【推荐2】In many families today, both the mother and the father have jobs outside the home. This can make it difficult to take care of the children. To help, some companies are changing the work rules. These companies are trying to be more family-friendly.

What are companies doing to become family-friendly? Many companies are allowing their employees (雇员) to work flexible (灵活的) hours. With flexible hours, people can work full time, but they don’t have to work to a nine-to-five schedule. Some employees choose to come early and leave early. Some employees choose to work ten hours one day and six hours the next. Most companies say that flexible hours increase productivity. In the United States, about one-third of full-time employees have flexible work schedules.

Family-friendly companies also allow two employees to share one job. Each employee does half the job and gets half the salary. In the United States, 27% of the companies offer some kind of job sharing.

Many family-friendly companies also give paid leave to both parents when a baby is born. In many countries, employers have to give female workers time off before and after the birth of a child. In the United States, for example, female employees get 12 weeks of unpaid time off. New mothers can stay at home, but they don t get their salary. In some countries, employers have to give all workers paid leave for the birth of their child. In Finland, for example, both male and female employees get paid leave. Women get 105 days of paid leave and men get 42.

The way people work is changing. For many people, that is a good thing.

【推荐3】Do you always fall asleep on bus journeys?

    1     I have been suffering from being unable to sleep for many years. Some nights when I can’t sleep, I’ll head to the coach where I can usually fall asleep within minutes. My friend also told me that sometimes he was stressed out by his work and he couldn’t sleep at night. But when he was traveling on the bus, he was able to sleep well. Since this happens regularly, I decided to find some answers.     2    

One popular view is about the white noise. It is a continuous sound like the hum of tires or the purring of the car. White noise masks (掩盖) distracting noise and is helpful for people who have trouble getting sleep.     3     When you’re riding a vehicle, white noise is continuously emitted (发出), making it easier for passengers to drift off to dreamland.

Another view as to why it’s easy to fall asleep in buses or trains is because of the rocking (摇晃) movement that’s similar to what comforted us when we were babies. However, it’s not the movement itself that leads to a better sleep.     4     If you were rocked to sleep as a baby, you’d have that association (联想) that when you experience a rocking motion, you go to sleep.

An increase in carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) in public transportation can be one reason, too.     5     Carbon dioxide increases when there are lots of people in a small space. This will lead to lack of oxygen (氧气), which will affect the brain’s performance and reduce activity in the cerebral cortex, making people sleepier.