You've got to take control to be in control

For every stress there's a positive side and negative side. Stress can come from good things and bad things, big pressures and small, but most often it comes from feeling overwhelmed. As someone who runs a business and travels every week, I know that the management is stress management. If your life is organized, you'll sleep better, feel in control and accomplish more.

Keep note pads everywhere - by each phone, in your handbag, in your car. Visualize your day each morning, focusing on what you must achieve, might achieve and don't have to achieve. Listing your priorities is key to reducing stress.

Stress management

Studies indicate that people who internalize high levels of stress are at great risk of developing heart disease, ulcers, some forms of cancer. We all have lots of stress, but it's how we react to it that counts.

The best advice would be: Focus on the solution, not the problem. If stress is something within your control, then cope with it to overcome and - possibly solve it. With practice, stress management is a disciple anyone can master by turning negative reactions towards stress into positive, productive ones.

Some typical negative responses and their solutions:

Frantic. You have so much to do you don't know where to start. Positive reaction: Go somewhere quiet and make a list of priorities, putting what's dispensable aside.

Money Problems. Put your abstract worry ("We're spending too much") on paper. Make a budget and be firm with yourself and your family about doing what's necessary to live within your means.

Paralyzed with Fear. Too scared to seek a new job, face a deadline - ask someone to listen.

Bad Moods. Exercise hard to "pump" them away, then stretch out to relax.

Overeating. Don't dwell on it. Exercise, then resume your diet.

Setting Priorities

Fact: There is never enough time for everything. And some things - that extra cocktail party, etc. - will have to go. Concentrate on your priorities for optimum health, minimum stress, maximum efficiency. My priorities are:

Health. I keep up with health news. I see that my family and I eat and live right. Health comes first, because it determines everything else.

Sleep. Prolonged lack of sleep can weaken the immune system, even prevent the body from warding off colds and flu. If you can't get enough, learn to catnap - catching 15 minutes here, half an hour there: just before dinner, during a train ride, anytime.

Exercise. For every half hour you exercise, you have about two extra hours energy. It organizes the mind, orders the thought process and makes you strong.

Work. Every person should keep his work on a schedule. If you love your work be grateful for it. If not, do it diligently while looking for something better. And learn that work isn't everything.

Fun. A giggle with a friend dissolves worries like nothing else. If fun is what's missing in your life, than life is what you're missing.

Living for the Health

Health is never a "side dish" to the meal of life, it is the meal. Everything starts with health, and everything comes back to it. And you are in charge.

Vocabulary:

to be in control - керувати, контролювати

overwhelmed - пригнічений

to run - керувати

to accomplish - досягати

to reduce - зменшувати, послаблювати

to internalize - робити емоції частиною себе

ulcer - мед. виразка

cancer - мед. рак

to count - мати значення

solution - розв'язання

to cope - справлятися

to overcome - подолати

response - реакція

frantic - шалений; перен. запарка

dispensable - необов'язковий

firm - стійкий, рішучий

means - достатки

deadline - крайній строк

to pump away - тут виганяти

don't dwell on it - кинь про це думати

to resume - продовжувати

efficiency - ефективність

to keep up - бути в курсі

prolonged - тривалий

catnap - сон уривками

schedule - розклад, графік

diligently - старанно

giggle - хихотіння

 

Questions:

1. What are the reasons for stress?

2. Prove that listing your priorities is key to reducing stress.

3. How do you understand "stress management"?

4. Why should we concentrate on our priorities? Name some of them.

5. Can you suggest any other means of coping with stress?

6. Do you agree that health is the meal of life?

7. What is your own recipe for stress management?

 

Text 11

SAILING THROUGH THE BLUES

To understand why someone becomes an optimist or a pessimist, it helps to understand what distinguishes them. Say you crash your car. Do you expect good things to happen after the accident - an easy recuperation, a fat check from your insurer? Or do you worry that your neck will hurt forever?

Optimistic people tend to feel that bad thing s won't last long and won't affect other parts of life. Pessimists tend to believe one negative incident will last and undermine everything else in their lives.

