Tea and Productivity 喝茶與工作效率－看BBC學英文

Tea and Productivity 喝茶與工作效率

Does a Tea Break Make You More Efficient?

茶間休息能提高工作效率嗎？

點此收聽音頻：

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ukchina/simp/elt/take_away_english/110104_tae_298_tea_productivity_story.shtml

According to tradition, China has been drinking tea since the time of Shennong, 5,000 years ago.

Britain's relationship with the invigorating brew is much shorter, but the beverage nonetheless enjoys pride of place as the UK's national drink. In fact the UK Tea Council claims Britons drink an average of three cups a day, or a staggering national total of 165m cups every day.

With figures like these it is no surprise that time spent taking tea eats into the working day of the British labour force. A recent survey found that 24 minutes a day are lost to making, buying and drinking tea and coffee. This equates to £400 (4,000 yuan) a year in lost man hours per employee, or 190 days over a lifetime.

So, should employers be worried about this lost working time, or does the tea break compensate in other ways?

One argument in its defence is that caffeine improves mental performance: a drink of tea or coffee can perk you up and help you focus on work.

Professor Peter Rogers of the University of Bristol disagrees. After years of studying caffeine he sees no evidence that it improves mental alertness.

"Workers would perform equally well if not consuming it at all," he says. "But if they're consuming it frequently and then go without, they'll feel tired and won't perform well."

Occupational psychologist Cary Cooper instead emphasises the role breaks play in coping with sedentary office life, and in building social relationships.

"We need to make people more active and see other people. The coffee break is one way of doing this," says Cooper.

And Professor Rogers also points out the soothing effect of a hot drink: "We warm our hands on them on a cold day, they're comforting and play a big role in our everyday life.

"Whatever the caffeine's doing, I'd say these 24 minutes aren't wasted."

Glossary 辭彙表

invigorating brew提神的（泡）茶
beverage飲料
pride of place 地方的自豪感
staggering極高的
eats into滲透
labour force勞動力
equates to 相當於
man hours工時
lifetime一生
compensate彌補
argument論點/觀點
caffeine咖啡因
perk you up提神
mental alertness大腦靈敏度
consuming飲用
go without沒有/失去
occupational psychologist職業心理學家
sedentary 久坐不動的
active 積極的
soothing effect 舒緩作用

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