New York may be known as the city that never sleeps, but Tokyo business people get less time in the sack than their New York peers -- and also those in Paris, Stockholm and Shanghai. |
New York may be known as the city that never sleeps, but Tokyo business people get less time in the sack than their New York peers -- and also those in Paris, Stockholm and Shanghai. According to a survey of five cities, people in Tokyo on week days sleep just under 6 hours on average, according to a survey by Japanese food seasoning maker Ajinomoto Co. People in Shanghai sleep the longest, seven hours and 28 minutes. Those in New York slept six hours and 35 minutes, the second shortest after Tokyo. "I think people in Tokyo may just be too busy," said an Ajinomoto spokeswoman. Many Japanese businesspeople are forced into long days by hours of overtime followed by after-hours drinking sessions and then a long commute home, although the survey found that commutes in New York were about equally long. Tokyo trains in both mornings and evenings are full of dozing commuters, heads bobbing. Some even manage to nap standing up as they cling to overhead rails. "In Shanghai, people simply seem to go to sleep earlier. Everyone in all the cities gets up around the same time in the mornings, between 6:30 and 7:00," said the Ajinomoto spokeswoman. "In Tokyo, on top of the long days, people seem to do things after they get home as well, like playing computer games. They don't sleep until after midnight." Not surprisingly, when asked what was most important in their lives, Japanese gave "sleep" the top ranking -- the same as their Parisian peers, who nonetheless got nearly seven hours of sleep on weekdays. By contrast, both New Yorkers and Shanghai residents said "time with their family" came first. The survey was conducted online between July and August, covering nearly 900 workers in their 30s to 50s. (Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
尽管纽约号称“不夜城”,但是东京商务人士的睡眠时间比他们的纽约同行还要少,也少于巴黎、斯德哥尔摩和上海的同行。 根据一项面向五个城市的调查,东京人在工作日的睡眠时间平均不足六小时。这一调查是由日本一家食品调料生产商味之素公司开展的。 上海人的睡眠时间最长,平均为7小时28分钟。纽约人平均睡6小时35分钟,是除东京人以外睡眠时间最短的。 味之素的一名女发言人说:“我觉得东京人可能真的太忙了。” 很多日本商务人士在加了几小时班后还要参加员工饮酒聚会,然后坐很长时间的车回家,这使他们的一天变得格外漫长。调查还显示,纽约人花在上下班路上的时间跟日本人差不多长。 东京早晚班的列车上都挤满了点头打瞌睡的上班族,有的人甚至抓住头顶上的把手站着就能睡着。 味之素的这位女发言人说:“在上海,人们似乎都习惯早睡。这五个城市里的上班族起床时间都差不多,都是早上6点半到7点之间。” “在东京,忙完一整天之后,人们回家之后还要做点自己的事情,比如打打电脑游戏。他们一般到午夜才睡。” 怪不得当问及他们生活中最重要的事情是什么时,日本人说是“睡觉”。法国上班族的回答也一样,尽管他们在工作日差不多能睡七个小时。 纽约人和上海人则觉得“多花点时间陪陪家人”最重要。 据悉,这项调查是于7月到8月之间在网上进行的,共有约900个来自这五个城市、年龄在30到50岁之间的上班族参与。 相关阅读 (中国日报网英语点津 崔旭燕 编辑:陈丹妮) |
Vocabulary: sack: a bed(床) overtime: time that you spend working at your job after you have worked the normal hours(加班;加班的时间) |