Balancing family life and career 1

A difficult job for Japanese women 1

 

Yukako Kurose, a Tokyo department store employee, was passed over for promotions after she started leaving work before 6:30 pm to pick up her daughter from day care. Later, she was pushed into a dead-end clerical job. Finally, she quit.

 

"Japanese work customs make it almost impossible for women to have both a family and a career," said Kurose, 45, who now works for a plastic company.

 

In Japan, a woman's promising career often comes to an end after she gives birth to a baby.

 

Since the Equal Employment Opportunity Law was passed in 1985 in Japan, women have become a common sight in work places. But they have had much less success reaching positions of authority.

 

Experts on women's issues say prejudice is only part of Japan's problem. An even bigger barrier to the advancement of women is the nation's notoriously demanding corporate culture.

 

 

短语学习

 

balance family life and career  平衡家庭生活和事业

 

department store 百货商店

 

be passed over for promotion 错过升职（并被资历比你浅的人超过）

 

leave work 下班

 

day care 日托

 

Japanese work customs 日本的工作惯例

 

make it almost impossible 使……基本不可能

 

work for a plastic company  为一家塑料公司工作

 

a promising career 有前途的职业

 

come to an end 走到了尽头

 

give birth to a baby 生孩子

 

pass a law 通过一项法律

 

reach positions of authority 坐到高层的职位

 

experts on women's issues 妇女问题专家

 

the barrier to ..  的障碍

 

corporate culture 企业文化

 

 

单词学习

 

barrier n. 障碍

 

opportunity n. 机会， 机遇

 

prejudice n. 偏见，成见

 

equal adj. 平等的

 

dead-end  adj. 没有前途的，死胡同的

 

promotion n. 升职

 

clerical adj. 文员的

 

advancement n. 晋升；进步

 

demanding adj. 耗费精力的，苛刻的

 

culture n. 文化

 

custom n. 习惯，风俗

 

plastic n. 塑料

 

impossible adj. 不可能

 

employee n. 雇员， 职员

 

expert n. 专家

 

authority n. 权力，权威

 

quit v. [口]辞职

 

corporate n. 企业，公司

 

promising adj. 有希望

 

issue n. 问题； 争论， 争议

 

notoriously adv. 臭名昭著地，声名狼藉的