如果你得了感冒，應該請病假嗎？這是許多人面臨的困境。打電話請病假是軟弱的表現，還是防止細菌傳播的有效方法？傷風感冒、腸胃不適，是否該請病假？本文展開討論。

Vocabulary: illness 詞匯：疾病

Have you ever woken up with a sore throat and blocked nose and wondered if you should take the day off work? Some of us just soldier on, hoping the office environment and banter with work colleagues will perk us up. Others will make a hot drink, return to bed and have a ‘duvet day’. But what is the right approach to take?

People’s attitude to illness and when to take time off work varies. Reasons for having a sick day range from a light sniffle to feeling at death’s door. And when you have no genuine excuse but just can’t face going into work, it might be time to take a sickie. A survey of British workers by YouGov found 15% of workers who admitted making up an illness to get a day off used a migraine as their excuse. But what about a common cold – is having one a genuine enough reason for missing work?

This is something Ian Shoesmith explored for the BBC. He looked into “the murky moral maze” that brought together employment law, ethics and public health. He spoke to Rachel Suff, senior policy adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, who said "If you are really not well and your symptoms mean you are not going to be productive, it's better to go off sick. You're also not spreading your germs around the workplace." But Ian also found that catching a cold from someone could help build up your immune system and be good for long-term health. However it can depend on what type of cold it is.

Of course, deciding whether to take time off to recuperate from a cold may depend on where you work. Hayley Johnson, an employment lawyer at Slater and Gordon, told the BBC that sometimes members of staff feel obliged to work when they are sick "because they fear the mountain of work will just keep piling up" for when they return. But if an employee is feeling under the weather but well enough to work, a solution could be to work from home.

As a cure for a common cold is still a long way off, having this lurgy as an excuse for a day off work is not to be sneezed at!

詞匯表

a sore throat 嗓子疼
blocked nose 鼻塞
soldier on 堅持干活
perk somebody up 使某人精神振作
duvet day 休假日
sniffle 流鼻涕，吸鼻子
at death’s door 病入膏肓
sickie 假病假，稱病缺勤
migraine 偏頭疼
common cold 感冒
public health 公共衛生
symptom 癥狀
germ 病菌
catch a cold 患感冒
immune system 免疫系統
recuperate 恢復，康復
under the weather 生病
cure 治療方法
lurgy 小病
not to be sneezed at 不可輕視的

測驗與練習

1.  閱讀課文并回答問題。

1. Where do you think you might spend a ‘duvet day’? 

2. According to one survey, which illness is most used as an excuse for taking a sickie?

3. True or false? According to Rachel Suff, staying off work when you have a cold makes you more productive.

4. What might the fear of work piling up force some workers to do?

5. Why might we be taking time with a cold for some time to come?

2. 選擇意思恰當的單詞或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. Sorry, I can’t meet for lunch. I need to _______ and get all my work done.

perk you up                   recuperate                       soldier on            sniffle on

2. My _______ include a high fever and vomiting, so it can’t just be a cold. 

symptoms                      immune system              sickie                   germs

3. You’re so lucky! Free tickets to see that band performing are _______.

worth sneezing              to be sneezed at             to sneezed          not to be sneezed at

4.  To prevent spreading your _______, please put your tissues in the bin and wash your hands!

germs                            migraine                           cure                   sniffle 

5. Jimmy was unable to play football on Saturday because he felt _______.

under the weather         symptoms                       lurgy                    under weathers

答案

1.  閱讀課文并回答問題。  

1. Where do you think you might spend a ‘duvet day’?
A ‘duvet day’ implies you are spending the day off work in bed!

2. According to one survey, which illness is most used as an excuse for taking a sickie? 
A survey of British workers by YouGov found 15% of workers who admitted making up an illness to get a day off used having a migraine as their excuse.

3. True or false? According to Rachel Suff, staying off work when you have a cold makes you more productive.
False. Rachel Suff, senior policy adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said "If you are really not well and your symptoms mean you are not going to be productive, it's better to go off sick."

4. What might the fear of work piling up force some workers to do?
The fear of work piling up sometimes makes members of staff feel obliged to work.

5. Why might we be taking time with a cold for some time to come?
Because a cure for the common cold is long way off.

2. 選擇意思恰當的單詞或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. Sorry, I can’t meet for lunch. I need to soldier on and get all my work done.

2. My symptoms include a high fever and vomiting, so it can’t just be a cold.

3. You’re so lucky! Free tickets to see that band performing are not to be sneezed at.

4. To prevent spreading your germs, please put your tissues in the bin and wash your hands!

5. Jimmy was unable to play football on Saturday because he felt under the weather.