1 . In 1919, in the aftermath of war, the International Labour Organization used its first convention to limit working hours to eight a day and 48 a week. The Depression later prompted employers to __________ a five-day week.

The latest crisis is dealing a __________ shock to how jobs are designed. The pandemic (疫情) forced many employers to implement remote working. It accelerated the use of technology to help them stay productive. As well as struggling with the challenges of hybrid work, some businesses are now __________ paying staff the same salary for a four-day working week, once as weird a concept as an eight-hour day.

Promised __________ include improved wellbeing, better focus, fairer sharing of childcare between men and women, and even a lighter carbon footprint. Fear of missing out on the latest trend must not, __________, blind companies to important obstacles and drawbacks.

Offsetting the cost of a four-day week at a national level looks ___________to achieve. As economic historian Robert Skidelsky pointed out in 2019, in a report for the UK Labour party, “__________ working hours nationwide, like France’s 35-hour working week, is not realistic or even desirable, because any cap needs to be adapted to the needs of different sectors (行业)”.

The Wellcome Trust, the science research foundation, decided in 2019 that even a trial would be __________, partly because its staff performed a mix of roles. Some jobs were hard to confine to four days. Other employees preferred to spread their work over five days. __________ already on a four-day week feared they might lose out.

Lockdowns exposed the gap between flexible homeworking professionals and front-line “__________” staff. A four-day week might __________ it.

Some staff want or need to work extra hours. To the risks of a two-tier workforce and reduced freedom of choice add the danger of __________. The approach fails if improved productivity does not cover the potential increased cost. If leaders’ determination to hit the same targets forces staff to work four 10-hour days, to shift their workload back into their __________ weekends, to rush jobs that require more time, or to hire additional hands to plug gaps, some of the benefits of offering workers more free time will quickly disappear.

For each of these __________, advocates have an answer. One is that companies just need to organise staff more efficiently. In itself, better __________ would improve productivity. Another is to cut working hours, rather than days, allowing greater flexibility.

9 . I was among 31 murderers sent to the Louisiana State Penitentiary in 1962 to be executed or imprisoned for life. We were unskilled, impulsive and uneducated misfits, mostly black, who had done dumb, impulsive things — failures, rejects from the larger society. Now a generation has passed since I’ve been here, and everything is much the same as I found it. The vast majority of us are handed over to suffer and die here so politicians can sell the illusion that permanently putting people to prison will make society safe.

Getting tough has always been a “silver bullet”, a quick FIX for the crime and violence that society fears. Each year in Louisiana — where excess is a way of life — law-makers have tried to outdo each other in legislating harsher penalties. The only thing to do with criminals, they say, is get tougher. In the process, the state boasts one of the highest look-up rates in the country, and imposes the most severe penalties in the nation.

If getting tough resulted in public safety, Louisiana citizens would be the safest in the nation. They’re not. Louisiana has the highest murder rate among states. Prison, like the police and the courts, has a minimal impact on crime because it is a response after the fact, it doesn’t work. The idea of punishing the few to discourage the many is fake because potential criminals either think they’re not going to get caught or they’re so psychologically distressed that they don’t care. about the consequences of their actions. The threatened punishment, regardless of its severity, is never a factor in the equation.

Prison has a role in public safety, but it is not a cure-all. The only effective way to contain crime is for society to work to prevent the criminal act in the first place. Our youngsters must be taught to respect humanity of others and to handle dispute without violence. It is essential to educate and equip them with the skills to pursue their life ambitions in a meaningful way. As a community, we must address the adverse life circumstances that breed criminality. These things are not quick, and they are not easy, but they are effective. Politicians think that’s too hard a sell. They want something they can point to at re-election time. So the drumbeat goes on for more police, more prisons, more of the same failed policies.

Ever see a dog chase its own tail?