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Innovation in Learning

A A BUSINESS ISSUES

Stress relief
Lesson code: DF13-Z488-96AB UPPER INTERMEDIATE +

1 Warm-up
What causes people stress at work?

2 Key words
Match the following verbs to their correct definition:

1. smash something a. to break something noisily into small pieces

2. swing something b. to completely destroy something, usually a building
3. demolish something c. to hold something very tightly in a particular place
4. flinch d. to look quickly at something
5. clamp something e. to make a room or building look new again
somewhere
6. glance at something f. to make a sound as if something is being broken because it is being
pressed very hard
7. refurbish something g. to move away from something suddenly because of fear or surprise
8. crunch h. to move something with your arm from one side to the other

3 Find the information

Now read about an unusual method of relieving stress involving volunteers from Madrid, Spain. Find
out the following information.

1. Who has problems on the road?

2. Who was late for work that day?
3. Who has to deal with bad behaviour at work?
4. Who complained of lack of sleep?
5. Who has a sympathetic wife?
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Stress relief lingua house
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS ISSUES

Spaniards find smashing new way to

relieve stress

1 With a Tarzan-like scream, Pablo Varela swung his 7 "Contestants" then had their pulse, blood pressure
jackhammer into the wall of a neat hotel bedroom. and heartbeat measured by a nurse, before
A mountain of plaster fell to the floor to join a sea answering a questionnaire on what was most
of broken mirror-glass crunching under his boots. stressful in their life.
2 "I'm exhausted, but very relaxed. I've never done 8 Waiting to be tested, Angel Gutierrez, 33, spoke
anything like this before. I recommend it to calmly enough, but his knee couldn't stop shaking
anyone," he said, before laying into a marble as he described his job as a strategic consultant
bathroom. Mr Varela, 30, a teacher "with difficult for major banks. "I take two or three planes a
pupils", was among 40 volunteers who joined in week. I try to make time for my 15-month-old
the light-hearted destruction at a Madrid hotel son, and I do competitive swimming and train late
yesterday, organised by a hotel chain wanting to in the evening. I'm always running to the next
refurbish an old building - and relieve stress. thing and arriving late."
3 "We put together our need to demolish our rooms 9 Was this a satisfying life? "Oh yes. We live in an
with a government report that Madrilenos suffer accelerated city, everything's at speed. My wife
high stress levels, and invented the idea of understands. But when we have another child I'll
'roomolition'. We advertised for volunteers and have to cut down the flights."
received 1,000 applicants," said Enrique Tellecha,
a manager of NH Hotels. 10 Sergio Quintana, 31, glanced repeatedly at his two
phones and his motorcycle keys. "I work all
4 He flinched as an exploding television sent people hours, at a discotheque at night and as events
backing out of a room. "I'm surprised how manager and site location manager for big shops
enthusiastic people have been," he said. "It just in the day. I sleep five hours a night."
shows how stressed they are."
11 So why does he keep it up? "To pay the mortgage,
5 Sixty applicants chosen by psychologists crowded travel and live well. But it'll be nice to enjoy a
into the lobby for a special test to produce 40 moment of liberation."
finalists considered stressed enough to destroy a
room. The first test was to hit a life-size puppet of 12 Carlos Garcia, 32, was breathless and covered in
a boss, with a cigar clamped in its jaws, and dust. He peeled off his white overalls and checked
shout out the thing that most stressed them. his watch. "I work in a savings bank and I should
be there now," he said. "Must rush."
6 There was bitter laughter when Felix Gonzalez, a
taxi driver, accompanied his punch with a cry of Adapted from The Independent, 04 July 2007, by
"M30!" - Madrid's ring road. Elizabeth Nash
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Stress relief lingua house
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS ISSUES

4 Find the words

Find a word or phrase in the article which means...

1. A powerful, hand-held tool for drilling into hard surfaces (US English) (noun, P1)
2. a hard substance used to shape walls and ceilings (noun, P1)
3. not serious (adj., P2)
4. a toy that has the shape of a person or animal (noun, P5)
5. special trousers that are worn over regular clothes to protect them (plural noun, P12)

5 Phrasal verbs
Put the infinitive forms of the underlined phrasal verbs in the article next to their correct definition:

1. attack (someone or something) physically

2. remove (clothing)
3. maintain the same level of something
4. join the parts of something to each other
5. become involved in an activity with other people
6. do less of something
7. move backwards away from something
8. fill a place completely (about people)

6 Grammar - Reduced relative clauses

Look at the following examples from the text:

...a hotel chain wanting to refurbish an old building...

