Understanding Stress: Impact on Health and Immune System

1. Unit 7 Stress in Our Life

2. New words and expressions for Reading One: • psychoimmunology: a branch of study, which tries to find connections between illness and emotional factors • virus: a kind of germ that can cause disease • There are many different strains of flu virus.

3. cadet: a young man or woman who is being trained in the armed services or the police 军校学员; 警校学员 • mononucleosis: is a disease which causes swollen glands, fever, and a sore throat. (mainly AM; in BRIT, usually use glandular fever) 腺热，传染性单核白细胞增多 • glandular: relating to or affecting your glands 腺（状）的, 起腺体功能的, 有腺的

4. sore: Cold sores are small sore spots that sometimes appear on or near someone’s lips and nose when they have a cold. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use fever blister) • bereaved: A bereaved person is one who has a relative or close friend who has recently died. • Mr Dinkins visited the bereaved family to offer comfort.

5. lymphocyte: are the white blood cells in the colorless fluid from the tissues or organs of the body 淋巴细胞

6. Check Your Comprehension AAnswer the following questions with the information from the text. • 1. What kind of expert is psychoimmunologist? What do they do? Psychoimmunologists are experts who try to find a link between the brain and the immune system. • 2. What is the function of the immune system in human bodies? The immune system in human bodies fights the bacteria and viruses which cause disease.

7. Check Your Comprehension A • 3. What did biologists know about the immune system before? What is their recent observation about it? Biologists used to think that the immune system was a separate, independent part of our bodies. Recently, however, they have found that our brain can affect our immune system. • 4. What did the two studies of the cadets and the student nurses tell us? The two studies indicated that there is a connection between stress and illness.

8. Check Your Comprehension A • 5. Are researches very sure of the results they have got? No, they aren’t, because other factors, besides emotional ones, may also affect the immune system.

9. New words and expressions for Reading Two: • rat race: a difficult, tiring, often competitive activity or routine • 令人疲惫、常常是充满竞争性的活动或日常安排 • grindstone: a large round stone that turns like a wheel and is used for sharpening knives and tools • 砂轮（这里指枯燥艰苦的工作）

10. squash: a game in which two players hit a small rubber ball against the walls of a court using rackets • strapper: a powerfully built, robust person • 彪形大汉：长得极其强壮、健壮之人。 • crane: a large machine that moves heavy things by lifting them in the air

11. pick up the slack: To take up the slack or pick up the slack means to do or provide something that another person or organization is no longer doing or providing. • As major airlines give up less-traveled routes, smaller planes are picking up the slack. • redundancy:When there are redundancies, an organization tells some of its employees to leave because their jobs are no longer necessary or because the organization can no longer afford to pay them. (BRIT BUSINESS; in AM, use dismissals, layoffs) • The ministry has said it hopes to avoid compulsory redundancies.

12. boom or bust: means the alteration in an economy or market between immoderate growth and collapse and recession. • overwhelmingly: You can use overwhelming to emphasize that an amount or quantity is much greater than other amounts or quantities. • The overwhelming majority of small businesses go broke within the first twenty-four months... • The vote was overwhelming–283 in favour, and only twenty-nine against.

13. shrink:If cloth or clothing shrinks, it becomes smaller in size, usually as a result of being washed. • All my jumpers have shrunk. • impoverish: A person or thing that impoverishes something makes it worse in quality. • ...plants that impoverish the soil quickly.

14. grumpy: If you say that someone is grumpy, you mean that they are bad-tempered and miserable. • Some folk think I’m a grumpy old man. • residual: used to describe what remains of something when most of it has gone • ...residual radiation from nuclear weapons testing...

15. buck: If you buck the trend, you obtain different results from others in the same area. If you buck the system, you get what you want by breaking or ignoring the rules. • While other newspapers are losing circulation, we are bucking the trend... • He wants to be the tough rebel who bucks the system...

16. Check Your Vocabulary • 1. Because about one fifth of Australian workers have to work over 50 hours a week, the ACTU study shows that too many working hours are causing problems for the workers in terms of family relationship, friendship and community life. • 2. ... “but if you refuse to work overtime for a few weeks during an important time on a job, not only does your company suffer, your co-workers also suffer as they need to finish the part that you were supposed to do. And you may end up being dismissed since your position does not seem necessary, no matter the company is in good times or bad times.

17. Check Your Vocabulary • 3. My biggest grievance is that I have to work six days a week, sometimes even seven days. • 4. The wives arranged their lives around the schedules of their husbands because their husbands’ time automatically became the top priority in the family. • 5. Some workers emphasized their role as a father or mother, and they chose to work part-time and refused promotion.

18. Check Your Vocabulary • 6. Those men who resisted long working hours were suspected by others of their capability for work and they often had to make sacrifices, such as refusing promotion or getting less pay, in order to share more time with the family.

19. New words and expressions for Reading Three: • buffer: If something is buffered, it is protected from harm. • The company is buffered by long-term contracts with growers. • compile:When you compile something such as a report, book, or programme, you produce it by collecting and putting together many pieces of information. • The book took 10 years to compile... • A report compiled by the Fed’s Philadelphia branch described the economy as weak.

20. referral: Referral is the act of officially sending someone to a person or authority that is qualified to deal with them. A referral is an instance of this. • Legal Aid can often provide referral to other types of agencies... • jump in: If you jump in, you act quickly, often without thinking much about what you are doing. • The Government had to jump in and purchase millions of dollars worth of supplies. • competent: Someone who is competent is efficient and effective. • He was a loyal, distinguished and very competent civil servant. • ...a competent performance.

