Debate: the four-day working week

The lesson’s vocabulary

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• 辩论
  biànlùn

  to argue over; debate; argument

• 压缩
  yāsuō

  to compress; compression

• 工作量
  gōngzuòliàng

  workload; volume of work

• 固然
  gùrán

  admittedly (it's true that...)

• 比起
  bǐqǐ

  compared with

• 效率
  xiàolǜ

  efficiency

• 疲惫
  píbèi

  beaten; exhausted; tired

• 误会
  wùhuì

  to misunderstand; to mistake; misunderstanding

• 反倒
  fǎndào

  (coll.) but on the contrary; but instead

• 岗位
  gǎngwèi

  a post; a job

• 急诊
  jízhěn

  to give or receive urgent medical treatment

• 人手
  rénshǒu

  manpower; staff; human hand

• 任
  rèn

  no matter (how, what, etc.); to let

• 试点
  shìdiǎn

  to carry out trial; test point; pilot scheme

• 无论如何
  wúlùn-rúhé

  (idiom) whatever the case; in any event

• 否定
  fǒudìng

  to negate; to deny; to reject

• 毕竟
  bìjìng

  after all; all in all; when all is said and done

• 成本
  chéngběn

  (manufacturing, production etc) costs

• 企业
  qǐyè

  company; firm

• 生存
  shēngcún

  to exist; to survive

• 慈善
  císhàn

  benevolent; charitable

• 口号
  kǒuhào

  slogan; catchphrase

• 与其
  yǔqí

  rather than... (used in expressions of the form 与其 +…)

• 宁可
  nìngkě

  preferably; one would prefer to...(or not to...)

• 宁愿
  nìngyuàn

  would rather ... (than ...)

• 维持
  wéichí

  to keep; to maintain

• 现状
  xiànzhuàng

  current situation

• 员工
  yuángōng

  staff; personnel

• 离职
  lízhí

  to leave one's job temporarily (e.g. for study)

• 划算
  huásuàn

  to calculate; to weigh (pros and cons)

• 何况
  hékuàng

  let alone; besides; what's more

• 公平
  gōngpíng

  fair; impartial

• 差距
  chājù

  disparity; gap

• 限制
  xiànzhì

  to restrict; to limit; to confine

• 落实
  luòshí

  to implement; to carry out; to decide

• 监督
  jiāndū

  to supervise; to oversee

• 起点
  qǐdiǎn

  starting point

• 冒险
  màoxiǎn

  to take risks; to take chances; foray

• 评委
  píngwěi

  evaluation committee; judging panel; judging panel member

• 现实
  xiànshí

  reality; actuality; real

The lesson’s grammar

• 别说……连……也 / 都……, 连……更不用说……: let alone…

  别说 + A，连 + B + 也 / 都 + V ｜ 连 + B + 也 / 都 + V，更不用说 + A

• 与其……，宁可 / 宁愿……: rather than…, I would rather…

  与其 + A (rejected)，S + 宁可 / 宁愿 + B (chosen)

• 别管……都, 任……也, 无论如何: no matter what, in any case

  别管 + 谁 / 多 / A 还是 B，都 + V ｜ 任 + S + 怎么 + V，也 + 不 + V ｜ 无论如何 (也) + V

• 比起……(来) and A比N还N: compared with…, more N than N

  比起 + B (来)，A + 更 / 还 / 要 + Adj / V ｜ A + 比 + N + 还 + N

• 反倒: on the contrary, instead (colloquial)

  (expectation)，S + 反倒 + V / Adj (contrary result)