Technology has been eroding the boundaries between work and home for years. Now, a new study by researchers at the University of

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问题     Technology has been eroding the boundaries between work and home for years. Now, a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois encourages corporate stakeholders to deliberately encourage clear work-life boundaries for employees. It finds that if their employees have a sense of control over intrusions into non-work life, they are better able to manage stress. And that pays off in productivity when they reengage with work.
    The belief that being able to work anywhere makes us more productive is an illusion. It’s an easy mistake to make. But the alerts that ping and buzz on our smartphones actually increase our stress. In fact, the research team behind this paper, which studies occupational stress and employee well-being, points out that the alerts create "spikes of stress. " That adds up to negative moods, rumination about work, and poor sleep. When people work in an always-on culture, they begin to dread it.
    Work stress is worse if we work anytime. According to Yihao Li, a professor of labor and employment relations, this is becoming an increasingly important issue for workers and the issue is compounded exponentially for parents, who put their children’s bedtime routine on hold to deal with work demands. To the child, who is competing with their parent’s work email, it’s a random negative event. Kids become more anxious and demanding because they don’t know when they can count on time with their parents. Household stress skyrockets.
    The convenience of our devices comes at the price of our mental health unless we have control over the boundaries between work and non-work life. According to YoungAh Park, professor of labor and employment relations, " Some people simply can’t work without a smartphone, tablet or laptop computer. These technologies are so ubiquitous and convenient that it can lead some people to think that employees have to be always on or always available. Clearly, this kind of after-hours intrusion into the home or personal life domain is unhealthy, and our research shows that an always-on mentality has a big downside in the form of increased job stress," she said in a press release.
    To study the impact of work intrusions into non-work life, my team surveyed over 500 full-time public school teachers in grade K-6 for five weeks. We asked about their weekly work intrusion involving technology, specifically their after-hours work—whether they were expected to respond to work-related messages and emails immediately, and whether they were contacted about work-related issues after hours. Why study teachers? We found that after-hours work intrusion via technology can be really, truly stressful for them. So although this finding is particular to teachers, a class of employees who we tend to assume have clear work-life boundaries, it’s now an issue for everyone who is electronically tied to their work after regular hours.
    But it was the impact of the " border keepers" that we found made the biggest difference in whether teachers felt they had control over their boundaries. If principals, who function as supervisors, sent a message of support for work-life balance, the teachers felt empowered to set boundaries. If supervisors communicate clear support for work-life balance, employees feel a greater sense of control. When supervisors send mixed messages, paying lip service to work-life boundaries and then sending urgent emails at 9: 30 pm, employees know that they do not have that control. But if employees do have supportive leaders who model behaviors for work-life balance and work effectively with employees to creatively solve work-life conflicts, that translates into less stress for teachers through boundary control.
The phrase "border keepers" (Line 1, Para. 6) refer to ________.

选项 A、school board
B、teachers’ union
C、principals
D、teachers

答案C

解析 词汇题。根据题干关键词“border keepers”定位到文章的第六段。第六段中主要描述了校长在维护教师工作与生活平衡中的重要地位,如果校长明确表示支持工作与生活的平衡并且付诸实施,教师就会更好设置工作和生活的界限,减轻压力,因此可以得知,起关键作用的border keepers指的就是校长。
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