Sixty applicants chosen by psychologists crowded into the lobby...
The underlined clauses are called reduced relative clauses. They begin with the past participle
(`chosen') or -ing form (`wanting').
These clauses can be used instead of relative clauses to give information about what some-
thing/someone does (-ing clauses), e.g. `a hotel chain wanting to refurbish an old building' (= `a
hotel chain that wanted to refurbish an old building') or about what is done to something/someone
(past participle clauses), e.g. `Sixty applicants chosen by psychologists' (= `Sixty applicants
who were chosen by psychologists').

Find another example of each type of reduced relative clause from the text.
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Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS ISSUES

7 Grammar practice 1
Complete the sentences using the following verbs in the `-ing' or `-ed' form:

belong convict cover develop feature

invite shout call wait work

1. Someone called Dalia Jones rang while you were at the meeting.
2. Out of 50 people to the party, only 25 showed up.
3. Did you see that strange man aggressively in the street?
4. There were five candidates to be interviewed for the assistant manager position.
5. Rescue workers found a suitcase to one of the victims of the plane crash.
6. The musician released an album all his greatest hits.
7. The new product, by the company's R&D department after 10 years of research,
began to dominate the market.
8. The directors decided to hold a board meeting a variety of important issues.
9. At 8 o'clock in the evening, the office was completely empty apart from Jack hard to
meet a deadline.
10. The accountant of fraud was sent to prison for five years.

8 Grammar practice 2
Make one sentence from two using either an `-ing clause' or an `-ed clause' to give information about
the words in bold.

Example: The sales representative had an interesting surname. It began with `D'.
The sales representative had an interesting surname beginning with `D'.
1. I bought a new pair of shoes. They were made in Italy.
2. She wants to book a room. It must overlook the sea.
3. The new marketing strategy was discussed at yesterday's meeting. Can you tell me about it?
4. The building was destroyed by the fire. Did they rebuild it?
5. Go straight ahead and you will arrive at a small road. The road leads to his house.
6. You might receive certain emails that claim to be from your bank. Beware of them.
7. Samuel works for a multinational corporation. It was established over 50 years ago.
8. We are a diversified consultancy agency. We employ over 200 dedicated professionals.
9. A new film is going to be released in the cinema next week. It's called `Sunny Days'
10. On my street there's a wonderful new restaurant. It serves Italian food.

9 Talking point
What do you think of the method of stress relief described in the article? What other methods are
effective? How do you deal with stress in your work?
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Stress relief - Key lingua house
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS ISSUES

1- Warm-up

Brainstorm ideas, e.g. unrealistic deadlines, dealing with difficult customers, heavy workloads, etc.

2- Key words

Physically demonstrate some of the definitions where necessary.

1. a 2. h 3. b 4. g 5. c 6. d 7. e 8. f

3- Find the information

1. Felix Gonzalez 2. Carlos Garcia 3. Pablo Varela 4. Sergio Quintana 5. Angel Gutierrez

4- Find the words

1. jackhammer 2. plaster 3. light-hearted 4. puppet 5. overalls

5- Phrasal verbs

1. lay into 2. peel off 3. keep up 4. put together

5. join in 6. cut down 7. back out 8. crowd into

6- Grammar - Reduced relative clauses

Point out that in `-ing clauses', verbs which are not normally used in the continuous form can be used in the -ing
form (e.g. wanting).

-ing clause:...a sea of broken mirror-glass crunching beneath his boots

past participle clause: 40 finalists considered stressed enough to destroy a room..

7- Grammar practice 1

1. - 2. invited 3. shouting 4. waiting 5. belonging

6. featuring 7. developed 8. covering 9. working 10. convicted

8- Grammar practice 2

1. I bought a new pair of shoes made in Italy.

2. She wants to book a room overlooking the sea.
3. Can you tell me about the new marketing strategy discussed at yesterday's meeting?
4. Did they rebuild that building destroyed by the fire?
5. Go straight ahead and you will arrive at a small road leading to his house.
6. Beware of certain emails you might receive claiming to be from your bank.
7. Samuel works for a multinational corporation established over 50 years ago.
8. We are a diversified consultancy agency employing over 200 dedicated professionals.
9. A new film called `Sunny Days' is going to be released in the cinema next week.
10. On my street there's a wonderful new restaurant serving Italian food.
LE

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