焦虑的“白领”

焦虑的“白领”

2013年英国有1500万天的病假是因为员工感到压力、焦虑甚至是抑郁而产生的。在竞争日趋激烈的今天，是时候让老板重视员工的精神状态了。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

confidential 机密的；表示信任的[kɒnfɪ'denʃ(ə)l]

wellbeing 幸福；福利；安乐

landmark 里程碑；纪念碑

coincide 一致，符合[,kəʊɪn'saɪd]

unveil 揭开；揭幕[ʌn'veɪl]

阅读马上开始，建议您计算一下阅读整篇文章所用的时间，对照下方的参考值就可以评估出您的英文阅读水平。

如果您读完全文用时为： 那么，您的阅读速度相当于 每分钟阅读的英文单词数

2分32秒 母语为英语者的朗读速度 140

1分32秒 母语为英语的中学生的阅读速度 250

1分49秒 母语为英语的大学生的阅读速度 350

0分38秒 母语为英语的速读高手 1000

Charity launches three-year survey of workplace mental health （382words）

By Sarah Neville, Public Policy Editor

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A business-focused charity is launching what it says is the largest survey of employees’ mental health, as concerns mount over the rise in stress-related absence from work and its effect on productivity.

Business in the Community, which promotes social responsibility at work, is conducting the confidential online survey as a way of identifying how to improve workers’ mental wellbeing. Mental ill health is the leading cause of sickness absence in the UK, with more than 15m days off work in 2013 caused by conditions such as stress, anxiety or depression. This represents a sharp rise from 11.8m days in 2010.

The survey is being supported by Mind, the mental health charity. Following a report commissioned by NHS England from Paul Farmer, Mind chief executive, the government agreed this year to provide an additional £1bn a year for mental health services by the end of the decade.

Mr Farmer has spoken of the need for employers to play a bigger role in safeguarding their workers’ mental health, recently welcoming the fact that business leaders were “beginning to talk more openly” about their personal mental health struggles.

Louise Aston, wellbeing campaign director at Business in the Community, described the survey — to be conducted annually for three years by pollsters YouGov — as “a landmark moment” in its efforts.

It would raise public and employer awareness of the importance of protecting mental health, including the role of the line manager, she said.

The results should identify how equipped line managers and employees were to spot the early warning signs of poor mental health, to have a conversation about it, and put effective measures in place.

Coinciding with the launch, Business in the Community is also unveiling, with Public Health England, a mental health “toolkit” to guide employers through the steps they need to take to improve workplace attitudes towards mental health.

Justin Varney, of PHE, said staff who had good mental health were more productive “and businesses who look after the mental wellbeing of their employees can see a significant impact on business performance”.

Peter Simpson, chief executive of Anglian Water, who chairs Business in the Community’s wellbeing leadership team, said his company understood the benefits for both the employee and the business of creating “a culture where we can openly discuss and manage mental wellbeing”.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1. What is the leading cause of sickness absence in the UK according to the survey?

A. mental ill health

B. influenza

C. diarrhea

D. muscle strains

2. What is the “Mind”?

A. a report commission

B. a health magazine

C. a mental health charity

D. a health magazine

3. How long will the survey take about workplace mental health by Mind?

A. 3 years

B. decade

C. 3 months

D. unlimited

4. What is the difference between staff with opposite mental health from Justin Varney?

A. creativity

B. enthusiasm

C. loyalty

D. productivity

[1] 答案 A. mental ill health

解释：根据调查，在英国请病假的主要原因是精神健康欠佳。

[2] 答案 C. a mental health charity

解释：“Mind”是一个精神健康的慈善组织，将开展职场精神健康的大型调查。

[3] 答案 A. 3 years

解释：题目和文章多次提到，这是一个需要进行3年的大型调查。

[4] 答案 D. productivity

解释：PHE的Justin Varney表示，精神上积极健康的员工更能推动生产力，文章前半部分也提及了精神状态会对生产效率产生影响。