Question

Which of the following illustrates the best approach to managing apprehension? a. Jill is about to go on stage to give a speech. She is pacing back and forth, her heart is pounding, and she is picturing herself at home soaking in a hot bath. b. Ethan is about to give an important presentation to his boss. His hands are sweaty and his legs feel wobbly. He takes several deep breaths and imagines himself explaining clearly to his boss all his main ideas. c. Allen is about to recite a poem to a girl he likes. He is shaking and feels as though he might be sick. He imagines the look on the girl’s face when he vomits all over her shoes. d. Katelyn is about to present her book report to the class. She is very nervous and can’t seem to think straight, so she holds her breath and studies her report carefully, trying to memorize the first few lines.

Answer 1

The correct answer is B.  Ethan is about to give an important presentation to his boss. His hands are sweaty and his legs feel wobbly. He takes several deep breaths and imagines himself explaining clearly to his boss all his main ideas.

Explanation:

The word apprehension refers to a feeling of anxiety in which the person believes something bad, unpleasant or undesirable is about to happen. This feeling is common before presentations or similar communicative situations in which people are afraid of making mistakes or being judged when speaking; apprehension symptoms include excessive sweating, rapid breathing or heartbeat, shaking or having nausea. Considering this feeling usually interferes with the process of giving a speech or communicating appropriately, it is recommended to manage apprehension appropriately, more common and effective approaches for managing apprehension include organize ideas clearly before speaking and using aids such as slides or notes to rely on during the presentation without memorizing; using breathing techniques to manage the physical symptoms; practicing the speech or presentation before; try to establish a positive relationship with the audience and thinking positively about the situation.

Bearing in mind the previous ideas, the most positive and adequate approach to manage apprehension is illustrated in "Ethan is about to give an important presentation to his boss. His hands are sweaty and his legs feel wobbly. He takes several deep breaths and imagines himself explaining clearly to his boss all his main ideas" because he combines two different effective approaches which are the breathing technique to avoid physical symptoms and thinking positively to stop the feeling that something bad can happen. Also, this option is the one that shows positive management of apprehension instead of relying on other non-useful methods.

Thus, the type of verbal phrase, in this case, is gerund because the phrase contains a gerund "looking" that makes it a gerund phrase and its function is the object of a preposition as the phrase is introduced by the preposition "by" which means the phrase is the object of it.

Answer 2

Defininetly b as he is reinforcing a positive action to help him remember rather than a negative one which usually causes one to stumble.