Read the following passage and answer the questions set on it.
Stress is a ** of modern times. It afflicts people regardless of their situation in life. Stress is present in the lives of the rich and the poor, literate and illiterate, men and ****. Stress is, however, I more evident and is probably more widespread in technologically advanced countries, and is common among higher qualified professionals.
Stress is of various kinds, physical, emotional and intellectual and it is characterised by a feeling of being burned, of being unable to cope. At a physical level, modern technology and facilities have actually increased workloads and decreased relaxation. Mobile phones and laptops have made it easy to carry the office to the home.
Emotional stress increases when there is disharmony and friction in relationships. Unfortunately the trend today is to take the easy way out – people prefer to break away from relationships rather than repair them. The answer to stress can be found in the very letters of the word ‘stress’. ‘*’ stands for strength – physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. Physical and emotional weakness leads to irritability. A strong healthy body developed through proper diet, exercise and pranayama techniques helps reduce stress at the physical level. Love, compassion and friendship are valuable strengths that help us cope with stress.
The scriptures say that knowledge of self cannot be gained without inner strength. Rabindranath Tagore, in a poem, prays to the Lord not to remove all obstacles, but instead, he asks for strength to bear them. Before the start of the Mahabharata war Arjuna was seized with emotional weakness and he refused to ***** the war. Lord Krishna rescued him by giving him emotional strength.
‘T’ stands for traffic control. We need to regulate and control our thoughts. We can cope with stress best if our thoughts are orderly and methodical. Unnecessary accumulation leads to clogging of the mind. The key **** in being able to love one moment at a time. Eat while eating, work while working, and leave the home at home and the office at the office. Remember, however long we have to travel, we can only take one step at a time.
Answer the following in a word, a phrase or a sentence each:
(a) What is the *** of modern times?
(b) What are the kinds of stress mentioned in the passage?
(c) What has actually increased workloads and decreased relaxation?
(d) When does emotional stress increase?
(e) Name any one of the techniques which can help develop a strong and healthy body.
(f) What does Rabindranath Tagore pray to the Lord in a poem?
(g) Who rescued Arjuna by giving him emotional strength?
(h) What does T stand for in the passage?
(i) Add a suitable prefix to the word ‘controlled’ to make its antonym.
(j) However long we have to travel, how many steps can one take at a time?
