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The closer one studies the gig economy (灰色经济), the less fun it sounds. Those who make their living this way, generally _________ app-based platforms that match consumer needs with workers who can fulfil them, _________ being in uncertain employment.

Bodies such as the International Labor Organization characterize this kind of employment as mostly low paid and _________, in which workers enjoy very few social, organizational and _________ rights and protections.

Attention is turning to the health and wellbeing of this fast-growing workforce, which _________ about 1.3m in the U.K. One academic is even calling for a “Gighall” study—similar to the landmark Whitehall _________ into the health of civil servants.

Those studies, conducted over three decades by Sir Michael Marmot, demonstrated the _________ between socio-economic status and health, a correlation that became known as “status syndrome”. Senior civil servants enjoyed lower _________ of death and heart disease than lowlier employees, a difference partly ascribed to (把……归功于……)autonomy (自主权) at work.

The _________ of powerlessness that afflicts (折磨；使痛苦) many in the gig economy—according to one survey, only four out of 10 gig workers (零工) feel like they are their own __________—suggests that health problems may be brewing in this sizeable slice of workforce.

One study on the Italian workforce, published last year in Social Science and Medicine, suggests that those on __________ contracts are more likely to use prescription medication for mental health conditions such as __________(although the reverse is also true that preexisting ill health leads to more irregular employment).

__________ not specifically about the gig economy, the authors, from the universities of Brunel and Milan, conclude that the __________ to make labour markets more flexible might prove ill for the psychological wellbeing of workers.

Gig work is often conducted privately, in cars and homes, from bicycles and motorbikes, instead of from a __________ workplace, so basic hazards, such as fatigue associated with long hours, can go unnoticed.