Also important, researches say, is the story you construct about why things happen - your explanatory style. Optimists believe that bad events have temporary causes - "The boss is in a bad mood." Pessimists believe the cause is permanent - "The boss is a jerk."

Positive thinkers feel powerful. Negative thinkers feel helpless because they have learned to believe they're doomed, no matter what.

Such learned helplessness takes a huge toll on health. Studies show that optimists are better at coping with the distress associated with everything from menopause to heart surgery. Furthermore, scientists discovered that optimists have more disease-fighting T cells. Pessimists also don't believe in preventive care. Not surprisingly, positive thinkers live longer.

Experts say that optimism is a habit of thinking. Practice and it becomes as automatic as blinking. They suggest the following strategies.

Dispute your feelings. Martin Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, favours a technique in which you learn to monitor and argue against the poisonous messages you give yourself. Foe example:

Adversity: Your ideas are not well received at a meeting at work.

Pessimistic Conclusion: "I'm an idiot."

Imagined Consequences: "I'm going to keep my mouth shut at the next meeting - assuming I'm not fired first."

Disputation: "I'm blowing this out of proportion.* wasn’t I the star of the previous meeting?"

New Outcome: "One mediocre meeting doesn't destroy a career."

Teach yourself a lesson. Psychologist Karen Shanor, author of "The Emerging Mind", says try to find something positive in a sad situation - a job dismissal, say - by figuring out what you gained from the experience. Ask yourself, what does getting fired tell me about myself? Maybe you weren't interested in your work, and spending time with your children has become your top priority. Try to learn from the negatives without dwelling on them.

Interrupt negative thoughts. Force yourself to think about something else. Say you're stuck in traffic. Before you give in to moping, relive a favorite memory or make a mental list of people to invite to a party.

Set realistic goals. Make chores specific ant manageable - instead of "clean the garage", try "put away tools" and "move boxes". Break down larger goals in the same way - "have more fun" might become "go to the movies every week".

Be good to yourself. Treating yourself to the things you love, says Greg Hicks, co-author of "How We Choose to Be Happy", is essential to maintaining a sense of internal happiness his suggestion is to write down everything that brings you pleasure - displaying freshly cut flowers, reading the newspaper over coffee. Do at least one thing on your list every day.

Dig for silver. Personal coach Cheryl Richardson, author of "Life Makeovers", has a trick for training yourself recognize silver linings:** in a journal, describe at least one positive thing that happens every day. Even something as simple as preparing a nice lunch is worth noting.

Fake it. Smiling when you are down makes you feel better, researchers say. "Project the mood that you want to get back", says Dr. Susan C. Vaughan, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City. "Never underestimate how contagious moods are between people. Often others will react and be nice back to you".

 

Notes:

*I'm blowing this out of proportion - я це занадто роздуваю

**silver linings - скор. від every cloud has its silver lining - і у поганому можна знайти хороше

Vocabulary:

to sail through the blues - подолати нудьгу

to distinguish - відрізняти

recuperation - видужання

insurer - страховик

to undermine - шкодити

temporary - тимчасовий

jerk - розм. нікчема

doomed - приречений

to take toll - завдавати шкоди

cell - клітина

preventive - профілактичний

blinking - моргання

to monitor - радити; наставляти

to argue against - наводити докази проти

poisonous - згубний

adversity - невезіння

to fire - звільняти

outcome - результат

mediocre - бездарний

dismissal - звільнення (з роботи)

moping - нудьга

to relieve - оживити у пам'ті

chores - робота по дому

essential - необхідний

to fake - удавати

to be down - бути пригніченим

to project - жваво удавати

contagious - заразливий

 

Questions:

1. What are the characteristics of optimists and pessimists?

2. Why do positive thinkers live longer?

3. Do you agree that optimism is a habit of thinking and can become as automatic as blinking by practicing?

4. Comment on the strategies to become an optimist.

5. Are you an optimist or a pessimist?

 

Text 12

BRAIN

1. Read the following text consulting a dictionary where necessary.

 

Try these easy tricks for keeping things in your head.

Your brain is like а muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. And because remembering is such а big part of your brain's job, you can strengthen your memory too.

