Fill ONE suitable word into each numbered blank. Write your answers in ‘Your answers’ part

Fill ONE suitable word into each numbered blank. Write your answers in ‘Your answers’ part.

Stress and Athletic Success

Success, in any field, is often a matter of how well a person is (1) ________ to control the amount of stress they experience. As stress increases, their performance often improves, but there is a certain point beyond (2) __________ their performance begins to decline sharply. Sports psychologists now help Olympic athletes, (3) _________ others, balance the good and bad effects of stress.

Before an athletic event, a high level of excitement can actually have a (4) __________ effect on the athlete. This excitement becomes harmful, (5) __________, if negative thoughts take over. Thoughts such as “What if I fail?" or "I know the others are better than me" should definitely be avoided. Psychologists help athletes manage to replace negative thoughts with positive (6) _____________.

(7) __________ useful technique before competing is to recognize your level of excitement and adjust (8) __________ if necessary. Music may be helpful in these (9) _________. If you're over-excited, listening to soft music can help to calm you down. If you feel you're not excited (10) ___________, you may want to listen to fast, powerful music to (11) ____________ your spirits.

The key to success, in other words, is a person’s knowledge of their ideal level excitement. An imbalance either way (12) _________ mean the difference between success and failure.

Your answers: