Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. nerve-racking (adj.) [nurv-rak-ing] – stressful or causing worry
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
1. nerve-racking (adj.) [nurv-rak-ing] – stressful or causing worry
Example: Speaking in front of a large
audience is nerve-racking.
2. succession (n.) [suhk-sesh-uhn] – a number of things that happen one after the other
Example: The succession of math and science tests tired the participants.
3. betray (v.) [bih-trey] – to go against someone’s trust, loyalty or belief
Example: He would never betray his business partner by spending
the company’s money.
4. trustworthy (adj.) [truhst-wur-thee] –
honest or dependable
Example: I know he will
return my money because he is a trustworthy
person.
5. interaction – [in-ter-ak-shuhn] communication
between people
Example: The
games helped the students have good interaction
during the party.
Article
Read the text below.
A recent study revealed
that, contrary to popular belief, men who are stressed are not always
aggressive.
The Psychological
Science journal released a study that
showed men are actually friendlier in nerve-racking
situations.
The study gathered
67 male students from the University of Zurich. Fifty percent of the men were
asked to do worry-free activities, such as reading along with other people
and solving easy math problems. The other 50% were told to answer a difficult
mental-math test and to give a public speech in order to raise their stress
levels.
After the
activities, the students participated in a succession of gambling games using real money. The games tested whether
the students would trust or betray
a partner player and whether the students would keep or share money.
Throughout the test,
researchers measured the participants’ heart rates and the amount of cortisol or stress hormones in
their saliva.
The results showed
that stressed men were kinder, more generous and more trustworthy than those without stress.
Furthermore, the
stressed group made almost the same number of risky moves while gambling as
the non-stressed group. This indicates that the two groups were not very
different except for their social interactions.
Markus Heinrichs, a
researcher of the study, concludes that in almost any difficult situation, people
are likely to reduce stress by communicating positively with others.
Since women were
not part of the study, the difference between how men and women deal with
stress could not be compared. The study proves, however, that men can also act
friendly when under stress.
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Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
·
Do you agree that people act friendlier when
they are stressed? Why or why not?
·
Are there advantages to being stressed? What are
the disadvantages of stress?
Discussion B
·
Why do you think studying the effects of stress
is important?
·
How can people relieve their stress in a
healthy and positive way?