Dicing with Death and Living with Statistics

UNIT 6 A - READING TASK 1 Read the text entitled Dicing with death and living with statistics. While reading underline the words denoting parts of human body (external or internal parts). After reading decide whether we should worry about the danger mentioned /1/, or it is not worth worrying about /2/, and give your reasons. DICING WITH DEATH AND LIVING WITH STATISTICS. Every day is fraught with danger. You Hesitating, you make your way to the At last lunch-time comes. You join your wake in the morning, rush to the car, knowing that (according to mates in the local for a sandwich. White window and take a deep breath. Don't! statistics) there's a good chance that bread, eh? A low-fibre diet is no good at Hasn't anyone told you about the air either you or one of your nearest and all. You have "just one more drink", being polluted with lead from petrol? dearest will be involved in an accident which helps you on your way to liver Next you go to the bathroom. After sometime during your life. After a failure, and you return to the office. You touching the lavatory handle, your heart-thumping journey, you reach spend the afternoon fighting a battle innocent-looking hands are covered in work. with high blood pressure and chronic bacteria, which even a good wash won't Filled with relief you get into the lift. indigestion (or is it your heart at last?) entirely remove. You sigh, and get Get out at once and race up those stairs, and give a sigh of relief as 5.30 arrives. dressed. Good heavens! Didn't you unless you want a heart attack What a jam on the by-pass tonight. It realize that all that nylon won't let your tomorrow. gets your fingers tapping on the steering skin breathe? Panting, you reach the office, where you wheel, doesn't it? You look in the With a rash beginning to appear on your collapse into a chair. The cleaner has driving mirror and see a large vein skin, you make your way to the kitchen just left, leaving an aerosol's delightful throbbing up and down on you forehead. for breakfast. Eating must be good for aroma floating in the air. You inhale It throbs even faster as you suddenly you - mustn't it? Of course it is, deeply, enjoying the sweet fragrance. remember that article you were reading provided you don't have tea or coffee, Danger! Breathing in the substance will about strokes. which are bad for your heart, or a good ruin your lungs (not to mention our A nervous wreck, you reach home. You old-fashioned English fry-up, which atmosphere, if we are to believe the crawl up the path and fall into your will fill your stomach with cholesterol- experts). wife's protective arms. She won't last building fat. With trembling hands you light a much longer, of course. She's inhaled a Depressed - not to mention hungry - you cigarette to calm your nerves. A what? large amount of washing powder, quite go to clean your teeth. Put down that How dare you? In comes your a few asbestos particles from her hair nylon toothbrush at once! It will ruin colleague, Ms Brown, all ready for a drier and a great number of chemicals your gums. Do you have the courage to busy day, blonde hair and make-up in from aerosol sprays. weigh yourself? Horrors! You are at place. Do you think she's heard about But do not fear, civilization is here. Are least half a stone overweight, which is the cancer scare concerning hair dyes we really that much happier in our sure to help send you to an early grave. and eye-liners? modern technological world with all its new-found knowledge than our ancestors who knew nothing of these things? Is it any surprise that there were no analysts or psychiatrists in any century before ours? I'm sure they didn't need any. The text adapted from Headway Upper -Intermediate by John and Liz Soars.

TASK 2 Match the words denoting internal organs of human body with their Slovak equivalents: brain pľúca heart pečeň lung tepna liver mozog kidney žila vein chrbtica muscle žalúdok stomach srdce intestine oblička bladder črevo artery sval spine močový mechúr B - VOCABULARY EXTENSION TASK 3 In this table there are words for parts of the body and six categories. Decide which category/ies each part belongs to. The first one has been done for you as an example. arm hand leg foot/feet torso head abdomen Х ankle buttock, bottom calf cheek chest chin elbow eyebrow eyelash eyelid forearm hip knuckle navel nipple nose palm rib scalp shoulder sole temple thigh throat thumb tongue tooth/teeth wrist moustache back beard breast waist instep jaw lines, wrinkles freckles wart mole, birthmark dimples scar spots, blemishes rash blister

TASK 4 Study the following words for symptoms and illnesses (you may translate them into Slovak). Then complete the gaps in the following dialogues with words from the table: a stiff neck a sore throat bloodshot eyes a headache a migraine a toothache a stomachache an ulcer a runny/running nose a blocked-up nose swollen lips a nosebleed

influenza/flu a cold food poisoning infection mumps cancer measles cowpox diarrhoea pain sneezing sick cough faint sore bleeding temperature cut food poisoning flu tonsillitis infection heart attack a/ My throat's ……….. . It hurts to swallow. But I don't ……..at all, even though I smoke fifty cigarettes a day. It sounds like ………to me. b/ My nose is running and I can't stop ……….. . I've also got a very high …………. It's probably …….. . There's a lot of it about. c/ My mother feels very ……after eating at that new restaurant. She has had terrible …….for twenty- four hours! Oh no! That's the third person who's suffered from ……after eating at that place. d/ I had this ……..in my hand last week. It was very deep and the wound wouldn't stop……... Now it's very painful again. I expect you've picked up some kind of ……. e/ At the match yersterday, Brian felt very…….and nearly fell over. He said he had a terrible……in this chest. Oh no! He didn't have a ………, did he?

