| A PAIN IN THE NECK
People usually think of stress as something the world inflicts on them.
Worry and hassle are blamed for all kinds of ailments, from asthma to headaches,
from high blood pressure to stomach ulcers. And we often blame other people
for making us feel bad: when we call someone a pain in the neck, we are
describing the physical and psychological effect they have on us.
But although it is tempting to regard stress as some nasty germ attacking
us from outside, the truth is that we are largely responsible for what
stress does to our bodies. Once we make ourselves aware of how our bodies
respond to worry, fear, anger and fatigue (all of which are forms of stress),
we can start learning to relax.
Pains in the neck are a very common stress complaint. Some people get
a pain in the neck from driving, others from working at an office desk.
I suffer from a complaint I call "typewriter neck" which tends to strike
when I am hunched over my typewriter worrying about an approaching deadline.
(Arthritis or bone injuries might also give you a pain in the neck, of
course, but I suspect that these are a much less common cause than muscular
tension).
Add True or False quoting the relevant information from the text:
1. Stress is a sort of germ that attacks people.
2. The writer gets a pain in the neck when he is in a hurry to finish
some work.
3. If we want to cope with stress, we should know our bodies and learn
to relax.
4. Muscular tension is the main cause of a pain in the neck.
5. Worry, fear, anger and fatigue are causes of stress.
6. We usually think that the others are responsible for us feeling
bad.
Complete the following sentences so that they have the same meaning
as that of the one above:
1. We often blame other people for it.
Other people
2. Once we know how our bodies work, we can start learning to relax.
We cant
3. He has suffered from arthritis since 1990.
ago.
4. These are much less common causes than muscular tension.
Muscular tension
Write a summary of the text (from 20 to 50 words).
Write a composition on the topic: Is a good health the most important
thing in life? (about 100 words)
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