READING PASSAGE 2 You should spend about 20 rhinutes on Questions 1426, which are based on Reading Pasa on pages 5 and 6. STRESS LESS ig to have a short lunch; for others i How busy is too busy? For some it means sometimes havin may mean missing lunch alfogether. For afew, itis not being able to take a day off once a month. Then there is a group of people for whom working every evening and weekend is hormal, and feeling stressed is taken for granted. For most senior executives, workloads sv between extremely busy and frenzied. Neil Plumridge, vice-president of a management onsultancy company, says that his weeks vary from a ‘manageable’ 45 hours fo 80 hours, bul average 60 hours. Three signs warn Plumridge about his workload: sleep, scheduling and family, He knows he is doing too much when he gets less than six hours’ sleep for three consecutive nights, when he js constantly having fo reschedule appointments, and when he misses a family birthday or anniversary. ‘Then’, he says, "l know things are out of control". Plumridge states that stress is often caused by his having unrealistic expectations of himself. I'l promise a client that Il do Something tomorrow, and then I'll promise another client that Il do the same thing, when | know it'sinot going to happens|.could have said: "Why don't | give that to you in 48 hours?" The client wouldn't care. Over-committing is something people experience as an individual problem. However, new research indicates that people may be designed to over-commit. A study in the JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY shows that people always believe that they will be less busy in the future. This iS%@ riisaipprétiension according to the authors of the report, Gal Zauberman of the University of North Carolina and John Lynch of Duke University. ‘On average, an individual will be just as busy two Weeks or a month from now as he or she is today. But that is not how it appears in everyday life,’ they say. ‘People make commitments long in advance that they would never make if the same commitments required immediate action. They discount future time investments relatively steeply. i Being 'too busy’ is highly subjective, but for any individual there aré some concrete signs of ‘stress: disturbed sleep and declining mental and physical health are the most common examples. Figures for National Workers' Compensation (insurance against injury caused by work) show that stress causes the most lost time of any workplace injury: employees suffering stress are absent from work for an average of 16.6 weeks. The effects of stress are also expensive. The Australian Government insurer reports that in 2003-2004, claims for stress- related psychological injury accounted for 7% of insurance claims, but almost 27% of the amount paid out in claim payments. ing wit i lief - a game of golf or a massage Experts say the key to dealing with stress is not to focus on relief - a. - but fo reassess workloads. Neil Plumridge says he makes it a priority to work out what has to i fi ji it time, or changing change: that might mean allocating extra staff to a job, allowing more time, expectations. He also relies on the advice of colleagues, saying that his peers coach each other on business problems: ‘Just a fresh pair of eyes over an issue can help,’ he states. Executive stress is not confined to big organisations. Vanessa Stoykov has been running her ‘own advertising agency and public relations business for seven years. Her company has grown so fast that it appeared on the BUSINESS REVIEW WEEKLY ‘Fast 100’ list of fastest- g}*xecutive coaching, say x i }, Says that doing eciaa Pad followed by quieter times, aie ae people work best wtih nigh oN Isner's practice is based on 3 others thrive und 2 that argues that positivele! mene heae ee eee Tevchobay ae polance out negativeleinerane aetna eae challen gen eae 5 Nees such as stress; inste: on evar ele aes a ad resiience genim Elsner says that many of the senior pelle People increase their eee ingly telving more on regulating stress trough methods 2 people she coaches io research showing that meditation can alter the biochemisty atthe berate brains and bodies react to stress, ry of the brain and the way that some 92 eer ee ‘gormen ree ‘on treating job stress as an individual problem. . ty of Melbourne, says that while personality traits d effect on stress, it is systemic stressors - qualities of job roles and crpenisaons themae ea noes alee iia ey research shows that the major predictor of stress is the level Nn has. The best type of job combines challengi ith hi r i p \ging work with high autonomy. The worst jobs combine challenging work and low control. People with demanding ia utile aero ,° up to four times the probability of depression and more than double the risk of jeart attac! Questions 14-18 Look at the following statements (questions 14-18) and the list of people below. Match each statement with the correct person, A-D. Write the correct letter, A-D, imboxes 14-18 on-your answer sheet. jane NB You may use any letter more than once. List of statements 14 High-level workers tend to react positively to stress. 15 Stress levels are increased by trying to. please customers. 46 Support from other workers may releve stress. 1k is often responsible or stress: 17 Lack of independence at wo! : workloads to lessen over time. 18 Workers commonly expect theirQuestions 19 - 21 For questions 19-21, choose the correct letter A, B, C or D. Write the correct letter A-D on your answer sheet, 149 Which of the following is NOT mentioned by Neil Plumridge as an indicati workload is too heavy? lication that his A aninability to keep to his schedule, B _ inattention to family celebrations. © _allack of concentration on a task. D _ a period of insufficient sleep. 20 Which method of lessening work stress is NOT suggested by Neil Plumridge? A rethinking ideas of what can be achieved. B _ extending the deadline for completing the task. C _using more workers on a project. D) staking more time off for sport or other recreation. 21 ~ According to Jan Elsner, meditation offers a method of A taking a worker's mind off his troubles. B changing physical response to stress. ac resting more effectively. 4 D encouraging executives to take breaks. a oa Questions 22-26 r LTS Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUI eee IMBER from the passage for ea Write your answers on your answer sheet. Stress: its effects and how to reduce it Statistics on workers’ compel than for any other 22 .. stress stay away for 23 . nsation show that people take more time off work due: at work. On average, workers who take time f y This absence coi igh pri of insurance claims due to stress amount to only 24 re he thet tal tot: a much higher proportion of the Cost of claims payments, Ex : papers believe that seeking to relieve stress through physical therapies : - May be less effective than simply reviewing your 26