Here are some easy tricks you can use to help you remember anything, from football plays to shopping lists to information on tests at school.

 

Build Chain Links

Chain links are memory tricks in which you link the unfamiliar with something familiar. One type is an acronym, а word made up of the first letters of other words. For example, to recall the names of the Great Lakes - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior - just remember the word "homes". It has the first letter of each lake.

Rhyming is another helpful chain link tool. You can make up your own rhymes to recall those hard-to-remember facts. For example, to remember the capital of Texas, just think, "I got lost in Austin."

 

Use Peg Words

When you have to remember а list of words, create а set of rhyming words to associate with your list. These words will serve as mental pegs on which to hang the words on your list.

First make the pegs: Number one might be а ton because it rhymes with one... two а shoe... three а tree, and so on. Now, when you must remember а set of items, think of some sort of image to match your item to the peg word.

Let's say you're shopping for а patrol hike and the first item to buy is apples. Picture а ton of apples. If hot chocolate is second on your list, visualize а shoe, for two, stepping into а puddle of hot chocolate. Crackers next? Picture а tree with crackers for leaves. The wackier you make the picture, the easier the item will be to remember.

 

Read and Remember

To get an А in history class, you have to remember what you read in that thick textbook. Cramming the night before а test rarely works. Here's one method suggested by Ron Fry, author of а set of how-to-study books, including "Improve Your Memory":

- Skim pages to get the general idea of the chapter.

- Go back and read the text carefully. Take notes on important parts. just the act of writing notes will help you remember.

- Review notes. Come up with questions you think will be on your test - and make sure you know the answers.

 

Study in Your Sleep

А good night's sleep can help you remember what you learned the day before. Experiments have found that students who sleep after studying recall more information than students who stay up all night studying. Other experiments have found dreaming may cement information into your memory.

 

Jog Your Memory

Playing basketball, running or swimming may make you smarter. Any kind of exercise sends more blood, oxygen and glucose, your body's fuel, to the brain. Studies show that people who exercise remember more than people who don't exercise.

O.К., so you're going to give these tricks а try, but you're still nervous about that big history test. What to do? Start studying. Don't wait until the last minute. You’ll remember more if you learn а little at а time rather than during а weekend of cramming. One more thing: Relax. You’ll do just fine.

 

From “Boys’ life”

            

 

2. Compose a short plan for retelling.

3. Retell the text according to your plan.

4. Write 10 incomplete statements according to the content of the text. Ask your partner to complete the sentences by choosing the answer that he/she thinks fits best.

5. Put 10 questions to the text. Write them down on a separate sheet of paper.

6. Work in pairs. Ask your partner the questions you have written. Listen to his/her answers.Do you agree with them? If not, prove your point of view. Trade roles.

 

Text 13

CAN BOYS DO BETTER?

1. Read the text using a dictionary.

The gap between high-flying girls and under-achieving boys is growing, and head teachers in British secondary schools are worried. Girls already do better than boys in every GCSE subject except Science, and generally out- perform them at А-level.

"А typical 13-year old boy can concentrate for four or five minutes while а girl of the same age can concentrate for 15 minutes", said Peter Downes, author of а hand book for schools called Can Boys Do Better? Boys evidently become disheartened when they see girls doing better than them and just switch off. "Some just go quietly to sleep and go on for аll subjects up to age 14, and for core subjects (like English, Maths and Science) up to GCSE.

People use to worry that girls were disadvantaged by being in the same class as boys. Now, it seems, it is boys who are the cause of concern.

 

2. Try to remember the following words:

high-flying	честолюбний
under-achieving	який вчиться нижче своїх можливостей
out- perform	устигати краще
A-level	Advanced level
GCSE	General Certificate of Secondary Education

 

3. Write 8 true and false sentences according to the content of the text.In turns read those sentences to the group and ask your fellow-students to decide whether they are right or wrong.

4. Compose a short plan for retelling.

5. Retell the text according to your plan.

 

Text 14

STUDENT LIFE

1. Read the following text and compose a sort plan for retelling.

The popular image of student life is of young people with few responsibilities enjoying themselves and doing very little work. This is often not true. Many older people now study at col1ege or university, sometimes on а part-time basis while having а job and looking after а family. These students are often highly motivated and work very hard.

