Ellen Goodman (1941~ ) was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Radcliffe College. She worked for Newsweek and the Detroit Free Press before joining The Boston Globe in 1967. Her column “At Large” has been widely syndicated since 1976. As an essayist and television commentator, Goodman has discussed feminism, changes in family life, sexual harassment, and male and female relationships. Her essays have been collected in several books, including Close to Home (1979), Turning Points (1979) and At Large (1981).
In 1980, Goodman received the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary. Among other awards she has won are the American Society of Newspaper Editors Distinguished Writing Award and the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award. The National Women’s Political Caucus gave her the President’s Award, and the Women’s Research and Education Institute presented her with their American Woman Award.
The Wasted Tears
by Rajaram Ramachandran
They were newly married couple,
A few days went on with no trouble.
As days passed on, he never turned,
While for his love, her heart yearned.
She wore daily the best of robes,
Diamonds sparkled in her ear lobes,
But he had his mind on his work.
And wasn’t keen to have a look.
Her heart, one day, nearly broke,
But it was saved from a stroke.
With tears she stood before him,
He saw her face-glow gone dim.
Deeply engrossed in his work,
He was stuck up to his desk.
Elsewhere was his mind
The reason for tears to find.
Suddenly, his mind woke up.
He collected, drop by drop,
In a test tube all her tears,
And mixed some powders.
Oh, I found out, my dear,
It is nothing but saline water.
So said the scientist husband,
Still tied up, work bound.
1. Why did the newly married wife feel very sad?
(Her husband was so engrossed in his work that she felt neglected and lonely.)
2. What is her husband’s job?
(A scientist.)
3. What did the husband do with her tears?
(He collected all her tears drop by drop in a test tube, mixed some powders and finally found out it was nothing but saline water.)
4. Is the husband a workaholic?
(Yes, of course.)
Time | Development |
In 1891 | Alcoholic was first attested. |
In the 1960s | A whole new category of taking “-holic” as a suffix meaning “addict” followed. |
In 1968 | “Workaholic” was first announced. |
In 1971 | The use of workaholic prompted many writers to start using the suffixes “-aholic”, “-holic”, or “-oholic” to describe “all-consuming obsessions”. |
In the 1970s | More “–holic” words appeared. |
Script:
Origin of Workaholic
Alcoholic, the parent of all addictive words, has been with us for over a century. It was first attested in 1891.
In the 1960s, someone had the idea of taking “-holic” as a suffix meaning “addict”, and a whole new category of addictions followed. One of the first and most important is “workaholic”, which was announced in the 1968. The appearance of “workaholic” in a book named Confessions of a Workaholic in 1971 propelled that term and prompted many writers to start using the suffixes “-aholic”, “-holic”, or “-oholic” to describe “all-consuming obsessions,” not all of them so serious.
In the 1970s, if not obsessed with work, we could be addicted to play, as in golfaholic, footballaholic, basketball-oholic, or just plain leisureholic; to foods, as in beefaholic, or ice creamaholic; and to substances, as in mariholic for marijuana, and tobaccoholic. An American could be a book-oholic, note-oholic, or phone-oholic. Other obsessions for which authors coined terms with “-aholic” in the 1970s include worry, news, credit, punning, shopping, and junk.
1. Definition of workaholic
If a person is a workaholic, he’s got compulsive need to be driven to accomplish things. In the workdays, they just keep going, keep pushing themselves. And a lot of stress leads to many problems, anxieties and diseases.
2. Suggestion to deal with workaholism
If you are not able to let go of work, and the work holds onto you, you may be a workaholic and you may need to seek some outside professional help. You’d be able to keep balance in your career world and to deal with other issues. Not let workaholism steal the joy of living.
Type | Name | Characteristics |
Type 1 | self-sacrificing workaholic | They put themselves last and will go to any extreme to please and impress a dominant, parent-type person at work. |
Type 2 | dominant workaholic | They do not care if they are liked, but must be seen as competent. They can be aggressive and arrogant. They seek respect. |
Type 3 | withdrawn workaholic | They prefer to work alone. They work hard and want to be needed and approved of as well, but do not want to be controlled or dominated. They prefer to keep their emotional distance from others. |
Script:
Workaholism is an addiction, an obsessive-compulsive disorder, and it’s not the same as working hard or putting in long hours. There are three distinct workaholic behaviors. Type 1 is the self-sacrificing workaholic, who puts themselves last and will go to any extreme to please and impress a dominant, parent-type person at work. Type 2 is the dominant workaholic, who does not care if they are liked, but must be seen as competent. They can be aggressive and arrogant. They seek respect. Type 3 is the withdrawn workaholic, who prefers to work alone. They work hard and want to be needed and approved of as well, but do not want to be controlled or dominated. They prefer to keep their emotional distance from others. All three workaholic types fear rejection, criticism and abandonment and react in different ways when they feel threatened. One common thread that runs through all three types is the need to control – both themselves and others.
Answer the following questions after you listen to the passage.
1. What is the distinction between working hard and being a workaholic?
(Working hard involves being organized, focused, getting a lot of work done, knowing when to stop and having a life other than work. Workaholics, on the other hand, are often disorganized; always find reasons for working more.)
2. Why are workers willing to burn midnight oil at risk in most companies?
(Most employers want their employees to work longer hours and reward them with higher pay and lots of benefits.)
3. When has workaholism become an evident problem?
(Workaholism is a problem that’s been evident since the Stone Age.)
4. How many types of workaholics are there and what are they?
(There are three types. First are people with high energy that needs discharging. Second are very competitive people who have a strong need to prove themselves and tie their self-worth to their work. Third are people who use work to escape from something and they keep themselves so busy working that they have no time or energy to deal with their real problems.)
5. What are same traits these three types have?
(They can’t stand not being active. They find it hard to go on vacation. They are more comfortable being with fellow workers than with family and friends. They equate self-worth and success with hard work.)
Parts | Para(s) | Main Ideas |
1 | 1~3 | One of six vice-presidents, Phil worked himself to death. |
2 | 4~6 | Phil completely tied up himself in work regardless of his health. |
3 | 7~12 | A typical workaholic, Phil totally neglected those closest to him — his wife and three children. |
4 | 13~16 | Phil’s boss said one thing at the funeral and did quite another soon afterwards. |
1. Phil was one of the six vice-presidents of a large corporation and one of the three promising candidates who might succeed to the position of the president. (T)
2. The company had extended the four-day week for everyone in the company. (F)
(The company had extended the four-day week for everyone but the executives.)
3. In order to have some physical exercise, Phil played golf each month. (F)
(The monthly golf game offered him a good opportunity to talk or do business.)
4. Phil was overweight by 20 or 25 pounds and he did not realize that he was a heart-attack natural. (T)
Family Member | Details |
His wife | 1. She had given up trying to compete with his work years ago when the children were small. 2. She must have given up part of herself which had cared too much for the man. |
His eldest son | He researched his father in the neighborhood before the funeral, but found the neighbors knew very little about his father. |
His daughter | Whenever she was alone with her father, they had nothing to say to each other. |
His youngest son | 1. He tried to grab at his father, and tried to mean enough to him to keep the man at home. 2. It was only over the last two years that Phil began to worry about his youngest son. |
1. Why did Phil’s wife hide her bitterness in face of the company president at the funeral?
(Because she would need him to straighten out the finances — the stock options and all that.)
2. Why is it very easy to identify Phil from a lineup?
(Because Phil was a Type A, a typical workaholic, a heart — attack natural.)
3. What did the company president do as soon as Phil’s funeral was over?
(The company president began choosing his next victim as soon as Phil’s funeral was over.)
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