Life Can Be Stressful
Stress is worry and anxiety in your life. Stress stops you relaxing, it is the most common cause of heart disease and it can lead to cancer. Stress can cause poor concentration, can affect judgement and can result in accidents. Stress can be the cause of family break-ups, violence and even suicide. So what are the main causes of stress in a typical modern lifestyle? A study has identified between 50 and 60 possible causes of stress, and here are the five most frequent.
The most common cause of stress is having financial problems. People cannot do the things they want to do because they lack money. Debts are growing because mortgage repayments are increasing and credit card bills need to be paid. The cost of living is rising, and it all adds up to worry.
Pressure and worry at work is another cause of stress. People worry that there is change and people worry when there is no change. They may feel that their boss does not understand them or that he makes life difficult for them. If people think that they are doing their job badly or that they are about to lose their job, it is a huge cause of anxiety.
There is lot of stress in people’s personal relationships. Disagreements with a husband or wife, arguments with children and difficulties with relatives can all cause anxiety. An elderly relative moving into the family home or an older child leaving are both causes of tension. The death or the serious illness of a family member or close friend is a major cause of stress.
Many people suffer stress because of their health. Common illnesses, like heart disease and high blood pressure, are a common worry. As people grow older, they become anxious about losing their eyesight or hearing. People worry about gaining weight and losing weight and about not having the time to lead a healthy lifestyle.
People become very anxious about the little problems they face every day. Difficulties getting to work on the train or the car breaking down are common causes of worry, and people spend time thinking about machines and devices around the house that have gone wrong. People have lists of tasks that are never completed, and they worry that they will never have time to relax.
People have found ways to deal with stress. Some do yoga or other forms of relaxation exercise to prevent them from becoming over-anxious, while others claim that taking part in hard physical activity helps them to work off stress. Everyone should make sure that they spend some time every day doing what makes them happy. Stress is a killer.
D Did reading the topic sentences first make the text easier to read?
Exam tip: Remember that in the Reading test, understanding the topic sentence will help you to know where to look back to find answers.
Reading 3: practise predicting from topic sentences A Read only the topic sentence highlighted in each paragraph in the text on the next page, and think about ...
• what the whole text is about. • how the text will be organized. • what supporting information will be in each paragraph.
B Read questions 1–6 and guess which paragraph the information will be found in.
C Read the text and answer all the questions. For questions 1–6, say in which paragraph the following information is found. Write the letter in the space.
1. a desire to see results ___ 3. staying in the same job ___ 5. people needing to talk ___
2. a need for change 4. people deciding for themselves
___ ___
6. managers telling workers that they are pleased ___
Pathway to IELTS 1 127
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