Younger students are often thought to be lazy and careless about money but this situation is changing. In Britain reduced government support for higher education means that students can no longer rely on having their expenses paid for them. Formerly, students received а grant towards their living expenses. Now most can only get а loan which has to be paid back. From 1999 they also have to pay Ј1 000 towards tuition fees. In the US students have to pay for tuition and room and board. Many get financial aid package which may include grants, scholarships and loans. The fear of having large debts places considerable pressure on students and many take part-time jobs during the term and work full-time in the vacations.

Many students in Britain go to а university away from their home town. They usually live in а hall of residence for their first year, and then move into digs (=а rented room in а private house) or share а house with other students. They may go back home during vacations, but after they graduate most leave home for good. In the US too, many students attend colleges some distance from where their parents live. They may live on campus in one of the dorms (=halls), or off campus in apartments and houses which they share with housemates. Some students, especially at larger universities, join а fraternity or sorority, а social group usually with its own house near the campus. Fraternities and sororities often have names which are combinations of two or three letters of the Greek alphabet. Some people do not have а good opinion of them because they think that students who are members spend too much time -having parties. Many US colleges and universities encourage an atmosphere of political correctness to try to help students get on together.

In Britain the interests of students are represented by а range of societies, clubs and social activities including sports, drama and politics. One of the highlights (=main events) of the year is rag week, а week of parties and fund-raising activities in support of various charities.

Especially in their first year, US students spend а lot of time on social activities. One of the most important celebrations, especially at universities which place а lot of emphasis on sports, is homecoming. Many alumni (=former students) return to their alma mater (=college) for а weekend in the autumn to watch а foot-ball game. During homecoming weekend there are also parties and dances, and usually а parade.

When social activities take up too much time, students skip lectures (=miss them) or cut class (АmЕ) and take incompletes (АmЕ), which means they have to finish their work after the vacation. In the us this has the effect of lowering their course grades, but most US universities expect this behavior from students and do little to stop it. Students are thought to be old enough to make their own decisions about how hard they work and to accept the consequences. А few students drop out (АmЕ flunk out) but the majority try hard to get good grades and а good degree.

 

From “A Guide of British and American Culture”

 

2. Try to remember the following words:

grant	дотація, субсидія
loan	позика
tuition free	плата за навчання
board	харчування
financial aid package	грошова допомога
debt	борг
hail of residence	гуртожиток
for good	назавжди
campus	територія університету
fraternity	студентське земляцтво
sorority	жіноче земляцтво
rag	раг, студентський похід (по вулицях унiверситетськоro міста з виступами самодіяльності; проводиться раз на piк для збору пожертвувань з блаroдiйною метою)
homecoming	університетський вечір за участю колишніх випускників
to skip lecture	пропускати заняття
to drop out	виключати

 

3. Give the Ukrainian equivalents for the following words and word combinations.

Responsibility – __________________________________________

to reduce government support – _____________________________

to pay for tuition – ________________________________________

to get financial aid package – _______________________________

to take part- time jobs – ____________________________________

to live on campus – _______________________________________

a hall of residence – ______________________________________

4. Write out the most important 15 sentences from the text on a separate sheet of paper. Cut your paper into 15 pieces so that each piece should contain one sentence. Mix them and ask your partner to put the sentences into the correct order to make a summary of the text. Trade roles.

5. Compose a short plan for retelling.

6. This time you have to retell the text you have read according to your partner’s plan.

 

Text 15

CAMBRIDGE TRADITIONS

1. Study the following text.

Alison Richard squeals when I ask about а photograph that apparently shows her scrambling onto the bonnet of Harold Wilson's car. The year was 1967 and she was а young anthropology student at Newnham College, Cambridge, taking part in а demonstration against involvement in the Vietnam War. The then prime minister was on а visit to the city.

"That wasn't me! I never wore an anorak with а hood. I had long, dark hair. That's а man in that photo... And I wasn't the first onto that car – I wasn't that radical," she protests.

In October Professor Richard, 54, started her job as the first female vice-chancellor with full executive powers in Cambridge's history.

