2 . For decades, India’s time zone has been a hotly debated issue. Back in 1884 when time zones were officially established, two time zones were used — Bombay Time and Calcutta Time. Indian Standard Time (IST) was introduced in 1906, but Calcutta Time and Bombay Time continued to be maintained after

India’s independence in 1947, until 1948 and 1955 respectively. The current single time zone, though a legacy of British rule, is often viewed as a symbol of unity. Yet, not everyone thinks it is a good idea. India stretches 3,000 km from east to west, spanning roughly 30 degrees longitude. This corresponds to a two-hour difference in mean solar time, based on the position of the sun in the sky. Thus, the sun rises nearly two hours earlier in the east than in India’s far west. In Northeastern states, sunrise can be as early as 4 a.m. in summer and sunset by 4 p.m. in winter, much earlier than the official working hours. This results in great loss of daylight hours and more consumption of electricity, and often reduced productivity.

Meanwhile, recent studies point out that the current system leads to a serious problem in education for some students. Nationwide, the school day starts at roughly the same time; thus, children go to bed later and have reduced sleep in west India, where the sun sets later. Such sunset-induced sleep deprivation is more pronounced among the poor, mostly due to their noisy environment and lack of sleep-inducing facilities like window shades or indoor beds. On average, an hour’s delay in sunset time reduces children’s sleep by 30 minutes, and an hour’s delay in annual average sunset time reduces education by about 0.8 years. As a result, children living in locations with later sunsets are less likely to complete primary and middle school education.

Despite various requests and proposals for multiple time zones, the government is keen to retain the current system. Reasons provided include prevention of confusion and safety issues regarding railway and flight operations.

A．	B．
C．	D．

4 . Beating Burnout and Compassion Fatigue in the New Year

This year has continued to bring many of us closer to the pain, suffering and exhaustion of those experiencing burnout and compassion fatigue (疲倦). There is no doubt that 2021 has been filled with additional challenges.     1    

The data is clearly showing that our workforce shares feelings of burnout. A recent Gallup report indicated that 67% of us feel burned out either some or most of the time. At an organizational level, Hogan reports that burned out employees are 18% less productive and 2.6 times more likely to be actively seeking a different job.

Fatigue and burnout arise not when we fail to get sufficient rest but when we fail to appreciate the moments of purpose and joy in our lives.

There are a few myths around burnout and compassion fatigue:

Myth 1: Burnout is an individual's problem.

Many people believe that burnout is about an individual who needs to “figure it out”.     2     Team structure offers critical support and leaders should create environment where team burnout is addressed.

Myth 2:     3    

Surprisingly, the individuals most likely to experience burnout are committed employees and leaders who love their job and are highly engaged. These top performers are the people you are most likely to lose.

Myth 3: People who experience burnout are just less resilient.

Research shows a correlation between higher levels of resilience (复原力) and lower levels of burnout.     4     But resilience looks very different now from five years ago, and my guess is that it will continue to shift.

If 2021 has taught us anything, it is that we cannot separate burnout from our emotions, whether they may be fear, anger, shame or guilt.     5    

It was a cold yet sunny Saturday morning in February. Dad’s New Year’s resolution had been to get fit. Mum pushed him out of bed and told him to go jogging by the river. Later, after a nice lie-in, she went downstairs in her dressing gown and found the kids watching TV. She turned it off and said she was going to do something really special for Dad’s birthday. If they overheard anything, just promised to keep it secret.

Jenny looked at Mum with a puzzled expression on her forehead and promised they wouldn’t say anything whatever happened. But Jenny reminded Dad’s birthday was in June and it might be a little too early to get all steamed up about it.

Silent for a moment, Mum said she was not getting everything ready but just wanted to spare enough time for preparation as this year it’s a bigger deal than usual. Dad was going to be 50.

“50! Gosh, that’s half a century,” spluttered Gerry. “I knew he was old, but I didn’t realize he was ancient!”

Indeed, that was why Mum started planning a special party for him. Mum talked with grandma about the plan because her house was the only one in the family that is spacious enough for all friends and relatives. Grandma quite agreed and also started preparing.

“But you know how Dad feels guilty to bother others. You’ve got to admit,” reminded Jenny. Thinking over the special occasion, Mum was continuing with her secret when one evening, Dad was sitting at the dinner table and he suddenly slapped his forehead, “I just realized that I am going to be 50 in June. Let’s just quietly forget about it. I want to mourn (哀悼) the passing of my youth in private.”

“Oh, come on Dad, don’t be such a spoil-sport!” begged the kids, hoping to give mum a hand.

Realizing no more chance to hide the secret, Mum carefully worded her thought and shared her plan of having a little party at grandma’s house. Dad was stunned (震惊的) to no reply.

Frustrated, Mum made a call to grandma.

They got everything ready as planned when June finally came.

My name is Franklin G. Takata, but everyone around here calls me “Find-It Frankie.”

Let me tell you something: you don’t get a nickname like that overnight. I’ve been finding things since before I can remember. Mom said it all began when I started teething as a baby.

And when I turned five, I got a partner, my dog Munchy. For my fifth birthday, my parents let me pick him out at the animal shelter. When we opened his cage, the first thing he did was dig into my pocket and find the candy I had been saving for later. I guess you could say I saw a bit of my younger self in him.

Anyway, Munchy and I were playing in the yard one Thursday afternoon when Mom approached us with the case in question. Her diamond ring was missing, and she wanted us to find it. If I had known how tricky the case would be, I might have hesitated. But I said then, “There’s nothing we can’t find, guaranteed!”

I asked Mom the first question I always ask when something goes missing: “Where do you last remember seeing it?”

“ I was m the kitchen baking cookies," Mom answered. “I took off my ring and placed on the small shelf above the counter. But then your aunt called, and when I came back from talking to her, the ring was gone!”

"Hmm. Well, it couldn’t have disappeared all by itself I said. "Munchy, let’s go take a closer look.” Munchy led the way to the kitchen. There was no sign of the ring on the shelf or the counter, but tiny paw prints in the spilled flour told me who might have seen it last.

“The cat! I exclaimed. “See those prints? Mr. Jingles must have been playing with the ring and knocked it onto the floor!” On my hands and knees, I searched all over the floor for the ring. No luck.

“Munchy，you’re up! Go find Mr. Jingles.” Munchy’s ears popped up. He never passed up an opportunity to annoy the cat.

Munchy immediately located the cat asleep on the sofa.

Unhappily, I took a bite of the cookie but stopped when I felt something hard.