L13:Work to Live or Live to Work?

What Does Work Mean to People?

A group of people from different walks of life are being interviewed about what role vork plays in their lives. Their attitudes, as we can see, vary.
Interviewer: Mr. Fisher, you are an accountant and earn a good enough salary to
enable you to live comfortably. What does your work mean to you?
Mr. Fisher: I regard it as a means to an end. Basically I'm a family man, and as
long as I have a job which enables me to earn enough money to live
well, I'm happy. I find a comfortable life compensates or the fact
that I have a routine life and three weeks holiday per year.

Interviewer: So in fact, you don't really mind what you do for a living?
Mr. Fisher: I didn't say that. I wouldn't want to be a manual worker, for
instance.I enjoy my profession up to a point,but it certainly doesn't
rule my life. As soon as I get home I forget about the office.
I suppose you could say I work to live.

Interviewer: Miss Burnes - as a school teacher in a working class area of London,
how do.you feel about Mr. Fisher's attitude towards his work?
Miss Burnes: Personally,I couldn't work to live. I must enjoy whatever I do-even
if the salary is low--otherwise I feel it isn't worth doing.
Mr.Fisher: Of course Miss Burnes, you do have long holidays which must be a
great compensation. Also, you aren't married and therefore have no
family responsibilities...

Miss Burnes: Being single has nothing to do with it! Even if I were married I' d
still have to have a fulfilling profession.
Interviewer: In other words, Miss Burnes, work plays one of the most important
roles in your life?
Miss Burnes: Definitely! It gives me the mental satisfaction I need and a role in
society. Contrary to Mr. Fisher, I can say that I live to work.
Interviewer: Of course, Mr.Fisher is employed by a company and Miss Burnes by a
school and therefore both have a certain amount of guaranteed
security.Mr.Evans' "history" is unusual. At the age of forty he gave
up a good job in industry to do what he had always wanted to do --
become a journalist and photographer. He's self-employed and does
freelance work. Mr. Evans, do you have any regrets?

Mr.Evans: Yes - one. That is that I didn't resign from my oth.er job when I was
younger!.
Interviewer: What made you leave the business world?
Mr. Evans: Well - although I had a good salary and a job which involved a lot of
travelling abroad, I always felt I was in the wrong job.
I felt tense all the time and I suddenly realized that, in spite of
security and what seemed to my friends to be an exciting job, I' d
stopped enjoying simple but important things...'

Mr.Fisher: Don't you consider your choice rather selfish? What about your wife
and family?
Mr.Evans: They're delighted. They see the change in me - find me more relaxed,
and therefore my relationship with my wife and family has improved,
because I'm not frustrated any more. It's because I'm doing what
I want to do.
Interviewer: Do you work as hard as before?
Mr.Evans: Yes - even harder. But I'm self-disciplined and I find that working
hard for a few hours gives me time to play hard too. I have a more
balanced life.

Miss Burnes: So in fact, you too have a routine life?
Mr.Evans: Of course! Everything becomes routine after a while. But it's up to
us to make that routine a creative experience -
Miss Burnes: Oh yes-I do.agree!
Mr.Evans: And we mustn't forget that"all work and no play makes Jack a dull
boy"...

II . Read
Read the following passages. Underline the important viewpoints while reading.

l. Why Work?

Matthew:   Michael, do you go out to work?
Michael:   Not regularly, no. I