沒有道理的小費
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Gratuitous1 Gratuities2
Everybody loathes3 it, but everybody does it. A recent poll showed that 40％ of Americans hate the practice. It seems so arbitrary4, after all. Why does a barman5 get a tip, but not a doctor who saves lives?
In America alone, tipping is now a ＄ 16 billion-a-year industry. Consumers acting rationally ought not to pay more than they have to for a given service. Tips should not exist. So why do they? The conventional wisdom is that tips both reward the efforts of good service and reduce uncomfortable feelings of inequality. The better the service, the bigger the tip.
Such explanations no doubt explain the purported6 origin of tipping-in the 16th century, boxes in English taverns7 carried the phrase “ To Insure Promptitude8” (later just “ TIP” ).But according to new research from Cornell University,tipping no longer serves any useful function.
The paper analyses data from 2,547 groups dining at 20 different restaurants. The correlation9 between larger tips and better service was very weak: only a tiny part of the variability in the size of the tip had anything to do with the quality of service. Customers who rated10 a meal as “ excellent” still tipped anywhere between 8％ and 37％ of the meal price.
Tipping is better explained by culture than by economics. In America, the custom has become institutionalized11: it is regarded as part of the accepted cost of a service. In a New York restaurant, failing to tip at least 15％ could well mean abuse from the waiter. Hairdressers can expect to get 15～ 20％ , the man who delivers your groceries ＄ 2. In Europe, tipping is less common; in many restaurants, discretionary12 tipping is being replaced by a standard service charge. In many Asian countries, tipping has never really caught on13 at all.
How to account for14 these national differences? Look no further than psychology. According to Michael Lynn, the Cornell paper's co-author, countries in which people are more extrovert15, sociable or neurotic16 tend to tip more.Tipping relieves17 anxiety about being served by strangers. And, says Mr Lynn, “ in America, where people are outgoing and expressive, tipping is about social approval. If you tip badly, people think less of you. Tipping well is a chance to show off18.” Icelanders, by contrast, do not usually tip--a measure of their introversion19, no doubt.
While such explanations may be crude, the hard truth seems to be that tipping does not work. It does not benefit the customer. Nor, in the case of restaurants, does it actually incentivise20 the waiter, or help the restaurant manager to monitor and assess his staff. Service people should “ just be paid a decent wage” may actually make economic sense.
沒有道理的小費
人人討厭它，但人人這樣做。最近一項民意測驗表明，40％的美國人憎恨付小費。畢竟，這種做法好像毫無道理。為什么酒吧招待能拿到小費，而救人生命的醫生卻得不到呢？
僅在美國，小費這一行當每年的總額高達160億美元。合理消費的人們在為得到的某項服務必須付費外，不該再掏腰包。小費現象不應該存在。那么，為什么它一直流行呢？公眾的一般看法是，小費既是對優質服務的回報，又可以減輕不平等地位的那種不舒服感。服務得越好，得到的小費就越多。
這些說法毫無疑問地解釋了有關小費起源的傳說。在16世紀，英國小酒館里都放著一個匣子，上面寫有一條短語“確保快捷”，后來這3個英文詞的首字母就組成了“小費”一詞。但據康奈爾大學新的調查結果，小費現已不再具有任何實用的功能。
這份調查報告分析了在20家不同餐館用餐的2547組食客支付小費的數據。較多小費與良好服務之間的聯系是非常微弱的：小費的多寡中只有很小一部分同服務質量有關。稱贊飯菜“味道好極了”的顧客支付的小費仍然在餐費的8％至37％之間。
小費現象最好從文化角度來解釋，而不是從經濟學角度。在美國，這種習俗已經制度化：人們把它看成是一項服務的認可價格的一部分。在紐約的餐館里，沒有支付至少15％小費的顧客很可能會遭到侍者的辱罵。理發師可以得到15％～20％的小費，送外賣的可以得到兩美元。在歐洲，付小費沒有那么普遍；在許多餐館，標準服務價格取代了隨意支付的小費。在許多亞洲國家，付小費從未真正流行起來。
如何解釋這些國與國之間的差別？那就從心理學的角度來看一看吧。據康奈爾大學的那份調查報告的作者之一邁克爾?林恩說，其國民性格較外向、愛交際或易激動的國家，往往小費付得較多。付小費可以減輕接受陌生人服務的不安心理。林恩先生說，“在美國，人們開朗大方，喜歡表現，支付小費是社會認可的。如果你掏的小費少，人們就會看輕你。多掏小費是炫耀、表現自己的機會。”相比之下，冰島人通常不付小費，這無疑體現了他們的內向性格。
盡管這些解釋也許不很成熟，而事實看起來就是，支付小費并不能起到什么作用。它對顧客沒有什么好處。在餐館里，它實際上既不能起到鼓勵侍者的作用，也不能幫助餐館經理監督和評估手下職員。從經濟角度而言，只有對服務人員“支付體面的工資”可能才有意義。
1.gratuitous[^rE5tju:itEs]adj.無理由的，不必要的
2.gratuity[^rE5tju:iti]n.小費，賞錢
3.loathe[lEuT]vt.厭惡，憎恨
4.arbitrary[5B:bitrEri]adj.任意性的
5.barman[5bB:mEn]n.酒吧間男招待
6.purported[p/:`pR:tId]adj.傳說的，謠傳的
7.tavern[5tAvE:n]n.小酒店，小旅館，客棧
8.promptitude[5prCmptitju:d]n.敏捷，迅速
9.correlation[7kCri5leiFEn]n.聯系
10.rate[reit]vt.認為，評估
11.institutionalizedadj.制度化的
12.discretionary[dIs`kreFEnErI]adj.自由決定的
13.catchon流行起來，被人接受
14.account[E5kaunt]vi.(與for連用)作出解釋
15.extrovert[5ekstrEuvE:t]adj.外傾性的
16.neurotic[njuE5rCtik]adj.易激動的
17.relieve[ri5li:v]vt.減輕
18.showoff炫耀，表現自己
19.introversion[ 7intrEu5vE:FEn ]n.內傾性
20.incentivise[in5sendjEriz]vt.刺激，鼓勵
本文標題：沒有道理的小費 - 英語短文_英語美文_英文美文Everybody loathes3 it, but everybody does it. A recent poll showed that 40％ of Americans hate the practice. It seems so arbitrary4, after all. Why does a barman5 get a tip, but not a doctor who saves lives?
In America alone, tipping is now a ＄ 16 billion-a-year industry. Consumers acting rationally ought not to pay more than they have to for a given service. Tips should not exist. So why do they? The conventional wisdom is that tips both reward the efforts of good service and reduce uncomfortable feelings of inequality. The better the service, the bigger the tip.
Such explanations no doubt explain the purported6 origin of tipping-in the 16th century, boxes in English taverns7 carried the phrase “ To Insure Promptitude8” (later just “ TIP” ).But according to new research from Cornell University,tipping no longer serves any useful function.
The paper analyses data from 2,547 groups dining at 20 different restaurants. The correlation9 between larger tips and better service was very weak: only a tiny part of the variability in the size of the tip had anything to do with the quality of service. Customers who rated10 a meal as “ excellent” still tipped anywhere between 8％ and 37％ of the meal price.
Tipping is better explained by culture than by economics. In America, the custom has become institutionalized11: it is regarded as part of the accepted cost of a service. In a New York restaurant, failing to tip at least 15％ could well mean abuse from the waiter. Hairdressers can expect to get 15～ 20％ , the man who delivers your groceries ＄ 2. In Europe, tipping is less common; in many restaurants, discretionary12 tipping is being replaced by a standard service charge. In many Asian countries, tipping has never really caught on13 at all.
How to account for14 these national differences? Look no further than psychology. According to Michael Lynn, the Cornell paper's co-author, countries in which people are more extrovert15, sociable or neurotic16 tend to tip more.Tipping relieves17 anxiety about being served by strangers. And, says Mr Lynn, “ in America, where people are outgoing and expressive, tipping is about social approval. If you tip badly, people think less of you. Tipping well is a chance to show off18.” Icelanders, by contrast, do not usually tip--a measure of their introversion19, no doubt.