21. daydream: If you daydream, you think about pleasant things for a period of time, usually about things that you would like to happen. • Do you work hard for success rather than daydream about it?... • He daydreams of being a famous journalist... • I am inclined to daydream. • distraction: A distraction is something that turns your attention away from something you want to concentrate on. • Total concentration is required with no distractions.

22. New words and expressions for Reading Four: • shambles: If a place, event, or situation is a shambles or is in a shambles, everything is in disorder. • The ship’s interior was an utter shambles... • The economy is in a shambles. • = mess

23. bloke: A bloke is a man. (BRIT INFORMAL) • He is a really nice bloke. • meditate: If you meditate you remain in a silent and calm state for a period of time, as part of a religious training or so that you are more able to deal with the problems and difficulties of everyday life. • I was meditating, and reached a higher state of consciousness.

24. adrenaline: Adrenaline is a substance which your body produces when you are angry, scared, or excited. It makes your heart beat faster and gives you more energy. • Seeing the crowd really got my adrenaline pumping. • burnout: If someone suffers burnout, they exhaust themselves at an early stage in their life or career because they have achieved too much too quickly. (INFORMAL)

25. compensation: Compensation is money that someone who has experienced loss or suffering claims from the person or organization responsible, or from the state. • He received one year’s salary as compensation for loss of office... • The Court ordered Dr Williams to pay £300 compensation and £100 costs after admitting assault.

26. palpitation: When someone has palpitations, their heart beats very fast in an irregular way. • Caffeine can cause palpitations and headaches. • doomsday: Doomsday is a day or time when you expect something terrible or unpleasant is going to happen. • ...the doomsday scenario of civil war between the two factions.

27. diarrhoea: If someone has diarrhoea, a lot of liquid faeces comes out of their body because they are ill. • fidget: If you fidget, you keep moving your hands or feet slightly or changing your position slightly, for example because you are nervous, bored, or excited. • Brenda fidgeted in her seat.

28. crave: If you crave something, you want to have it very much. • There may be certain times of day when smokers crave their cigarette... • You may be craving for some fresh air. • recruitment: The recruitment of workers, soldiers, or members is the act or process of selecting them for an organization or army and persuading them to join. • ... the examination system for the recruitment of civil servants.

29. delegate: If you delegate duties, responsibilities, or power to someone, you give them those duties, those responsibilities, or that power so that they can act on your behalf. • He plans to delegate more authority to his deputies... • Many employers find it hard to delegate.

30. knock: If someone receives a knock, they have an unpleasant experience which prevents them from achieving something or which causes them to change their attitudes or plans. • What they said was a real knock to my self- confidence... • = blow

31. correlation: A correlation between things is a connection or link between them. (FORMAL) • ... the correlation between smoking and disease. • anecdotal: Anecdotal evidence is based on individual accounts, rather than on reliable research or statistics, and so may not be valid. • Anecdotal evidence suggests that sales in Europe have slipped.

32. rectify: If you rectify something that is wrong, you change it so that it becomes correct or satisfactory. • Only an act of Congress could rectify the situation...

33. Check Your Vocabulary A • Your best choice is to get your adrenaline pumping and yourself more alert. • It has been clearly indicated that there is not much chance of a speedy recovery for those who get so seriously stressed as to need workers’ medical compensation.

34. He says if one wants to deal with a high-pressure job, he should have the ability to work hard for a long stretch of time and have good organization skills; he should also be willing to share his powers and be able to cope with any setbacks that may occur. • Toohey says research has shown good people management results in less stress claims.

35. 5. He says good people management involves allowing workers to manage their own work, letting them participate in making decisions, and making sure that they have enough resources to do their job. All these can help reduce workers’ stress complaints to the smallest number.

36. New words and expressions for Section Three • clamor: Clamour is used to describe the loud noise of a large group of people talking or shouting together. • She could hear a clamour in the road outside. • steaming:If something steams, it gives off steam. • ...restaurants where coffee pots steamed on their burners. • ...a basket of steaming bread rolls.

37. cauldron: A cauldron is a very large, round metal pot used for cooking over a fire. In stories and fairy tales, a cauldron is used by witches for their spells. • boil over: When a liquid that is being heated boils over, it rises and flows over the edge of the container. • Heat the liquid in a large, wide container rather than a high narrow one, or it can boil over.

38. anaesthetize: If something such as a drug anaesthetizes part or all of your body, it makes you unable to feel anything in that part of your body. • = numb • retrenched: 裁员的 • clutter: Clutter is a lot of things in an untidy state, especially things that are not useful or necessary. • Caroline prefers her worktops（厨房柜橱上的操作面）to be clear of clutter.

39. unequal: being different in size, strength, or amount • The Egyptians probably measured their day in twenty-four hours of unequal length. • crank up: To crank something up means to increase it or make it more intense. (mainly BRIT) • The legal authorities cranked up the investigation. • communal: You use communal to describe something that is shared by a group of people. • The teachers ate in a communal dining room. • This is a communal bathroom.

40. Write down the main idea of the text here. To be a victim of stress or a hero over it depends on the way you choose to tell your own story. The key to manage stress is to have a clear sense of purpose in life and work out ways to close the pernicious gap between how you want to live and how you are actually living.