Smoking – is it really worth it?

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 432.

Health Problems

Read the article and do the exercises, which follow it.

Medical research has proved that smoking is a habit that can lead to severe illness or an early death.

Smoking can cause:

A/ lung cancer or cancer of the mouth, voice box, stomach, gullet or bladder;

B/ chronic bronchitis;

C/ heart disease;

D/ gastric or duodenal ulcers/

In addition to these hazards/ a mother who smokes during pregnancy runs the risk of having:

A/ a natural abortion or miscarriage;

B/ a still-birth / a baby who is born dead/;

C/ a baby with a congenital heart disease;

D/ a baby who is physically and mentally underdeveloped.

Cigarette smoking is dangerous to all age-groups. Surveys have proved that children and adolescents who smoke up to six cigarettes a week, suffer lung damage. They may:

- have frequent coughs and colds;

- have a poorer health record than non-smokers;

- become breathless easily and unable to take vigorous exercise;

- bring up PHLEGM/the thick, slimy matter secreted in the throat/ when they have a cold.

There are four harmful substances in the tobacco smoke inhaled by cigarette smokers.

1. Nicotine. This increases the blood pressure and pulse rate, and can cause unpleasant side effects, such as sickness, irritability and trembling. It also impairs or weakens the normal healing power of the stomach, and this can delay the healing of ulcers.

2. Carbon monoxide.This gas reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, and can cause dizziness and headaches.

3. Carcinogens or tars. These substances can produce or accelerate a cancerous growth.

4. Irritants. These damage the bronchial or breathing tubes, and can cause “smoker's cough”.

Did you know that …?

1. A “low tar” cigarette is less likely to cause severe illness or death than a “high” or “medium tar” cigarette.

2. The tar in a cigarette becomes concentrated towards the butt end. This means that smoking the last 2 cm of a cigarette is far more dangerous than smoking the whole of the rest of the cigarette.

3. Smoking is addictive. This means that a person can become dependent upon tobacco, associating the drug with pleasure and the relief of tension. Even a light smoker will find the habit difficult to break, and will experience unpleasant “withdrawal” symptoms when he stops smoking.

4. Smoking severely restricts physical fitness and athletic performance. Have you wondered why you seldom see successful footballers, gymnasts, athletes etc. who smoke?

5. When someone smokes in an enclosed space, such as an office, car, public house or cinema, the concentration of carbon monoxide in the air increases. This is harmful to all the non-smokers present, as well as to the smokers. Does this seem right?

6. If parents smoke, there is a greater risk that their babies will die of pneumonia or develop bronchitis before they are one year old. This is probably due to the smoke-filled air in the home.

7. The risk of a smoker developing a severe illness or dying increases:

A/with the number of cigarettes smoked;

B/if smoking began at an early age;

C/if smoke is inhaled;

D/ if half-smoked cigarettes are re-lit.

8. If a cigarette is kept in the lips between puffs, there is a greater chance of developing bronchitis.

9. Apart from the unpleasant effects of smoking, such as breathlessness, sickness, bad breath, stained fingers and “smoker's cough”, there may be no obvious signs of the damage being done to the body. A person may continue to smoke heavily for many years before the onset of severe illness or death.

There are many factors which might tempt a young person to start smoking. Here are a few.

—14. Discuss each of these points with your friends.

1. Smoking is considered to be a sign of maturity and toughness.

2. Smoking is thought to be a social habit which gives confidence.

3. A young person may resent being advised not to smoke and will start smoking as an act of defiance and rebellion against authority.

4. A young person is influenced by the attitudes and example of parents, relations, friends and teachers. If they smoke there is a desire to conform and copy their behaviour.

5. If cigarettes are readily available at home, there is a greater temptationto start smoking.

6. A young person may be tempted to smoke from a sense of curiosity.

Although a young person can be aware of the long-term damaging effects of smoking, the possibility of severe illness or death during middle-age seems too remote to be relevant or important. He may take the attitude that:

A/ “nothing will happen to me”;

B/ he can always stop smoking at a later date, before any real damage has been done. /Will this be easyor possible?

? 15. Translate the following text into English using the topical vocabulary: