A. It isn't easy being a professional athlete. Not only are the physical demands greater than most people could handle, athletes also face intense psychological pressure during competition. This is something that British tennis player Emma Raducanu wrote about on social media following her withdrawal from the 2021 Wimbledon tournament. Though the young player had been doing well in the tournament, she began having difficulty regulating her breathing and heart rate during a match, which she later attributed to 'the accumulation of the excitement and the buzz'.

A.做一名职业运动员并不容易。运动员不仅在体能上的要求超出大多数人的承受能力，而且在比赛中还面临着巨大的心理压力。这是英国网球运动员艾玛·拉杜卡努退出2021年温布尔登锦标赛后在社交媒体上写的。尽管这位年轻的球员在比赛中一直表现良好，但她在比赛中开始难以控制自己的呼吸和心率，她后来将其归因于“兴奋和嗡嗡声的积累”。

B. For athletes, some level of performance stress is almost unavoidable. But there are many different factors that dictate just how people's minds and bodies respond to stressful events. Typically, stress is the result of an exchange between two factors: demands and resources. An athlete may feel stressed about an event if they feel the demands on them are greater than they can handle. These demands include the high level of physical and mental effort required to succeed, and also the athlete's concerns about the difficulty of the event, their chance of succeeding, and any potential dangers such as injury. Resources, on the other hand, are a person's ability to cope with these demands. These include factors such as the competitor's degree of confidence, how much they believe they can control the situation's outcome, and whether they're looking forward to the event or not.

B.对于运动员来说，某种程度的表现压力几乎是不可避免的。但是，有许多不同的因素决定了人们的思想和身体对压力事件的反应。通常，压力是两个因素交换的结果:需求和资源。如果运动员觉得对他们的要求超过了他们的承受能力，他们可能会对一项赛事感到压力。这些要求包括成功所需的高水平的体力和精神努力，也包括运动员对项目难度、成功机会和任何潜在危险(如受伤)的关注。另一方面，资源是一个人应对这些需求的能力。这些因素包括选手的自信程度，他们相信自己能控制局面的程度，以及他们是否期待比赛。

C. Each new demand or change in circumstances affects whether a person responds positively or negatively to stress. Typically, the more resources a person feels they have in handling the situation, the more positive their stress response. This positive stress response is called a challenge state. But should the person feel there are too many demands placed on them, the more likely they are to experience a negative stress response – known as a threat state. Research shows that the challenge states lead to good performance, while threat states lead to poorer performance. So, in Emma Raducanu's case, a much larger audience, higher expectations and facing a more skilful opponent, may all have led her to feel there were greater demands being placed on her at Wimbledon – but she didn't have the resources to tackle them. This led to her experiencing a threat response.

C.每一个新的要求或环境的变化都会影响一个人对压力的反应是积极的还是消极的。通常，一个人觉得自己在处理这种情况时拥有的资源越多，他们的压力反应就越积极。这种积极的应激反应被称为挑战状态。但是，如果一个人觉得自己有太多的要求，他们就越有可能经历负面的压力反应，也就是所谓的威胁状态。研究表明，挑战状态会导致良好的表现，而威胁状态会导致较差的表现。所以，在艾玛·拉杜卡努的例子中，更多的观众，更高的期望，面对一个更有技术的对手，可能都让她觉得在温布尔登对她的要求更高，但她没有足够的资源来解决这些问题。这导致她经历了威胁反应。

D. Our challenge and threat responses essentially influence how our body responds to stressful situations, as both affect the production of adrenaline and cortisol – also known as 'stress hormones'. During a challenge state, adrenaline increases the amount of blood pumped from the heart and expands the blood vessels, which allows more energy to be delivered to the muscles and brain. This increase of blood and decrease of pressure in the blood vessels has been consistently related to superior sport performance in everything from cricket batting, to golf putting and football penalty taking. But during a threat state, cortisol inhibits the positive effect of adrenaline, resulting in tighter blood vessels, higher blood pressure, slower psychological responses, and a faster heart rate. In short, a threat state makes people more anxious – they make worse decisions and perform more poorly. In tennis players, cortisol has been associated with more unsuccessful serves and greater anxiety.

D.我们对挑战和威胁的反应本质上影响着我们身体对压力情况的反应，因为两者都会影响肾上腺素和皮质醇的分泌——也被称为“压力激素”。在挑战状态下，肾上腺素增加了从心脏泵出的血液量，扩张了血管，这使得更多的能量被输送到肌肉和大脑。血液的增加和血管压力的降低一直与出色的运动表现有关，从板球击球到高尔夫球推杆和足球罚球。但在受到威胁的状态下，皮质醇会抑制肾上腺素的积极作用，导致血管收缩、血压升高、心理反应减慢和心率加快。简而言之，威胁状态会让人更加焦虑——他们会做出更糟糕的决定，表现更差。在网球运动员中，皮质醇与更不成功的发球和更大的焦虑有关。

E. That said, anxiety is also a common experience for athletes when they're under pressure. Anxiety can increase heart rate and perspiration, cause heart palpitations, muscle tremors and shortness of breath, as well as headaches, nausea, stomach pain, weakness and a desire to escape in more extreme cases. Anxiety can also reduce concentration and self-control and cause overthinking. The intensity with which a person experiences anxiety depends on the demands and resources they have. Anxiety may also manifest itself in the form of excitement or nervousness depending on the stress response. Negative stress responses can be damaging to both physical and mental health – and repeated episodes of anxiety coupled with negative responses can increase risk of heart disease and depression.

E.也就是说，当运动员面临压力时，焦虑也是一种常见的体验。焦虑会增加心率和出汗，导致心悸、肌肉震颤和呼吸急促，在更极端的情况下，还会导致头痛、恶心、胃痛、虚弱和逃跑的欲望。焦虑还会降低注意力和自制力，导致过度思考。一个人经历焦虑的强度取决于他们拥有的需求和资源。焦虑也可能表现为兴奋或紧张的形式，这取决于压力反应。消极的压力反应会损害身体和精神健康——反复发作的焦虑加上消极的反应会增加患心脏病和抑郁症的风险。

F. But there are many ways athletes can ensure they respond positively under pressure. Positive stress responses can be promoted through the language that they and others – such as coaches or parents – use. Psychologists can also help athletes change how they see their physiological responses – such as helping them see a higher heart rate as excitement, rather than nerves. Developing psychological skills, such as visualisation, can also help decrease physiological responses to threat. Visualisation may involve the athlete recreating a mental picture of a time when they performed well, or picturing themselves doing well in the future. This can help create a feeling of control over the stressful event. Recreating competitive pressure during training can also help athletes learn how to deal with stress. An example of this might be scoring athletes against their peers to create a sense of competition. This would increase the demands which players experience compared to a normal training session, while still allowing them to practise coping with stress.

F.但运动员有很多方法可以确保他们在压力下做出积极的反应。积极的压力反应可以通过他们和其他人(如教练或父母)使用的语言来促进。心理学家还可以帮助运动员改变他们对自己生理反应的看法，比如帮助他们将心率加快视为兴奋，而不是紧张。发展心理技能，比如想象，也可以帮助减少对威胁的生理反应。想象可能涉及运动员在脑海中重现他们表现出色的时刻的画面，或者描绘他们未来表现出色的画面。这可以帮助创造一种控制压力事件的感觉。在训练中重现竞争压力也能帮助运动员学会如何应对压力。这方面的一个例子可能是让运动员与他们的同伴进行比赛，以创造一种竞争感。与普通训练相比，这将增加玩家的需求，同时还能让他们练习应对压力。