Perhaps surprisingly, she recently revealed details of her protester's past to the university newsletter; fondly reminiscing about а policeman carefully grabbing her knees, lowering her from the car and putting her on the pavement.

She may have become part of the Establishment but the radical bent of the Kent-born academic remains. While many vice-chancellors are champing at the bit to start charging students tuition fees of up to Ј3,000 а year, Richard – who took а pay cut from her previous job as provost at Yale to come to Cambridge - is more cautious. She won't support the government's proposal right now; although Yale charges а lot more – around Ј24, 000 for а degree.

Her bottom line is that if charging higher fees stops poor students coming to Cambridge then she won't agree that the university should do it. But she could be persuaded if the university can afford to cover the fees of all poor students with а bursary scheme.

So, one of the first tasks she has set herself is to work out whether Cambridge can afford а bursary scheme that would pay for every single bright student who is offered а place but would otherwise lack the money to come.

Richard acknowledges that а lot more money needs to find its way into the university coffers if Cambridge - with а deficit of Ј 10m - is to remain а "great" university. She wants to pay dons more, too, saying academic life is "too close to а vow of poverty". But charging students and their families three times as much as they pay now for а degree course may not be the best way forward.

"It is а moral imperative that this university should be open to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay," she insists.

Somewhere in а Cambridge backroom computers are silently doing the sums. How much does the university already pay for bursaries? How many students will need them? And what if the sums don't add up? "We wil1 have to rethink."

You get the feeling that near the top of her to-do list is making sure that Cambridge carries on being the "social escalator" she says it has been in the past few years - offering children from modest backgrounds and mediocre schools the route to а glittering life.

So what then about the question all universities are being posed: should Cambridge make lower admissions offers to such students than it makes to pupils who have been tutored at some of the country's top private schools?

Richard neatly sidesteps that one, though she does admit that there is an "intense" debate about admissions going on within the colleges. Last year, she points out, there were three times more applicants with three As at A-level than Cambridge had places for.

While A-levels will remain an "important" part of how dons choose students, she says the colleges are discussing "what other pieces of information might be usefully added to а student's file so that we can take every opportunity to assess а student's talents". Nonetheless, she says "academic excellence" will remain the main criterion for entry in any new admissions system.

The Cambridge tradition of interviewing most candidates, she predicts, will stay - despite criticism of its objectivity. But she is skeptical about US-style Scholastic Aptitude Tests (Sats), which are supposed to measure natural talent but for which students can be coached. Cambridge is piloting its own version of Sats but the Thinking Skills Assessment-is still under review, being mailed on sixth-formers and first-year undergraduates.

 

From “The Sunday Times”

 

2. Study the following words and word combinations and try to remember them.

fees	pl; плата за навчання
rebel	бунтівник
to squeal	розм. протестувати
to scramble	видиратися
bonnet	капот
vice-chancellor	віце-канцлер
executive power	виконавча влада
to reminisce	розм. згадувати
to grab	хапати
bent	схильність
to champ at the bit	проявляти нетерпіння
to charge	брати плату
provost	ректор
cautious	обачний; обережний
bottom	суть, основа
to persuade	переконувати
bursary	стипендія
to acknowledge	визнавати
coffers	казна
don	викладач (в Оксфорді i Кембриджі)
vow of poverty	обітниця убозтва
imperative	веління, настійна вимога
mediocre	звичайний
admission	прийняття
applicant	абітурієнт
to assess	оцінювати
to predict	пророкувати
aptitude	кмітливість
to coach	розм. готувати (до іспитів)
to pilot	розробляти

 

3. Put 10 questions to the text. Write them down on a separate sheet of paper.

4. Work in pairs. Ask your partner the questions you have written. Listen to his/ her answers. Do you agree with them? If not, prove your point of view.

5. Work in groups. You have 15 minutes to write a short summary of the text. When you finished, read the text.When you finished, read your story to another group.

 

Text 16

FIFTYSOMETHINGS BATTLE

TО BALANCE WORK AND FAMILY

1. Read the text below. Think about the people and the situation.

It is not only thirtysomethings who find it difficult to juggle their home and work lives. People in their fifties and sixties are increasingly becoming trapped in а "care sandwich", answering the demands of their own ageing parents and their children and grandchildren while trying to pursue а career.

