Using points and examples from the lecture, explain the differences between two types of stress.

Task 6: Independent Speaking

Professor (M): Today we’ll discuss something everyone’s familiar with: stress. Stress is a normal physical response of the body to situation that we perceive as dangerous, threatening, or frightening. Now stress is something we talk about casually all the time, and we usually think of it as negative, but stress can also be positive.

Let’s first talk about how stress can be positive. Stress can increase a person’s physical strength, but only-and this is important- only if it doesn’t last too long. So how dose stress increase physical strength? Well, stress causes certain physical reactions like elevated blood pressure and increased heart rate. And when this happens, when your blood pressure rises and your heart beats faster, more blood gets pumped to your muscles. This can help your muscles perform more efficiently in the short term, give them extra strength. Athletes know this. For example, the stress that competitive runners feel right before a big race can give them the strength to run the race faster. Which is obviously a good thing.

But stress can be negative, especially in the long term- if it continues a long time. The same physical reactions I just mentioned can cause problems if they last too long-problems like anxiety-and this can make it harder to do your job well. Doctors who work in emergency rooms have to watch out the effects of long-term stress. All day long they’re responding to medical emergencies that produce stress reaction in them-in the doctors. And if the stress is constant, if it continues week after week, doctors can end up feeling exhausted.. burn out. It’s very hard to do your job if you feel that way.