◎俞智敏
Switching to British time might bring Spain some family-friendly British customs as well, lawmakers said in recommending that Spain reverse a World War II change that put them in synch with Nazi Germany.
把時間調成英國時區可能為西班牙帶來部份有利家庭的英國習俗，西班牙國會議員在建議政府扭轉二次世界大戰期間的時區調整時表示，西班牙在戰時把時區調成與納粹德國一致。
The parliamentary commission said moving clocks back by one hour could have a profound effect on the eating, sleeping and working habits of Spaniards, whose culture is famed for long lunches, siestas and late shifts at work.
國會小組委員會指出，把時間調慢一小時可能對西班牙人的飲食、睡眠及工作習慣產生深遠影響，西班牙文化向來以午餐時間超長、午休及工作到很晚著名。
For example, if it gets dark earlier companies would likely readjust work schedules that see Spaniards working well into the evening. That might move Spain closer to the 9-to-5 working tradition more commonly seen in Britain _ and hence encourage earlier meals and more family time. Until the 1940s, Spain was on the same time as Britain and Portugal, which are on roughly the same latitude. But when Nazi-occupied France switched to German time, Spain’s Franco dictatorship followed suit.
舉例而言，假如天黑的時間較早，民營公司很可能會重新調整目前這種讓員工一直工作到晚上的工作時程。這可能讓西班牙更接近英國最常見的朝九晚五工作傳統，從而鼓勵大家早點吃飯，以享受更多天倫之樂。直到1940年代前，西班牙一直都是跟大約位在同緯度上的英國和葡萄牙同一時區。但當納粹佔領下的法國改成德國時區後，西班牙的佛朗哥獨裁政權也立刻跟進。
"The fact that for more than 71 years Spain has not been in its proper time zone means ... we sleep almost an hour less than the World Health Organization recommends," the lawmakers wrote. "All this has a negative effect on productivity, absenteeism, stress, accidents and school drop-out rates." The Equality Commission’s nonbinding recommendation, which urged commissioning a study of the economic consequences of a time change, will be considered by the full parliament.
「西班牙這71年來一直未處於適當時區代表著……我們的睡眠時間較世界衛生組織建議幾乎少了一小時，」國會議員寫道。「這對生產力、曠職率、壓力、意外及輟學率都產生負面影響。」平等委員會的這項建議不具法律效力，但呼籲當局委任專家針對時區改變的經濟效應展開研究，再交由全體國會審議。
Dictionary新聞辭典
in synch/sync：片語，指同步、協調、一致，如She moved in sync with her partner.（她和搭檔步調一致。）
follow suit：片語，指跟著做，照做，依樣畫葫蘆，如After one airline lowers their fares, the other airlines usually follow suit. （一家航空公司調低機票價格後，其他航空公司通常也會跟進降價。）
absenteeism：（不可數）名詞，指曠職、曠課，如Her office has a high rate of absenteeism.（她辦公室的員工曠職比率很高。）
本文引用至 自由時報電子報 http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/
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