Many of them suffer as а result, experiencing tiredness, ill-health and lack of leisure, as well as missing out on opportunities for promotion, according to а new study.

June Statham, co-author of the report, which was published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said that the declining number of young people in the population would increase pressure for older workers to remain in paid employment. This in turn would mean that fewer grandparents would be available to look after their grandchildren.

"Staff over 50 can increasingly expect to find themselves pressurized between employers who want them to stay on, working longer hours, and growing pressure to care informally for grandchildren, their own elderly parents, or both," she said.

The report, which surveyed more than 1,000 over-fifties, found that two thirds were in paid employment, six out of ten had living parents and а third had grandchildren. One in three looked after an elderly relative or friend, one in six provided care for а grandchild and one in ten did both.

Few of the employees interviewed wanted to give up their jobs to take on caring responsibilities, although some grandparents were prepared to do so, or to reduce their hours, to look after their grandchildren. Many said their caring role gave them sense of satisfaction, but almost half said that it had made their life more stressful. А third said that it left them with less time for their families and themselves.

Flexible or reduced working hours care top of the list of the workplace policies that employees thought would help them find а better balance.

Ann Mooney, another co-author of the report, said that many older workers realized that giving up working time to provide informal care would affect their pension entitlements, as well as costing them short-term income. The main price of care, however, was perceived in terms of lost personal time and poor health rather than money.

Researchers at the Institute of Education's Thomas Coram Research Unit, who carried out the study, combined an analysis of national labor force trends with а survey of more than 1,000employees aged over 50 and recently retired staff from local authorities in two contrasting areas.

 

2. Read and try to remember the following words.

fiftysomethings	люди у віці від 50 до 59 років
to battle	боротися, намагатися
to juggle	маніпулювати
increasingly	все більше i більше
to trap	ловити капканом
demand	вимога
ageing	що старішає
to pursue	продовжувати
lack	брак, відсутність
miss out an opportunity	втрачати шанс, сприятливу можливість
promotion	просування по службі
declining	що зменшується, скорочується
available	наявний, придатний
provide care	доглядати (хворого)
flexible	гнучкий; вільний(про графік)
to come top	очолювати
entitlement	право (на пенсію, допомогу)
income	прибуток, заробіток
to perceive	сприйматися, відчуватися

 

3. Discuss the information you have learned from the text with your fellow-students.

4. What do you think the writer’s main points are?

5. Now complete the statements by choosing the answer from the text you have finished.

a) People in their fifties and sixties are increasingly becoming _______________________________________________

b) Few of the employees interviewed wanted to ___________ _______________________________________________

c) Many said their caring role gave them sense of__________ _______________________________________________

d) Flexible or reduced working hours care top of the list of the workplace policies that employees thought would help them _______________________________________________

e) The main price of care, however, was perceived in terms of lost personal time and _____________________________ _______________________________________________.

 

Text 17

YOU AND YOUR HANDWRITING

1. Read the following text and underline the most important sentences.

Size

The size of а person’s handwriting symbolizes the person's assessment of hil11 or herself. The average of "normal" size of а smaller letter is 3 mm. Larger letters may indicate such positive characteristics as seriousness, pride in one's work and generosity, or they may indicate negative characteristics such as arrogance, conceit and boastfu1ness. The positive aspects of а small script are devotion, humility and tolerance. Alternatively it can mean shyness, lack of self-confidence, fear or faint-heatedness.

Slant

Writing that slants to the right shows an extroverted and outward going personality which, in its positive aspects, is active, friendly and sympathetic but might also be restless, hasty or even hysterical. An upright script indicates а self-sufficient and reserved nature; the head rules the heart, occasionally to such an extent that the writer may be accused of rigidity and coldness. А left-sloping script with an angle of less than 85 degrees can be interpreted to mean self-control. When the slope is less thaI1 60 degrees, it can mean shyness, withdrawal or fear of the future.

