An image of Chicago. A survey by Harris Interactive found Chicago is the most stressed city in the nation.

　　Striving to attain that perfect life, work balance? You're not alone, but if you live in Chicago you're more unlikely to find it with residents of the Windy City the most stressed in the United states.

　　A survey by Harris Interactive found Chicago is the most stressed city in the nation, followed Houston, Boston, Los Angeles and San Diego, while Miami is the least stressed, along with Dallas/Fort Worth, Las Vegas, Cincinnati and Minneapolis.

　　"It is (due) to a combination of different things. There wasn't one thing that made Chicago stand out but they were the ones who had the least attainment of life balance," Harris Interactive spokeswoman Regina Corso told reporters.

　　"In other cities, some by leaps and bounds, their residents have managed to attain some level (of life balance)."

　　Washington DC, despite its concentration of politicians and high-powered wheeler-dealers, came 12th in the poll of 25 cities, ahead of New York at No. 17 but lower than Denver, San Francisco, Tampa or Seattle on the stress scale.

　　"I expected to see a different order," admitted Corso. "But maybe people in Chicago are trying to do too much."

　　She attributed Miami's low stress levels to its proximity to the sea, warm weather and laid back attitude.

　　Nearly three quarters of Americans questioned in the Life Balance Barometer Survey commissioned by Princess Cruises said they have not discovered how to juggle work and personal priorities, but 53 percent believe they could achieve it in the next five years.

　　Financial pressure was the leading cause of stress among the 1,539 people questioned in the online poll, with getting fit and losing weight coming a close second, followed by failing to complete the to-do list and concerns about unemployment.

　　Although more than half of Americans said they want to get fit, only 17 percent used exercise to relieve stress.

　　The most popular methods to calm down at the end of the day were changing clothes, laying down, kissing a spouse or partner, playing with a pet and reading a book or magazine.

　　Vocabulary:

　　Windy City：風城，指芝加哥。早在1886年，Windy City(芝加哥)的說法就已被媒體接受，而且，當時所言的windy絕無貶抑之意，而是特指芝加哥的宜人氣候。每到夏季，湖區涼風陣陣，芝加哥成為美國人的避暑好去處，Windy City(風城)由此得名。

　　stand out: 引人注目，脫穎而出

　　by leaps and bounds：very rapidly(飛躍地，非常迅速地)

　　high-powered：having great power or energy; dynamic(有權勢的;精力旺盛的)

　　wheeler-dealer：one who advances one's own interests by canny, aggressive, or unscrupulous behavior(商界或政界的工于心計的人，進行復雜交易的人)

　　laid back：free from stress; easygoing; carefree(無憂無慮的，隨和的)

　　juggle：to manage or alternate the requirements of (two or more tasks, responsibilities, activities, etc.) so as to handle each adequately(盡力同時應對，同時做)

　　你一直在追求生活和工作的完美平衡?不止你一人這樣想。但如果你生活在芝加哥，這一美好的愿望可能較難實現。據調查，這座“風城”是美國壓力最大的城市。

　　哈里斯互動調查公司開展的一項調查發現，芝加哥是美國壓力最大的城市，休斯敦、波士頓、洛杉磯和圣地亞哥位居其后。而邁阿密則是美國壓力最小的城市，達拉斯/沃思堡、拉斯維加斯、辛辛那提和明尼阿波利斯也在此列。

　　哈里斯互動調查公司的女發言人雷吉娜 柯索在接受記者采訪時說：“這是多方面因素造成的。并不是某一個因素造成了這一結果，但芝加哥人的生活平衡程度最低。”

　　“在其它一些城市，當地居民能夠在工作和生活之間達到一定程度的平衡，其中有些還是飛速發展的城市。”

　　盡管華盛頓是政界和商界精英的聚集地，但該市在25個受調查城市中中僅列第12位，位于紐約之前(第17位)，但在丹佛、舊金山、坦帕以及西雅圖之后。

　　柯索稱：“我沒想到是這樣的一個結果，但也許芝加哥人太努力了。”

　　她認為，邁阿密之所以壓力小，可能與它靠海，氣候溫暖以及當地人悠閑的生活態度有關。

　　近四分之三的美國受訪者稱他們還沒找到兼顧工作和生活的好辦法，但53%的受訪者稱自己可以在五年內實現這一目標。這項“生活平衡晴雨表調查”由美國“公主郵輪公司”委托開展。

　　共有1539人參加了該在線調查。經濟壓力被認為是導致壓力的主因，保健和減肥緊隨其后，沒完成計劃以及擔心失業次之。

　　盡管半數以上的美國人稱想要強身健體，但僅有17%的受訪者通過鍛煉減壓。

　　在一天的勞累之后，人們常通過這些方法放松：如換衣服、躺下休息、親吻伴侶或愛人、和寵物玩耍或看看書和雜志。