Although Australia is not as wealthy as the United States and Japan, most Australian people live a fairly good life. An ordinary Australian is secured1 120 A $ per day if he can find a job. And this will be enough for a small family. If a couple works hard for years, they are soon to have their own apartment with a garden, cars and sometimes even a small-size swimmingpool.
Besides, there are various kinds of social welfare2 facilities and life insurance, which help the jobless, the retired, the handicapped3 and the children without parents.
In a word, Australians do not have much worries over their lives. As a result, they often have enough efforts and financial support to choose to enjoy themselves at any time. They give top priority4 to their holidays and will always put away everything to enjoy. This perhaps is rare in the world.
Many people say that the United States is a paradise for the children, a struggling field for the youth and a tomb for the aged. However, the situation is quite different in Australia. Different people have their own ways for enjoyment and their own worlds for pastime.
Most children often work hard in school since they have to face various exams. After school they do not want to confine5 themselves to books any more. Instead, they put aside their schoolbags at home and sneak6 quickly to some quiet street corners for their games. Bigger children like to shoulder their large kites to some steep7 cliffs, and jump to fly in the sky with their kites. Some old people often get up early in the morning and go to parks to do newspaper reading. After breakfast, they come to horse races, dog races and sometimes car races for betting. If he wins, he will feed himself a good dinner. In the evening, they stay home, watching TV sometimes with grandchildren. Some of the aged also enjoy fishing and gardening.
Young people prefer to go outing for holidays. At the weekends, they go to the sea shore for swimming or to the forest for hunting and camping, or mountainous areas for picnicking. Then in the evenings on Sundays, they start their long bumper-to-bumper8 drive back home on the highways. Nobody seems in a hurry.
The Australian Government also encourages its people to have more relaxation after work. Sometimes, certain kind of subsidy is allocated9 to people going on holidays and public holidays are purposely set on Monday or Friday so that Australians may have a longer weekend for enjoyment. They think people can work better only after they get a full relaxation. And it is based on this idea that comes the top priority for enjoyment in Australia…
尽管澳大利亚不像美国和日本那样富裕，但大多数澳大利亚人生活相当舒适。一个普通的澳大利亚人如果有工作，每周至少能挣到120澳元。这对一个小家庭而言已经足够生活。一对夫妻辛勤工作数年，很快就能买得起带花园的房子、汽车，有时甚至还能拥有一个小游泳池。
此外，澳大利亚有各种各样的社会福利机构和生活保险，帮助失业者、退休人员、残疾人和孤儿维持生活。一句话，澳大利亚人不用过多地担心他们的生活。因此，他们经常有足够的能力和财力随时让自己享受生活。度假是头等大事，为了享乐，他们从来就不惜放弃任何其他事情。这在世界上可能都是罕见的。
许多人说美国是儿童的天堂，年轻人的战场，老年人的坟墓。不过，在澳大利亚，情况却完全不同。享乐方式因人而异，娱乐天地也各有千秋。
大多数孩子在学校要面对各种考试，所以学习往往很努力。放学后，他们不愿继续将自己禁锢在书本中，而是将书包放在家里，迅速溜到某处安静的街角玩游戏。大一点的孩子喜欢扛着他们的大风筝攀上陡峭的悬崖，然后随风筝滑翔而下。常有老人早起去公园看报。早饭后，他们就去赛马场、赛狗场，有时还去赛车场赌上一把。如果赢了的话，他会美美吃上一顿晚餐。晚上，他们呆在家里，与孙辈一起看看电视。有些老人还喜欢钓鱼和园艺。
年轻人则喜欢度假。周末，他们到海边游泳，或者到森林里去打猎、野营，或者到山里野餐。周日的傍晚，他们才随着公路上首尾相连的长长车流打道回府。反正大家都不急不忙。
澳大利亚政府也鼓励国民在工作之余多多放松享乐。有时，度假的人还可以得到一些补助，公共假日则被特意安排到周一或周五，这样澳大利亚人就可以享受更长的周末。政府认为只有彻底放松之后，人们才能更好地工作。正是出于这个观念，澳大利亚人才将享乐看成头等大事。
1． secure v． 保证，保险
2． welfare n． 福利
3． handicapped adj． 残废的
4． priority n． 优先权
5． confine (to) v． 限制
6． sneak v． 溜到，潜行
7． steep adj． 陡峭的，险峻的
8． bumper－to－bumper adj． 一辆接一辆的
9． allocate v． 分派，分配