英语听力：告诉你一生必知的事21：SOHO一族的好处

　　Because of the lowering costs of communication devices(通信设备)and media, more and more jobs can be done at home.

　　由于通信及媒体设备的价格大众化，越来越多的工作可以在家中完成。

　　For the freelancers, they no longer need to be strapped to the office desk 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. On the contrary, they can choose to work at any time that is convenient to them and opt to work full days or shorter, depending on everyday's work load. What's more, some freelance jobs also allow people to work anywhere in the world.

　　对于自由职业者而言，他们不再需要死守每天工作八小时，一周工作五天的规定。取而代之的是，他们可以选择合适的工作时间，并能够根据每天的工作量调整其工作时间的长短。

　　Therefore, being freelancers, they can keep a personalized, flexible schedule and pay more attention to their families and friends, which means that they are able to structure their work life to maintain the best work-life balance.

　　因此，对自由职业者而言，他们的工作时间更个性化、弹性化，他们可以花更多的精力与家人朋友相处。这也就意味着自由职业者能够调整好工作安排，从而更好地维持工作与家庭生活之间的平衡。

　　注释：

　　1. freelancer n. 自由记者;自由作家

　　例句：It’s something that eventually happens to almost every freelancer.

　　几乎每个自由职业者到最后都会遇到这样的情况。

　　2. strap v. 被捆住，被捆缚，受束缚

　　例句：All the luggage has been strapped up.

　　所有行李都已捆扎好。

　　3. convenient adj. 方便的

　　例句：I live just by the market, and it's very convenient to go shopping.

　　我家就住在商场旁边， 买东西很方便。