France Wrests Title Of Sleeping Giant

两年前，当萨科齐(Nicolas Sarkozy)赢得总统竞选时，他督促法国人早点起多工作多挣钱。但周一公布的一项研究显示，总统的号召被法国人当成了耳旁风。Getty Images据总部位于巴黎的经济合作和发展组织(Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development)针对社会习惯所作的一系列调查显示，法国是工业化国家中人们睡眠时间最长的一个。研究显示，法国人平均每天的睡眠时间为530分钟，高于美国人518分钟。而经合组织成员国中最警醒的国家要算韩国，人们的平均睡眠时间为469分钟。2006年开始进行的这个系列调查显示，在全球化时代，经合组织30个成员国的人们过去30年来花在睡眠上的时间在逐渐减少。不过，报告显示，在如何消磨业余时间方面，不同文化的人群存在着显著差异。也许是老生常谈：法国人每天花在吃饭上的时间超过两小时，大约是美国人的两倍。经合组织国家中，哪国人窝在沙发上看电视的时间最长？经合组织的报告显示，墨西哥人将48%的闲暇时间用来看电视或听收音机，美国人这个数字是44%，德国则是28%。相比之下，西班牙人对体育运动最痴迷，他们将12%的闲暇时间用于体育锻炼，而美国人和土耳其人的这个比例分别是5%和2%。除了吃饭和睡觉方面的纪录，法国人在经合组织成员国中还拥有一项纪录，那就是他们的强制带薪年假有30天。英国和日本的带薪年假分别是20天和10天。美国没有强制带薪年假。在总的休闲时间方面，挪威男性和女性每天可自由支配的时间相等。而在意大利，男性每天比女性的闲暇时间多出近80分钟，全年总计多出444小时，也就是18.5天。报告称，意大利女性的额外劳动有很大一部分显然是花在打扫房间上面了。David Gauthier-Villars


When he won the presidential election two years ago, Nicolas Sarkozy urged the French to get up early and work more to earn more.A study released Monday suggests they missed the wake-up call.France is the industrialized country where people spend the longest periods sleeping, according to a series of surveys on social habits conducted by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development.The French sleep a daily average of 530 minutes, compared with 518 for Americans and 469 for Koreans -- the OECD's 'most awake' nation, according to the study.In an era of globalization, the amount of time spent at work has been declining gradually in the OECD's 30 member nations over the past three decades, according to the surveys, which were conducted in 2006.The report shows, however, that sharp cultural differences remain in how people spend their time when they don't work.True to the cliche, the French spend more than two hours eating every day -- about twice the time Americans devote to swallowing their breakfast, lunch and dinner.Who are the couch potatoes of the OECD?Mexicans spend 48% of their leisure time watching television or listening to the radio, compared with 44% for Americans and 28% for German people, the OECD report shows.In contrast, Spaniards are the most addicted to sports: They spend 12% of their leisure time practicing sports, compared with 5% for Americans and 2% for Turks.When they don't sleep or eat, the French hold another OECD record: They have 30 annual days of mandatory paid leave. That compares with 20 in the U.K. and 10 in Japan.There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.As for overall leisure, Norwegian men and women have about the same amount of free time each day.In Italy, however, men have nearly 80 daily minutes more leisure time than women. On an annualized basis, that means 444 hours or 18.5 days.'Much of the additional work of Italian women is apparently spent cleaning the house,' according to the report.David Gauthier-Villars