Post-Reading

A Explain what the following clipped words stand for:

doz, lb, gal, lg, pkg

B Express in alternative words the following:

1) that junk on television; 2) 1 six-pack Macho beer; 3) 1 head lettuce; 4) it’ll be steak and caviar all the way; 5) he can barely afford hamburger; 6) a broken-down housewife; 7) I’ll bet; 8) let them get away with it.

C Give the Russian for:

1) … they keep begging me; 2) … Bob’ll be dozing in front of the TV; 3) disposable diapers; 4) Storm detergent; 5) a floor mop; 6) rat poison; 7) 1 bunch asparagus; 8) … damn them!

D Comment on the words from the text “Grocery List” given in

brackets:

1) The woman did not write them down, did she? What thoughts do these words convey? 2) What words from the text show the woman’s attitude to TV commercials? 3) What can you say about her husband’s usual way of spending Sundays? 4) Which words hint at the financial position of the family? 5) Do you guess what the woman regrets? 6) What makes the woman try to lose weight? 7) Who is meant by ‘she’ in the phrase: “I’ll bet she would be eating all the time…”? 8) What is the implication of the phrase ‘… they think I don’t even know about their affair!’? 9) Who is the rat poison meant for? 10) Who is the phrase ‘damn them!’ addressed to? 11) What creates the effect of humorous ambiguity at the end of the text?

E Make up a life story of the woman as you see it from her

remarks coupled with the items of the grocery list.

Text 6

Pre-Reading

A Discuss with other students which of the following is more

probable.

People suffer from stress because …

1) modern life is full of worries;

2) other people inflict it on them;

3) they do not know how to relax;

4) they have no time to relax.

B Speak about the ways you cope with stresses and strains caused

by your study or work..

Reading

Read through the text “Stress and Stress Management” and do the exercises that follow.

Stress and Stress Management

A

‘My name’s Patricia and I’m a university lecturer. I chose this profession because I wanted to do something rewarding: something that gave me satisfaction. Ten years ago, when I started in this job, I had lots to do, but I enjoyed it: preparing and giving lectures, discussing students’ work with them and marking it. I felt stretched: I had the feeling that work could sometimes be difficult, but that it was stimulating, it interested me and made me feel good. It was certainly challenging: difficult, but in an interesting and enjoyable way.’

B

‘In the last few years there has been more and more administrative work, with no time for reading or research. I felt pressure building up. I began to feel overwhelmed by work: I felt as if I wasn’t able to do it. I was under stress; very worried about my work. I became ill, and I’m sure this was caused by stress: it was stress-induced.

Luckily, I was able to deal with the stresses and strains (pressures) of my job by starting to work part-time. I was luckier than one of my colleagues, who became so stressed out because of overwork that he had a nervous breakdown; he was so worried about work that he couldn’t sleep or work, and had to give up. He’s completely burned out, so stressed and tired by his work that he will never be able to work again. Burnout is an increasingly common problem among my colleagues.’

C

‘Many people want to get away from the rat race or the treadmill, the feeling that work is too competitive, and are looking for lifestyles that are less stressful or completely unstressful, more relaxed ways of living, perhaps in the country. Some people work from home to be near their family and have a better quality of life, such as more quality time with their children: not just preparing meals for them and taking them to school, etc.

Choosing to live and work in a less stressful way is downshifting or rebalancing, and people who do this are downshifters.’

Post-Reading

A Say the following in alternative words.

1) to do smth rewarding; 2) I felt stretched; 3) work could be <…> stimulating; 4) it (work) was certainly challenging; 5) I felt pressure building up; 6) to feel overwhelmed by work; 7) I was under stress; 8) to work part-time; 9) to become stressed out; 10) because of overwork.

B Replace the following with the equivalents from the text.

1) the collapse of one’s (esp. mental) health; 2) to abandon an attempt to do smth; 3) to use up all one’s energy or ruin one’s health, esp. working too hard over a period of time; 4) a way of life in which everybody competes fiercely to be more successful than anybody else; 5) tiring or boring routine work; 6) the way in which an individual or a group lives; 7) to freelance from home rather than to work in an office; 8) the standard of something when compared to other things like it; how good or bad smth is; 9) to change to a different job or way of life, so that you have less money and responsibility but more satisfaction and happiness.

C Answer the following questions:

1) How did Patricia feel about her job at the beginning of her career? What made her job enjoyable? 2) What brought about the undesirable change in her attitude to work? 3) What helped Patricia to deal with the stress? 4) What is a common problem among many of her colleagues? 5) What makes people choose to become downshifters?

D Skim the article “Shift Down a Gear to Find a Sweeter

Lifestyle” and speak about the information it adds to the text

above.