做四休三啥感受？快来新西兰一探究竟
A New Zealand company which tried a four-day working week for its employees has declared the unique experiment a success. Perpetual Guardian carried out the eight-week trial earlier this year, with staff still paid as if they were working a normal five-day week.
The trial tested whether the shortened work week was beneficial to both the company and its more than 200 employees and the impact it had on office productivity. The company announced the results of the experiment on Wednesday, with staff engagement increasing by 24 per cent during the trial.
Staff were more creative, had fewer sick days, came on time and finished work early less often. “What we’ve seen is a massive increase in engagement and staff satisfaction about the work they do, a massive increase in staff intention to continue to work with the company and we’ve seen no drop in productivity,” the manager Andrew Barnes said. “Our leadership team reported that there was broadly no change in company outputs pre and during the trial.”
Data obtained during the trial was analysed by academics, including University of Auckland Business School lecturer Dr Helen Delaney. Dr Delaney said some staff struggled with the shorter week, including one employee who said they would rather be at work because they were bored. “Another employee told a co-worker’s story of ‘struggling to figure out what to do with the day off’ and ultimately this person ‘learnt to spend some time with herself, which was quite an important thing to learn how to do’,” she added.
In general, only a handful of staff reported problems with the changed working week, Dr Delaney said. Mr Barnes said now the results are in, he would like to see it carried out in the company soon. He is in talks with the board to make it a reality.
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1.What happened to the New Zealand company with the staff only working four days a week?
A It would pay the staff less than before.
B The staff suffered from more diseases.
C The staff had to stay longer in the office.
D There was no drop in productivity.
解析：选D。细节理解题。根据第三段第二句的 a massive increase in staff intention to continue to work with the company and we’ve seen no drop in productivity可知公司的生产力没有降低，故选D。
2.What made the employees bored?
A The heavy work.
B Having nothing to do.
C The intention to rest.
D Struggling with others.
解析：选B。推理判断题。根据第四段第二、三句的内容可推知是因为周末休假时间太长，员工觉得没事做才让他们感到无聊的。故选B。
3.What will Mr Barnes do?
A He will talk with Dr Delaney.
B He will make this trail come true.
C He will let the board obey him.
D He will learn to stay with himself.
解析：选B。细节理解题。根据最后一段最后两句Mr Barnes said now the results are in, he would like to see it carried out in the company soon. He is in talks with the board to make it a reality.可知他想让这种尝试变成现实，故选B。
4.What is the best title of the passage?
A Would we all be better off working four days a week?
B Has a New Zealand company declared its experiment?
C Was the eight-week trial earlier this year unsuccessful?
D Should the staff work as long as five days in a week?
解析：选A。文章标题题。通读全文可知，文章主要讲述了新西兰一家公司在尝试将工作日改为四天后，对公司的业绩以及员工的工作、生活等方面的影响，故选A。