Russia’s military forces. Most veterans wear their medals as they head to the parade or an event organized by a local veteran organization.
Another tradition is to give flowers, usually red carnations, to veterans in the street and to lay wreaths at the war memorial sites. Neighborhood schools may host a program prepared by the students, featuring wartime songs and poetry.
At home, families gather around a festive table to honor surviving witnesses of World War II and remember those who passed away. They may also watch a favorite Soviet film based on the events of World War II, which is also known as the Great Patriotic War. These films are repeated each year but the audience seems to never grow tired of them.
Text 3. Read the extract about leisure activities.
Traditional leisure activities date from the days when free time was brief and had to be enjoyed near or in the home. They include many forms of sports, gardening, fishing, collecting hobbies, board and card games, eating out, gambling, and drinking. Since the 1960s a great increase in time available for leisure in the industrialized nations has come about through a combination of factors, among them the shorter working week and longer holidays, the liberating effects of automation in the workplace, and greater life expectancy, better diet and health care, greater mobility through car ownership, the growth of cheap air travel, and, in wealthy countries, the availability of land no longer required for agriculture, have encouraged tourism and outdoor leisure pursuits. The changing times have produced a greater appetite for continuing education. Such leisure activities are largely confined to the industrialized world; in most developing countries concepts such as leisure, personal fitness, and holidays are regarded as scarce luxuries.
/ from The Oxford Interactive Encyclopedia/
Ex. 8. Complete a questionnaire “Students’ use of leisure time”
Holidays
yes no 1. going to the seaside; abroad / at home
2. going to the countryside
3. hitchhiking
4. going to historical places: at home / abroad
5.
Time out
times a week times a month
1. going to the cinema
2. going to the theatre, opera, concerts, etc.
3. playing amateur music and drama
4. dancing
5. going to evening classes
6.
At Home
hours a day
1. listening to music
2 reading books
3. watching TV
4. playing computer games
5.