Width and narrowness

In normal writing the distance between the down-strokes of small letters is equal to the height. Wide writing indicates а warm and vivacious person, whereas narrow writing shows timidity and perhaps inhibition in personal relationships.

Connectedness

When four or more letters are written with one stroke the writing is considered to be connected. Breaks for dotting 'i's and crossing’t’s do not count. It generally means а co-operative nature, but can mean over-adaptability and а tendency to follow the crowd.

In disconnected script, less than four letters are written with one stroke of the pen. It tends to mean an intuitive, self-reliant and individualistic personality. The negative aspects of such characteristics are egocentricity, inconsistency or loneliness.

Directness of lines

Does your writing slope upwards? This may mean you are an ambitious and optimistic person, or alternatively that you often lose your temper or are rather frivolous. If your writing slopes downwards over the page it indicates а pessimistic and over- sensitive nature. But take heart! The direction of the lines is one of the least permanent aspects of our writing and probably only reveals а passing mood.

Loops

Full round loops in the upper zone of the writing ('fs, 'I's, etc.) mean vision, imagination and colorful speech. An absence of loops indicates an analytical mind and strong moral tendencies. Loops in the lower zone tend to indicate erotic fantasies and behavior sensuousness, materialism and country interests. Small loops - or no loops at all - show а business mind and realism, but sometimes also pessimism and an obsession with money.

Signatures

Signatures are significant in as much as they differ in size from the rest of the text. А much larger signature shows а person who has an overblown opinion of him or herself. А much smaller signature indicates а shy and retiring personality. Differences of size, angle and width between the Christian name and the family name symbolize relationship between the writer and his or her family.

А number of studies on handwriting have shown that even somebody with no training in graphology whatever has more than chance success in detecting the sex of the writer.

 

2. Work in pairs. Tell your partner why you have chosen those sentences.Give your reasons.

3. Learn the words and phrases by heart.

                      

arrogance	зарозумілість
conceit	пиха, гонор
humility	покірливість, скромність
faintheartedness	малодушність
slant	нахил
outward going	відвертий, щирий
self-sufficient	самовпевнений
rigidity	жорстокість, суворість
to slope	мати нахил
withdrawal	замкнутість
stroke	мах, рух
vivacious	жвавий
inhibition	стримування
co-operative	готовий прийти на допомогу
self-reliant	упевнений
inconsistency	непослідовність
temper	настрій
frivolous	легковажний
Take heart!	кріпиться!
loop	петля
obsession	одержимість
overblown	надмірно завищений
retiring	схильний до усамітнення

4. Work in pairs. Discuss the information you have learned from the text above with your partner.

5. Write out the most important 10 sentences from the text on a separate sheet of paper. Cut your paper into 10 pieces so that each piece should contain one sentence. Mix them and ask your partner to put the sentences into the correct order to make a summary of the article. Trade roles.

6. Compose a short plan for retelling.

7. Retell the text according to your plan.

 

 

Text 18

КЕЕР ANGER UNDER CONTROL

1. Read the text and make notes on the topics discussed. Compare your notes with a partner.

We all realize that anger is harmful to our children and most parents try their hardest to keep anger under control. But in most instances, the capacity to restrain anger is limited, and parents suddenly become overwhelmed by it. Anger is а tremendous weight and some time or the other we get crushed by it - it becomes too heavy. Then anger strikes hard in spite of every good intention, parents scream and yell at those to whom they have devoted all their interest and love.

Anger is not merely а misdemeanour but а crime. In the average home there's always the probability of а sudden f1are-up when tempers let loose. Tensions are bound to burst at some time or the other. What's requires are very definite methods and procedures that will reduce tension and therefore avoid flare-ups.

We have to accept the fact that whatever the circumstances а time will certainly come when а child will make us angry. So we just have to make а definite plan to study the reasons for such tensions and then work things out in such а manner that such tensions do not arise. This is too important а matter to leave to chance.

Don't mothers loose her temper. In the heat of the moment she said things which would never have been said in an atmosphere of calm and quiet.

The first step in handling your anger or your feelings is to say them aloud. Just say that you are angry. Identify the reason for your anger. Just that. No general statements about what you think about people and their characteristics: such as how lazy, selfish and thoughtless people are. If you just do this, the chances are that а flare-up and its awful time-consuming aftermath will be avoided.

