In many countries women are allowed to take maternity leave from their jobs during the first months after the birth of their baby. Does advantages outweigh disadvantages? 

 

解析&审题

 

本题是2016年2月27日雅思写作的原题重现，问题的核心是：女性生完小孩后是否该休产假？可能有些同学看到maternity就晕了，其实，如果联系到take...leave(请假）和后面的“during the first months after the birth of their baby"(生完小孩后的头几个月），我们就不难想到，这里的take maternity leave就是 “休产假”。

 

那么，休产假和不休产假各有什么利弊呢？休产假的好处容易想到，包括有时间陪孩子，有时间缓解一下怀孕和生育期间的紧张和不安，另外，就是恢复一下身体。但是，休产假也有问题，比如有些通常由女性完成的工作可能就缺人手了，再比如，休产假几个月，如果完全脱离工作岗位，那么有可能对工作变得生疏，同时，由于不工作，营养过好，如果不锻炼，女性很容易变得肥胖起来，等等。但是，权衡休产假的好处和坏处后，我们还是觉得女性应该享有这个权利，虽然她们在享受这个权力的时候，要注意降低这个权利可能对工作和身体带来的负面影响。

 

 

 

老师笔记

 

01

 

It is a customary practice for most countries in the world to give women a few months of maternity leave after they give birth to the baby. To spend a few months away from work after giving birth, however, has disadvantages as well as advantages.

 

世界上大多数国家的习惯做法是在女性生完孩子之后给他们放几个月的产假。然而生完孩子之后远离工作几个月既有好处又有坏处。

 

解析

（1） 文章段提出产假有利有弊。

（2） customary practice 常规做法

 

02

 

To be sure, the newly-born baby is the one who benefits the most from the maternity leave. As we know, the first few months of the new life are always the most dangerous time, during which the baby faces many dangers, some quite unexpected, that may be deadly. Therefore, the concentrated and intensive care from the mother is critical for the survival of the baby. I have just read a newspaper report which compares the infant mortality rate between the countries which practice maternity leave and those which do not and concludes that infant death rate in the former is 25% lower than that in the latter. Besides, taking a few months off her work after the baby is born is also a good way to release the anxiety and stress the mother must have experienced during her pregnancy, so she will more likely behave normal after going back to work.

 

新生儿无疑是产假的受益者。正如我们知道的，生命的前几个月总是最危险的时期，在这期间婴儿会遇到很多意想不到的、甚至可能是致命的危险，因此，母亲专心细致的照顾对婴儿的存活十分关键。我刚看过一个报纸的报道比较了有产假的国家和没有产假的国家的婴儿死亡率，得出的结论是前者婴儿的死亡率比后者低25%。此外，生完孩子之后休几个月的产假也是母亲释放产期焦虑和压力的好方法，因此她在回到工作岗位后将更有可能表现得正常。

 

解析

（1） 本段主要论述产假的好处，分成以下两个方面：其一是新生儿面临危险，母亲的照顾保证新生儿的存活。其二是母亲能释放产期焦虑以便正常回归工作。两个层次之间用besides承接。

（2） to be sure=it is sure that=certainly

（3） release the anxiety and stress 释放焦虑和压力

 

 

 

03

 

Like anything else, maternity leave may also bring about some negative effects. In some female-dominated professions like nursing, the few months leave may cause a serious shortage of labor. And we have seen many women who simply cannot perform their job after the leave because they have totally forgotten how to do their job properly. Meanwhile, many women who used to be slender and beautiful have become fat and ugly after the few months of no work and over eating.

