ibunka TB_U2

1 Matt , American, publisher, has lived in Japan When I lived in Japan, it seemed most people were overly tired; deprived of free time and sleep time. It was interesting to watch people doze off on the train and then suddenly, as if by magic, wake up just as they arrived at their station. How did they do that?

TRUE FALSE

→ Matt was surprised at the sleeping habits of people on trains in Japan.

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2 Matt , American, publisher, has lived in Japan There also seemed to be a kind of perverse pride taken in doing an "all-nighter." I thought it was strange that people would stay up all night to work or study, as if they were showing commitment, and proving they were tough enough to fight off sleep in order to work or study more.

TRUE FALSE

→ Matt thinks that staying up all night is the best way to show that you are a hard worker.

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3 Miki , Japanese, writer, has lived in the UK I believe most Japanese people don’t get enough sleep. You can see people sleeping in public spaces like buses and trains, and even in business meetings or conferences. I guess that in the Japanese workplace, being productive and efficient is not as important as just showing up.

TRUE FALSE

→ According to Miki, efYiciency takes top priority in workplaces in Japan.

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Answers to COMPREHENSION 2 (textbook p.18)

4 Stéphane, French, architect, lives in Japan It is indeed. When I was a child, my parents had a strict rule during the week that we had to go to bed at 9 p.m. This rule continued until I was about 13 or 14 years old. Since we got up around 7 a.m., this ensured us about 9 or 10 hours of sleep. There were no naps, so we had to get a good night's sleep. 5 Motoko , Japanese, homemaker, has lived in Australia I was surprised at how strictly Australian parents control their children's bedtime and send them to bed quite early. There was even a cute character (a person dressed in an animal suit) that would appear on TV screens at 7:30 in the evening and tell all children under the age of 12 to go to bed . We don’t have anything like that in Japan.

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UNIT 2 | COMPREHENSION