1Afternoons at work may never be the same. 2A new trendaimed at improving worker efficiency has started to become more popular in Japan: power napping. 3Power naps ― a short sleep ― have started to become acceptedpractice at some Japanese companies. 4For them, napping at work is
no longer viewed as a sign of laziness, but as an essentialmeans of maintaining attention and performance at work. 5A large body of research has found that naps help to keep performance levels high and prevent mistakes, particularly in the afternoon when many people feel tired. 6When workers feel sleepy, work performance declines. 7To prevent this from happening, some companies have created special napping rooms where employees can take a short nap. 8This could be especially useful for Japan since the average time that Japanese sleep is among the shortest in the world. The Japan Times. June 7, 2014
1Many people love chocolate, but not everyone knows its origins. 2Chocolate is made from beans that come from the cocoa tree, which is native to Central America. 3Initially, people drank chocolate instead of eating it. 4People in Central America drank chocolate as early as 1,500 BC. 5After the Spanish conquered Central America in the 1500s, they brought cocoa beans back to Spain. 6In the 17th century, chocolate spread from Spain to the rest of Europe. 7In London, a shop where you could buy a drink of chocolate opened in 1657. 8In the late 17th century, people began to add milk to the chocolate drinks to improve the taste. 9Then in 1795 Joseph Fry began using a steam engine to grind cocoa beans, which allowed for the massproduction of chocolate. 10It was only later on, from the 19th century, that chocolate candy and chocolate bars were introduced to the world.
1Second only to oil, coffee is the most valuable legally commodity in the world. 2We love it, we rely on it, and we drink it in large quantities. 3It is estimated that 2.25billion cups of coffee are consumed each day worldwide. 4New Yorkers are said to drink seven times more coffee than other US cities, which is why it may seem like there is a Starbucks on every corner of Manhattan. 5The famous French writer and philosopher Voltaire was rumored to have drunk 40 to 50 cups per day. 6Drinking coffee is a daily ritual for millions around the globe. 7In the 1960s, a taste for different types of coffee started to grow, inspiring the opening of the first Starbucks coffee shop in 1971. 8Today, the popularity of coffee continues to grow with more small, independently-owned cafes using locally–roasted beans. 9From a simple cup of black coffee to an order from Starbucks, each coffee drinker has a favorite way of enjoying this wonder drink.
1According to the dictionary, the word “diversity” means “variation” or “difference”. 2Today, the word is frequently used to describe variation in the kinds of people found in companies. 3Rather than see variation as a negative point, most companies consider diversity to be positive and will deliberatelyemploy people of different races, religions, and cultures. 4They do this because these employees may speak the same languages, share the same experiences, and hold the same opinions as people from similar background in societies where companies operate. 5Staff diversity may therefore suggest a company is trying to reflect the interests and values of its customers. 6Issues related to genderdiversity are among the most significant challenges that companies face. 7This is particularly so in Japan where the lack of women in the workplace in general, and in management positions in particular, has led successive governments to call for companies to correct the imbalance between men and women. 8To encourage greater gender diversity, in the past few years most large Japanese companies have begun to set targets to increase the number of women they employ at different levels within their organizations.
1Traditionally, school children are taught that there are two main types of elephants: the African and the Asian. 2However, African elephants can actually be classifiedinto bush elephants and forest elephants. 3African elephants prefer to be near water, but they can also live in forests, deserts, and savannahs. 4Male bush elephants are the world’s largest land animals, while the forest elephants are about half as big. 5Because of their size, other animals tendtokeeptheirdistancefrom elephants, while predators such as lions and hyenas usually target only the young. 6Even though they are generallysafe from being attacked by other animals, African elephants are increasingly being driven from their traditionalareas because people want to develop the land for farming. 7Perhaps the biggest threat to the survival of African elephants comes from illegal ivory traders who pay hunters to kill these magnificent animals for their tusks.