Every Monday, alarms go off, and people get ready for the start of the school or their workweek. Five days later, on Friday afternoon, students and workers celebrate the beginning of the weekend. Almost all around the world, people follow the same schedule: five days of learning or laboring and two daysof rest and relaxation. Have you ever wondered why everyone sticks tothis routine?
Let’s address the issue of the seven-day week first.This dates back toancient Babylon, some 4,000 years ago. It was all about the seven classical planetsin the solar system─The Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. Askeenastronomersand astrologers, the Babylonians attached great importance to the solar system, which influenced how they tracked the days. The Babylonians believed in many gods and associatedthem withthe seven classical planets, which was why they settled onseven days in a week.
The concept of the five-day workweek, on the other hand, is a much more recent invention. That makes senseif you consider that before the Industrial Revolution, most people lived on farms, which required daily labor and chores. The idea of taking days off from work only emerged with the rise of industrial work. In fact, the earliest recorded use of the term “weekend” occurred in 1879.
The idea of a weekend as we know it didn’t immediately catch on, though. Many jobs required workers to be on-siteseven days a week. However, the need for time off for church on Sunday or temple on Saturday pushed employers to permit small breaks in workers’ schedules. Also, aslabor unions grew more powerful, workers called for and received two full days off each week, as well as more reasonableworking hours and safer working conditions. Later in the 1930s, during the Great Depression, the two-day weekend became the norm, since a shorter workweek was considered a remedy for underemployment.
單字片語整理
Words in Use
●
labor
[ˋlebɚ]
n. 勞動，勞力；分娩
vi. 勞動，工作
=
work
=
toil
Wages for unskilled labor are usually not very high.
非技術性勞力的薪資通常不會很高。
Kate was in labor for almost four hours before she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
凱特分娩了將近四個小時才生下一個健康的男寶寶。
George labored late into the night in order to finish his report.
為了完成他的報告，喬治工作到很晚。
多益金色
英檢中級
高中 Level 4
●
relaxation
[͵rilæksˋeʃən]
n. 放鬆
Occasional relaxation is very important for efficient work.
偶爾放鬆一下對工作有效率至為重要。
高中 Level 4
●
keen
[kin]
a. 激烈的；敏銳的；渴望的
Though the competition was keen, we kept going and finally succeeded.
雖然這場比賽競爭很激烈，但是我們不斷努力終於獲得成功。
Marcie has a keen eye for beauty.
瑪西很有審美觀念。
Sandy is keen on studying abroad someday.
珊蒂巴不得有一天能出國深造。
多益金色
英檢中級
高中 Level 4
●
attach
[əˋtætʃ]
vt. 繫住，連接（與介詞 to 並用）
Don’t attach too much importance to what that guy said.
別把那傢伙說的話看得太重要。
Tom attached the string to his kite.
湯姆把繩子綁在風箏上。
多益綠色
英檢中級
高中 Level 4
●
concept
[ˋkɑnsɛpt]
n. 觀念，想法
It is difficult to grasp some of the concepts in Buddhism.
有些佛學的觀念很難理解。
多益藍色
英檢中級
高中 Level 4
●
invention
[ɪnˋvɛnʃən]
n. 發明（不可數）；發明物（可數）
Necessity is the mother of invention.
需要為發明之母。⸺諺語
The airplane is an amazing invention. It allows people to travel the world in days.
飛機是一項驚人的發明。它讓人們可以在數天內環遊世界。
高中 Level 4
●
chore
[tʃor]
n. 雜務
Children should be given chores to do in order to teach them responsibility. 家庭雜務應該分配給小孩子，好教會他們責任感。
Mom said that I could go out and play after I did my chores.
媽說我做完家務後，就可以到外頭玩了。
多益金色
英檢中級
高中 Level 5
●
emerge
[ɪˋmɝdʒ]
vi. 出現，冒出（常與介詞 from 並用）
=
appear
Ben suddenly emerged from behind the door, which frightened me.
班突然從門後冒出來，嚇了我一跳。