 

From "Children: How to Manage Them"

 

2. Try to remember the following words:

harmful	шкідливий
to try one's hardest	старатися з усіх сил
to restrain	стримувати
to overwhelm	охопити, переповняти (про почуття)
to crush	розчавити
to scream	верещати
to yell	волати
merely	просто
misdemeanor	погана поведінка
flare-up	спалах
temper	характер, норов
to loose	давати волю, розпускати
bound	неодмінний, обов'язковий
to burst	вибухати
to leave to а chance	покладатись на волю випадку
in the heat of the moment	згарячу
thoughtless	дурний, нерозумний

 

3. Compose dialogues on the situations described in the text.

4. Compose a short plan of the article. Exchange your plans with the partner.

5. Retell the text according to your plan.

 

 

Text 19

How to manage children

1. Read and translate the text.

Bribes

А bribe is useless when dealing with children. It only encourages them to do something for а short while; it will never inspire them to long-term efforts. The very wording of а bribe - "If you do this...” implies that we do not expect the child to do it on а long-term basis but only till the cake is eaten. After that the probability is that he will s1ip back to his usual pattern. Instead of а bribe why not try а gift, showing appreciation of effort and of work we11 done. This can be very rewarding.

Making Promises

Relations with children should be based on trust. It's entirely wrong to make promises to children or demand promises from them. It implies that they will only do things properly after they have given а promise.  In fact, it encourages children to behave badly if they have not given а promise. Promises, like bribes, are а bad way of dealing with children on а long-term basis.

Sarcasm

"It's surprising that you have а head on your shoulders. It hasn't fallen off. You seem to forget everything. You'll even forget to wake up one morning."

Much more than а direct rebuke, sarcasm infuriates children. It makes them completely irrational and they direct all their energies to planning counter-attacks. They will be completely preoccupied with revenge fantasies. Sarcasm not only serves to deflate а child's-standing in his own eyes but in the eyes of his friends as well.

Shouting as bad as smacking children

Shouting at children can be as harmful as smacking them because it dents their self-esteem and causes feelings of insecurity.

An eight-year study of nursery age children in Denmark found that they saw little difference between verbal and physical violence. The majority of youngsters said they frequently felt adults were angry with them long after they had finished shouting. Children often felt upset even when parents and teachers did not think they had raised their voices.

Erik Sigsgaard, of the Danish Centre for Research in Institutions, who conducted the research, said punishing children was wrong because it damaged their self-respect. He advised parents to discipline children in а normal voice

To the average child his parents are kill-joys. They are always saying "No". No getting dirty, no jumping on the sofa, no running around naked, no hitting the little sister... It's difficult to draw the line but wise parents must try, in as many ways as they can, to show their child that they are not kill-joys.

May be а sweet brought out of the pocket; the sudden flourish of а new toy or а rattle; the making of а comic face... There are many other such touches that would help to show the child that his parent is human and likes а bit of fun.

 

From "Children: How to Manage Them"

 

2. Work in pairs. Discuss the information you have learned from the text with your partner.

3. Learn the words by heart:

Bribe	хабар, підкуп
to deal	мати справу (з кимось)
to encourage	заохочувати
to inspire	надихати
wording	формулювання
to imply	мати на думці
to slip back	поступово повернутись
pattern	манера поведінки
appreciation	висока оцінка
rewarding	корисний
trust	довіра
properly	як слід
you seem to forget	здається, ти забув
rebuke	докір
to infuriate	розлючувати
irrational	нерозсудливий
preoccupied	захоплений (думками)
revenge	помста
to deflate one's standing	принижувати. свою гідність
smack	ляскати, шльопати
dent	тут: пригнічувати
self-esteem	почуття власної гідності
kill-joy	буркотун
naked	голий
to draw the line	установити межу дозволеного
to bring out	виймати
flourish	замах
Touch	штрих

 

4. Ask your partner s opinion on the questions touched upon in the article.

5. What do you think the writer s main points are? Do you agree with him?

 

Text 20