While such explanations may be crude, the hard truth seems to be that tipping does not work. It does not benefit the customer. Nor, in the case of restaurants, does it actually incentivise20 the waiter, or help the restaurant manager to monitor and assess his staff. Service people should “ just be paid a decent wage” may actually make economic sense.
沒有道理的小費
人人討厭它，但人人這樣做。最近一項民意測驗表明，40％的美國人憎恨付小費。畢竟，這種做法好像毫無道理。為什么酒吧招待能拿到小費，而救人生命的醫生卻得不到呢？
僅在美國，小費這一行當每年的總額高達160億美元。合理消費的人們在為得到的某項服務必須付費外，不該再掏腰包。小費現象不應該存在。那么，為什么它一直流行呢？公眾的一般看法是，小費既是對優質服務的回報，又可以減輕不平等地位的那種不舒服感。服務得越好，得到的小費就越多。
這些說法毫無疑問地解釋了有關小費起源的傳說。在16世紀，英國小酒館里都放著一個匣子，上面寫有一條短語“確保快捷”，后來這3個英文詞的首字母就組成了“小費”一詞。但據康奈爾大學新的調查結果，小費現已不再具有任何實用的功能。
這份調查報告分析了在20家不同餐館用餐的2547組食客支付小費的數據。較多小費與良好服務之間的聯系是非常微弱的：小費的多寡中只有很小一部分同服務質量有關。稱贊飯菜“味道好極了”的顧客支付的小費仍然在餐費的8％至37％之間。
小費現象最好從文化角度來解釋，而不是從經濟學角度。在美國，這種習俗已經制度化：人們把它看成是一項服務的認可價格的一部分。在紐約的餐館里，沒有支付至少15％小費的顧客很可能會遭到侍者的辱罵。理發師可以得到15％～20％的小費，送外賣的可以得到兩美元。在歐洲，付小費沒有那么普遍；在許多餐館，標準服務價格取代了隨意支付的小費。在許多亞洲國家，付小費從未真正流行起來。
如何解釋這些國與國之間的差別？那就從心理學的角度來看一看吧。據康奈爾大學的那份調查報告的作者之一邁克爾?林恩說，其國民性格較外向、愛交際或易激動的國家，往往小費付得較多。付小費可以減輕接受陌生人服務的不安心理。林恩先生說，“在美國，人們開朗大方，喜歡表現，支付小費是社會認可的。如果你掏的小費少，人們就會看輕你。多掏小費是炫耀、表現自己的機會。”相比之下，冰島人通常不付小費，這無疑體現了他們的內向性格。
盡管這些解釋也許不很成熟，而事實看起來就是，支付小費并不能起到什么作用。它對顧客沒有什么好處。在餐館里，它實際上既不能起到鼓勵侍者的作用，也不能幫助餐館經理監督和評估手下職員。從經濟角度而言，只有對服務人員“支付體面的工資”可能才有意義。
1.gratuitous[^rE5tju:itEs]adj.無理由的，不必要的
2.gratuity[^rE5tju:iti]n.小費，賞錢
3.loathe[lEuT]vt.厭惡，憎恨
4.arbitrary[5B:bitrEri]adj.任意性的
5.barman[5bB:mEn]n.酒吧間男招待
6.purported[p/:`pR:tId]adj.傳說的，謠傳的
7.tavern[5tAvE:n]n.小酒店，小旅館，客棧
8.promptitude[5prCmptitju:d]n.敏捷，迅速
9.correlation[7kCri5leiFEn]n.聯系
10.rate[reit]vt.認為，評估
11.institutionalizedadj.制度化的
12.discretionary[dIs`kreFEnErI]adj.自由決定的
13.catchon流行起來，被人接受
14.account[E5kaunt]vi.(與for連用)作出解釋
15.extrovert[5ekstrEuvE:t]adj.外傾性的
16.neurotic[njuE5rCtik]adj.易激動的
17.relieve[ri5li:v]vt.減輕
18.showoff炫耀，表現自己
19.introversion[ 7intrEu5vE:FEn ]n.內傾性
20.incentivise[in5sendjEriz]vt.刺激，鼓勵
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