«Stress in our everyday life» (Стресс в повседневной жизни людей), 11 класс
план-конспект урока по английскому языку на тему

Get stressed, stay young! Lesson plan.

1) Do you think modern people live under a lot of stress? Can some stress have a positive effect on our life?

Wordlist:

1. cell
2. illness
3. disease
4. strengthen
5. beneficial
6. chronic
7. muscle
8. harmful
9. get stuck
10. long-term
11. claim
12. self-repair
13. redecorate
14. moderate
15. alternative medicine
16. acupuncture
17. hypochondriac
18. diagnosis
19. deadline
20. cut down

2) In this lesson you will:

• revise the vocabulary of medical words;
• improve reading and listening skills through the text «Get stressed, stayyoung»;
• discuss the role of stress nowadays, its advantages and disadvantages;
• revise Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Continuous;
• roleplay doctor-patient situations.

3) Ask and answer the questions:

1. /drink much water? How many glasses / drink today?
2. /do any physical exercise? What? How long / do it?
3. /eat a lot of fruit and vegetables? How many portions / have today?
4. /walk to school/work/university? How far / walk today?
5. /smoke? How long / smoke? How many cigarettes / have today?
6. /take any vitamins at the moment? How long / take them?
7. How many hours / sleep a night? sleep well recently?
8. /allergic to anything? /ever have a serious allergic reaction?

Today we are going to discuss how stress influences our health and how to deal with stress staying young and healthy.

4) We are going to read the article about stress and discuss which activities are good for you and which are bad.

For decades doctors have warned us about the dangers of stress and have given us advice about how to cut down our stress levels. Everyone agrees that long-term stress, for example having to look after someone who has a chronic illness,or stressful situations where there is nothing we can do, for example being stuck in a traffic jam, is bad for our health and should be avoided whenever possible. However, some medical experts now believe that certain kinds of stress may actually be good for us.

Dr Marios Kyriazis, an anti-ageing expert, claims that what he calls "good stress" is beneficial to our health and may, in fact, help us stay young and attractive and even live longer. Dr Kyriazis says that "good stress" can strengthen our natural defences which protect us from illnesses common among older people, such as Alzheimer's, arthritis, and heart problems. He believes that "good stress" can increase the production of the proteins that help to repair the body's cells, including brain cells.

According to Dr Kyriazis, running for a bus or having to work to a deadline are examples of "good stress", that is situations with short-term, low or moderate stress. The stress usually makes us react quickly and efficiently, and gives us a sense of achievement — we did it! However, in both these situations, the stress damages the cells in our body or brain and they start to break down. But then the cells' own repair mechanism "switches on" and it produces proteins which repair the damaged cells and remove harmful chemicals that can gradually cause disease. In fact, the body's response is greater than is needed to repair the damage, so it actually makes the cells stronger than they were before.

"As the body gets older, this self-repair mechanism of the cells starts to slow down," says Dr Kyriazis. "The best way to keep the process working efficiently isto 'exercise' it, in the same way you would exercise your muscles to keep them strong. This means having a certain amount of stress in our lives." Other stressful activities that Kyriazis recommends as being good stress include redecorating a room in your house over a weekend, packing your suitcase in a hurry to reach the airport on time, shopping for a dinner party during your lunch break or programming your DVD or video recorder by following the instructionmanual.

So next time your boss tells you that she wants to see that report finished and on her desk in 45 minutes, don't panic; just think of it as "good stress" which willhave benefits for your long-term health!

Answer the questions:

1. Which activities mentioned in the article are bad for your health?
2. What does the article say about the others?

• Do you agree with the ideas of the article?
• How often do you redecorate your house/flat?
• Can you call your lifestyle moderate?
• Do you often have to stick to deadlines?
• Do you like working on long or short term projects?
• 5) Do you think chatting up people is stressful?
• Do you have to cut down on anything?
• Have you ever given up a hobby?
• Do you think people live a very fast lifestyle? Do they need to slow down?
• Make up three sentences using phrasal verbs:

• break up and chat up
• cut down and give up
• slow down and call back