Team spirit - PAU inglés Andalucía

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Team players can tolerate twice as much pain as those who work alone, according to recent research that throws fresh light on some of the most surprising achievements in sports history.

Researchers at Oxbridge University have found that members of its rowing team had a greater ability to resist pain —or “pain threshold"— after training together than when they performed the same exercises individually. Working as a group stimulates the production of endorphins, a feel —good chemical released in the brain that is a temporary painkiller. This effect might have played a part in an extraordinary football final between Manchester City and Birmingham in 1956. The City goalkeeper broke his neck after diving for the ball, but went on to make a series of crucial saves to help his team win the game 3-1.
The Oxbridge researchers speculate that a similar sudden rise of endorphins might be the cause of the feel-good sensations people experience when they dance together, play team sports or take part in religious rituals. They made a study that involved twelve male rowers. In the first part of the experiment, two teams of six rowed continuously for 45 minutes in the gym. Their rowing machines were linked up to create a “virtual boat" that demanded that they all row in synchrony. In the next training session, the rowers performed the same exercise as individuals, unobserved by others in the team. Between five and ten minutes after each training session, the investigators measured the rowers' pain thresholds by putting a blood pressure cuff around the arm and inflating it until it became uncomfortably painful. Then they measured the release of endorphins in the blood system.

The researchers say that, compared with training alone, group training significantly increases the pain threshold: "We can eliminate the possibility that this effect might have been due to elevated work rates, because the rowers‘ power output was not significantly different". They also added: ”What this study shows us is that synchrony alone seems to increase the production of endorphins so as to strengthen the effect when we do these activities in groups.”

RESPUESTAS

I. READING COMPREHENSION

ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-3 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN WORDS.

1 What is the relationship between endorphins and the “pain threshold”?

• Endorphins help to increase the ability to resist pain.
• The more endorphins we have in our body, the less pain we feel (or the more pain we can resist).

2 How could the City goalkeeper keep on playing after breaking his neck?

• Because of the effect of endorphins, which are produced in larger amounts when working as a group. 
• Because the endorphins in his body, as a result of playing in a team, were a painkiller for him.

3 What activities produce the rise of endorphins?

• Activities that involve groups of people working or playing together, such as playing sports, dancing, or participating in religious rituals.

ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT, OR USE YOUR OWN WORDS.

4 Endorphins could explain some astonishing sports events.

• TRUE: “This effect might have played a part in an extraordinary football final...in 1956”. (lines 7, 8)

5 The experiment showed that the amount of physical exercise done in group and individually was approximately the same.

• TRUE: “ In the next training session, the rowers performed the same exercise as individuals”. (lines 14,15)

II. USE OF ENGLISH

6 FIND IN THETEXT ONE SYNONYM FOR “put up with (*)"(VERI3).

• Tolerate (line 1)

7 FIND IN THE TEXT THE WORD WHICH HAS THE FOLLOWING DEFINITION: 

”extremely relevant”(ADJECTIVE).

• Crucial (line 8)

8 GIVE A VERB WITH THE SAME ROOT AS "blood" (NOUN; LINE I6). 

• Bleed

9 FILL IN THE GAP WITH THE CORRECT OPTION: "He says he has got____ in his stomach.” 

• Hurt / aches / pains /suffering.

10 TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO REPORTED SPEECH: 

"Last Thursday they said: ‘The results will be announced tomorrow!"

• Last Thursday they said that the results would be announced the next/following day.

11 GIVE A QUESTION FOR THE UNIJERLINED WORDS: 

"They spent three hours swimming with their team."

• How long did they spend swimming with their team?

12 TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO THE PASSIVE VOICE: 

"They gave us a lot of information about Iceland."

• A lot of information about Iceland was given to us/ We were given a lot of information about Iceland.

13 USE THE WORDS IN THE BOXES TO MAKE A MEANINGFUL SENTENCE. USE ALL AND ONLY THE WORDS IN THE BOXES WITHOUT CHANGING THE FORM:

          get      I      tattoo      to       my      ought       removed

• I ought to get my tattoo removed. 

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