 

产假当然也会带来消极的影响。在某些诸如护理的以女性为主的专业上，这几个月的产假将会造成严重的劳动力短缺。我们也见过很多女性在产假后直接无法胜任工作，因为她们已经完全忘记如何正确地履行工作。同时，许多原本苗条美丽的女性在几个月的暴食和没有工作之后变得肥胖而丑陋。

 

解析

（1） 本段主要论述产假的三方面的坏处：以女性为主工作有时会有严重的劳动力短缺；女性假后无法胜任工作；女性产假期间变得肥胖而丑陋。用meanwhile来衔接

（2） female-dominated女性为主的

 

04

 

Taking into account both the advantages and disadvantages, I believe maternity leave is a good thing. After all, the baby's survival and the mother's health are much more important than the possible side-effects of labor shortage, temporary forgetfulness of the work and physical ugliness. If the maternity leave time is wisely used, the new mothers may just as well return to their work as energetic and beautiful as before. 

 

同时考虑到优缺点后，我相信产假是好事。毕竟，婴儿的存活和母亲的健康比起产假可能带来的诸如劳动力短缺、暂时工作健忘症和身体丑陋的副作用来说要重要得多。如果产假能被合理地利用，新妈妈可能会以像之前那般美丽而充满活力的状态回归工作。

 

解析

（1） 结合前面的分析得出结论，自己的观点：产假是好事，有利于婴儿的存活和母亲的健康，其不利影响比起这两点就不足道了。

（2） take into account 考虑在内

（3） after all 毕竟

（4） be wisely used=be reasonably used 合理利用

 

7分范文

It is a customary practice for most countries in the world to give women a few months of maternity leave after they give birth to the baby. To spend a few months away from work after giving birth, however, has disadvantages as well as advantages.

To be sure, the newly-born baby is the one who benefits the most from the maternity leave. As we know, the first few months of the new life are always the most dangerous time, during which the baby faces many dangers, some quite unexpected, that may be deadly. Therefore, the concentrated and intensive care from the mother is critical for the survival of the baby. I have just read a newspaper report which compares the infant mortality rate between the countries which practice maternity leave and those which do not and concludes that infant death rate in the former is 25% lower than that in the latter. Besides, taking a few months off her work after the baby is born is also a good way to release the anxiety and stress the mother must have experienced during her pregnancy, so she will more likely behave normal after going back to work.

Like anything else, maternity leave may also bring about some negative effects. In some female-dominated professions like nursing, the few months leave may cause a serious shortage of labor. And we have seen many women who simply cannot perform their job after the leave because they have totally forgotten how to do their job properly. Meanwhile, many women who used to be slender and beautiful have become fat and ugly after the few months of no work and over eating.

Taking into account both the advantages and disadvantages, I believe maternity leave is a good thing. After all, the baby's survival and the mother's health are much more important than the possible side-effects of labor shortage, temporary forgetfulness of the work and physical ugliness. If the maternity leave time is wisely used, the new mothers may just as well return to their work as energetic and beautiful as before. 

 

 

建议背诵的句子

 

 

1． 世界上大多数国家的习惯做法是在女性生完孩子之后给他们放几个月的产假。

It is a customary practice for most countries in the world to give women a few months of maternity leave after they give birth to the baby.

 

2． I have just read a newspaper report which compares the infant mortality rate between the countries which practice maternity leave and those which do not and concludes that infant death rate in the former is 25% lower than that in the latter.

我刚看过一个报纸的报道比较了有产假的国家和没有产假的国家的婴儿死亡率，得出的结论是前者婴儿的死亡率比后者低25%。

 

3． Besides, taking a few months off her work after the baby is born is also a good way to release the anxiety and stress the mother must have experienced during her pregnancy, so she will more likely behave normal after going back to work.

此外，生完孩子之后休几个月的产假也是母亲释放产期焦虑和压力的好方法，因此她在回到工作岗位后将更有可能表现得正常。

 

4．We have seen many women who simply cannot perform their job after the leave because they have totally forgotten how to do their job properly.

我们也见过很多女性在产假后直接无法胜任工作，因为她们已经完全忘记如何正确地履行工作。

 

5. If the maternity leave time is wisely used, the new mothers may just as well return to their work as energetic and beautiful as before.

如果产假能被合理地利用，新妈妈可能会以像之前那般美丽而充满活力的状态回归工作。