A new study suggests that contrary to most surveys, people are actually more stressed at home than at work. Researchers measured people’s cortisol, which is stress marker, while they were at work and while they were at home and found it higher at what is supposed to be a place of refuge.

“Further contradicting conventional wisdom, we found that women as well as men have lower levels of stress at work than at home,” writes one of the researchers, Sarah Damaske. In fact women even say they feel better at work, she notes, “It is men, not women, who report being happier at home than at work.” Another surprise is that the findings hold true for both those with children and without, but more so for nonparents. This is why people who work outside the home have better health.

What the study doesn’t measure is whether people are still doing work when they’re at home, whether it is household work or work brought home from the office. For many men, the end of the workday is a time to kick back. For women who stay home, they never get to leave the office. And for women who work outside the home, they often are playing catch-up-with-household tasks. With the blurring of roles, and the fact that the home front lags well behind the workplace in making adjustments for working women, it’s not surprising that women are more stressed at home.

But it’s not just a gender thing. At work, people pretty much know what they’re supposed to be doing: working, making money, doing the tasks they have to do in order to draw an income. The bargain is very pure: Employee puts in hours of physical or mental labor and employee draws out life-sustaining moola.

On the home front, however, people have no such clarity. Rare is the household in which the division of labor is so clinically and methodically laid out. There are a lot of tasks to be done, there are inadequate rewards for most of them. Your home colleagues—your family—have no clear rewards for their labor; they need to be talked into it, or if they’re teenagers, threatened with complete removal of all electronic devices. Plus, they’re your family. You cannot fire your family. You never really get to go home from home.

So it’s not surprising that people are more stressed at home. Not only are the tasks apparently infinite, the co-workers are much harder to motivate.

1.According to Paragraph 1, most previous surveys found that home _________.

A offered greater relaxation than the workplace

B was an ideal place for stress measurement

C generated more stress than the workplace

D was an unrealistic place for relaxation

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据题目定位到第一段第一句，可知新研究表明：人们在家比上班压力大。根据新研究与大多数先前的研究相反可知，大多数先前的研究应该认为：在家比上班轻松，故选A。

2.According to Damaske, who are likely to be the happiest at home?

A Working mothers.

B Childless husbands.

C Working fathers.

D Childless wives.

解析：选B。B 推理判断题。根据Damaske和happiest at home定位到第二段，可知男性比女性更觉得在家开心，无子女者更开心。综合可知，应是无子女的男性在家最感觉快乐，故选B。

3.The blurring of working women’s roles refers to the fact that _________.

A their home is also a place for kicking back

B they are both bread winners and housewives

C there is often much housework left behind

D it is difficult for them to leave their office

解析：选B。 B 细节理解题。根据blurring定位到第三段，可知对很多男性来说下班了就是放松的时候，但女性回家之后，经常还要做家务。即女性既要工作，又要做家务，故选B。

4.The word “moola” (Para. 4) most probably means _________.

A skills

B energy

C earnings

D nutrition

解析：选C。C 词义猜测题。根据moola定位到第四段，可知人们工作就是为了挣钱，紧接着就说“员工投入体力或脑力劳动，为了取得moola”。综合可知，moola对应的应该是income（收入），故选C。

5.The home front differs from the workplace in that _________.

A family labor is often adequately rewarded

B home is hardly a cozier working environment

C household tasks are generally more motivating

D division of labor at home is seldom clear-cut

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。由home front和differs定位到第五段，可知很少有家庭的劳动分工是客观而有条理的，即家庭分工不清晰，故选D。