Work with a partner. Discuss the following questions.

1. What images spring to mind when you hear the word “stress”?
2. Is life becoming more or less stressful?
3. Are you stressed at the moment?
4. What stresses you out?
5. What things do you get stressed about that you wish you wouldn’t?
6. What do you do to relieve your stress?
7. Can stress be a positive thing?
8. Is learning English stressful?
9. What was the most stressful time of your life?
10. How do you interact with others when you are under a lot of stress?
11. How dangerous do you think stress is?
12. What’s the best stress reliever you know of?

15. Read the text and find the places (1–4) where these headings (a–d) should go.

a) What is stress?

b) Sources of stress

c) Signs of stress

d) There are two basic types of stress.

Stress – what you need to know about it?

(1)__________________________

Stress is your body’s normal reaction to the pressures and challenges of life. Too much stress can make you unhappy or sick.

(2)__________________________

When you are under stress you may have tense muscles, sweaty hands, a fast heart­beat or sleeplessness. Stress can cause a loss of appetite or overeating, frequent headaches, stomachaches¹, nausea², nervous tics or stuttering³. People experiencing stress may lose their temper easily, get frustrated⁴ about little things, fight or argue a lot, have more accidents and get colds more fre­quently.

(3)__________________________

Positive stresscomes from things you enjoy or look forward to. For example, making new friends, playing a sport or acting in a play.

Negative stress comes from things you find unpleasant or threatening⁵.

There is no way to avoid negative stress completely. Positive stress helps make our life interesting.

(4)__________________________

Anything that makes you feel excited or uneasy is a source of stress. This happens when you face a challenge or a change. In order to reduce your stress levels you should find out what is causing you to feel stressed. Here are some common causes of stress: you may feel stressed if you have to take a test, learn a new routine when you change class­es or schools, make new friends or break up with someone, have trouble at home, feel anxious about your future not knowing what direction to take in life, etc.

______________________

¹ stomachache – боль в животе; боль в желудке

² nausea – тошнота

³ stuttering – заикание

⁴ get frustrated – расстраиваться

⁵ threatening – грозящий, угрожающий

Read the text below and answer the questions.

1. Do you do the things the author suggests? Do you think they are good ideas? Why/Why not?
2. Can you think of one more tip of advice?

Some advice for reducing stress

Think about what makes you feel stressed

Avoid these things when you can.

See problems for what they are

Do not let your reaction to a problem confuse the situation. Focus on the problem and think about how to solve it.

Make up your own mind

Do not let others push you into doing something that is not right for you. When you make up your own mind, you will feel better about yourself, and less “stressed out”.

Set goals that you can attain

Ask yourself if there are some things you do not need to do.

Be a positive thinker

Keeping a positive attitude can reduce your stress level. When you look beyond your problems, you will see that the world is full of opportunities.

Learn to plan your time

Create an action plan to handle a worrying challenge. List what you have to do.Set priorities. A one-step-at-a-time approach divides and conquers anxiety.

Prepare for stressful events

Being well prepared for a test, for example, will strengthen your confidence and help you stay calm on the day of the test.

Do not be afraid to fail

Mistakes are an important part of personal growth. Learning from failures allows you to go on to greater success!

Analyse how you explain failure

Do you blame yourself? Laying blame and taking responsibilities are two different things. Pessimists blame themselves; optimists don not. Do not say, “I failed because I am stupid or incompetent.” Do say,” I failed because the test covered material I didn’t focus on when studying.” In the latter situation you are in control of changing things for the better.

Do something you enjoy

Set aside time to have fun every day. Engage one or more of your senses to relieve stress. You could read, listen to music, dance, play an instrument, play sport, work on a hobby or spend some time with your friends. In short, do anything that helps you to relax – as long as it is healthy! Laughing is a great way to relieve tension and avoid feeling overwhelmed. Make sure you are able to laugh at yourself sometimes too.

Find out about relaxation techniques

Knowing how to relax is one of the most valuable skills a young person can have.

Ask for help

You do not have to handle everything on your own. If you are upset with someone or something, talk about your feelings and concerns with someone you trust. A friend, parent or teacher are just some of the people you can turn to.