麦哲伦英语 第 57 课：A Student's Guide to Exam Stress 学生如何缓解考试压力

As exam fever heats up, keep your cool with tips from our health correspondent Dr Barry Lynch. 当考试的热潮一浪高过一浪时，你必须保持冷静，下面就听听我们的健康记者巴里.林奇博士的建议吧。

Stress is difficult to define but most of us know it when we experience it. 压力很难定义，但是当我们遇到压力时就知道了什么叫压力。

We may have mental symptoms: panic, feeling trapped or overwhelmed. 我们可能会有精神上的症状：惊慌，感到无助或不知所措。

Or there may be physical symptoms: sweating palms, butterflies, headaches, breathlessness or sleeplessness. 或许还有生理上的症状：手出汗，胃不舒服，头痛，喘不过气来或失眠。

Stress can cause us to feel overwhelmed and powerless to tackle the very things that are causing the stress in the first place. 压力能使我们感到不安和无力处理那些最初导致压力产生的事情。

So make a carefully written plan and the problems will seem less overwhelming. Ticking off each thing as you do it will help you feel there is light at the end of the tunnel. 所以制定一份详细的书面计划可以使麻烦易于解决。每做完一件事后你就勾掉它，这样，你就会感到希望就在前头。

When you're writing your revision plan, make sure you include some time off — exactly an hour or whatever — before you go back to work.当你制定计划时，千万留出一些休息时间——在你重新回去工作前——要有一小时左右的时间。

Look forward to your time off and do something pleasant in it. Work out little treats and rewards for yourself as you tick off each thing on your plan. 盼望着休息时间快来，到时候做些令人愉快的事情。当你在计划上勾掉一件事时，就给自己一点小小的奖赏。

The treats can be simple: an ice cream, half an hour listening to your personal stereo, or walking the dog. 奖赏可以非常简单：一个冰激凌，听半小时音乐或溜溜狗。

Easier said than done, I know, but exercise is one of the best ways of relaxing: it's the natural way to deal with adrenaline and similar hormones that are rushing around your body. 我知道说起来容易做起来难，其实运动是最好的放松方法之一：它能很自然地消除由于紧张不安而导致的内分泌激增。

A walk will help; a quick swim or half an hour of tennis or another game is even better. 散步就有所帮助，快速游泳或打半小时的网球或其他运动将更有好处。