TASK 5 The words in the list are all verbs. What are the noun forms? Write them in the second column and then complete the sentences with correct words (make any necessary changes): 1. diagnose ……………….. 2. examine ……………….. 3. prescribe ……………….. 4. suffer ……………….. 5. operate ……………….. 6. cure ……………….. 7. replace ……………….. 8. exceed ……………….. 9. analyse ……………….. 10. infect ………………..

. The doctor wrote a ………..for a course of antibiotics. . The amount of sugar in the blood sample …………the norm. . The lab make an …………of the blood sample. . There is no ……….for this disease. . I………….that the patient had a heart stroke. . He ………..from various allergies. . We …………..immediately. . We found that there was an ….…….in the tissue. . The doctor made careful …………of the patient. . The patient was given a hip…………….

C - GRAMMAR

TASK 6 - INDIRECT QUESTIONS - When you ask someone for information, you can use an indirect question beginning with a phrase such as "Could you tell me…" or "Do you know…". Could you tell me how far it is to the bank? Do you know where Jane is? - When you want to ask someone politely to do something, you can use an indirect question after "I wonder". I wonder if you can help me. Note: You also use "I wonder" followed by an indirect question to indicate what you are thinking about: I wonder what she'll look like. - In indirect questions, the subject of the question comes before the verb, just as it does in affirmative sentences and you do not normally use the auxiliary "do": Do you know where the bank is? I wonder if you can wait for me. I'd like to know where he works? Can you remember when they open on Sundays? - We use "if" or "whether" to introduce indirect "yes/no" questions: I wonder if you'd give the children a bath? I was asked whether I wanted to stay at a hotel or at his home. Note: "Whether" is used especially when there is a choice of possibilities. You can put "or not" immediately after "whether", but not immediately after "if". I'd like to know whether or not anyone has left any messages for me. Please, tell me if you are comming or not.

TASK 7 Finish these indirect questions: When was she admitted to hospital? Do you know…. What has she done to her arm? I want to know… Has there been any improvement? I'd like to ask… What treatment do you recommend? Could you tell me… Will you have to operate? I wonder… Is his injury serious? Don't you know… What does he suffer from? I wonder… When will my leg be X-rayed? Can you tell me…

D - SPEAKING TASK 8 Think about answers to following questions and present your opinion: 1. What are drugs? 2. What do the expressions to depend on/ to be dependent on/ to be addicted to mean? 3. What can people be addicted to? 4. What causes people's addiction to/ dependence on various things, activities, substances, etc.? 5. Which is the most serious type of addiction? 6. Why do people drink alcohol? 7. Which is the most popular hard drink in Slovakia? 8. What are the symptoms of alcohol dependence? 9. Why do pople start smoking? 10. To what extent do people in your country abuse light and hard drugs? 11. Is drug prevention satisfactory in your country? 12. What withdrawal effects occur most frequently with different types of drug abuse?

TASK 9 Drug types. There are several words that come before the word drugs. Match the words with their explanations: prescription

smart anaesthetic DRUGS OTC /over the counter/ psychotropic synthetic . can be obtained without a prescription -….. . can only be prescribed by doctors -….. . are mind altering -….. . do not occur naturally -….. . increase faculties such as memory and intelligence -….. . stop people feeling pain, for example during operations -…..

E - READING TASK 10 Read the following text which has several gaps for missing sentences. Fill the missing sentences correctly into the text. Then compare information from the text with your answers from TASK 7:

CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE. The use of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, account for many preventable health conditions and other problems. However, alcohol or drug use does not equate to alcohol or drug abuse. In fact, alcohol and drug use ranges in severity from casual use to moderate use, alcohol and drug abuse and alcohol and drug dependence. By the term abuse we mean that the drug is being used to a degree which causes either physical harm to the user or damage to his relationships or to those around him. By dependence we mean that the user cannot do without the drug. -1- The main form of dependence is true physical addiction. This is due to a direct chemical effect of the drug on the body. If the person stops taking the drug, very unpleasant and sometimes dangerous withdrawal effects occur. Alcohol is the oldest, the most widely used drug, perhaps because it is so easily produced. - 2 - The term alcoholism, or alcohol dependence syndrome has several essential elements, e.g. a compulsive need to drink, a stereotyped pattern of drinking, an altered tolerance to alcohol, relief drinking to stave off withdrawal symptoms, primacy of drinking over other activities, and others. - 3 - Second comes tobacco, which is legal, but causes deaths of thousands of people every year. Tobacco comes in many forms, although cigarettes are the most commonly used. It can also be chewed and smoked in pipes. A powdered tobacco can be snorted or sniffed. - 4 - It acts as a stimulant, speeding up the heart and the central nervous system. Cigarettes contain a number of harmful chemicals, including tar, a major cause of lung cancer. The third most important drugs of abuse are medically prescribed tranquillisers. - 5 - Which other drugs are addictive? Perhaps the most addictive drug of all is heroin. It does not harm the body directly. The physical dangers of its use are related to the way in which it is used. Because supplies are illegal, exact doses cannot be ensured and overdoses kill. The heroin is often adulterated with substances which are poisonous, and people sharing needles risk catching hepatitis B or AIDS. The main damage from heroin is social. People's whole way of life may be changed by the drug. - 6 - Curiously, heroin withdrawal is not particularly dangerous. - 7 - The other main illegal drugs are amphetamines, cocaine, hallucinogens such as LSD and marijuana. Not all of them cause physical addiction but each of them has its dangers. - 8 - So, what is the reason of their frequent use? All of them are capable of inducing pleasurable subjective states of various kinds. If that were not so no one would take any interest in them.

1. The desire to obtain more is so strong that people will cheat or steal to get money to buy it with. 2. There are number of different types of alcohol abuse and dependence. 3. Even limited consumption of mind-altering substances may result in drastic consequences: motor vehicle crashes that occur when intoxicated persons drive and overdoses of drugs are a few examples. 4. This includes phychological dependence where the drug is regarded as an indispensable prop in the user's life and he is consequently not motivated to stop using it. 5. The principal drug in tobacco is nicotine which is highly addictive. 6. These are addictive. 7. People with serious drinking problems have an increased risk of dying which is between two or three times greater than that of members of the general population at the same age and sex. 8. By contrast, untreated alcohol withdrawal has a mortality of 15%.

TASK 11 Create a poster the title of which is World without drugs. Draw pictures, write slogans or information expressing your disagreement with drug abuse to show you are trying to prevent and inform people. Present your poster to the class. VOCABULARY abuse zneužívať, zneužívanie account for zapríčiniť smrť, zodpovedať za, vysvetľovať príčinu adulterate zmiešať a tým zmeniť zloženie, znížiť kvalitu alter meniť blood pressure krvný tlak by-pass vedľajšia cesta calm upokojiť, utíšiť capable of schopný (čoho) casual náhodný, príležitostný cheat klamať, podvádzať chew žuť compulsive nekontrolovateľný, nátlakový courage odvaha crawl plaziť sa dependence závislosť desire túžba dose dávka dye farba na vlasy, farbiť vlasy entirely úplne, celkom fibre vláknina float poletovať fragrance vôňa fraught with plný (čoho) fry-up rýchle vyprážané jedlo harmful škodlivý heart-thumping smt. …s búšiacim srdcom hesitate váhať, zdráhať sa illicit nezákonný, zakázaný indigestion problémy s trávením (pokazený žalúdok) indispensable prop nenahraditeľná podpora, opora induce navodiť, spôsobiť, donútiť inhale vdýchnuť, vdychovať jam dopravná zápcha moderate primeraný, kontrolovaný, umiernený needle ihla overdose predávkovanie overweight (be o.) s nadváhou pant dychčať, lapať po dychu preventable predíditeľný, nie nevyhnutný rash vyrážka na celom tele (zvyčajne pri chorobách, alergiách) relief uvoľnenie ruin zničiť, zruinovať sniff čuchať, vdychovať nosom, poťahovať nosom snort šňupať steering wheel volant tap klopať, poklepkávať throb búšiť, pulzovať, tĺcť withdraw stiahnuť späť, odobrať wreck vrak; stav, keď sa človek cíti úplne vyčerpaný

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

SOARS, J., SOARS, L.: Headway Upper - Intermediate student's book, Oxford University Press, 1994 RILEY, D.: Test your vocabulary for medicine - a workbook for users, Peter Collin Publishing Ltd, 1995 JAMES, D. V.: Medicine, Prentice Hall International (UK) Limited, 1992 WILLIS, D.: Student's Grammar, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd., 1991 MASCULL, B.: Key Words in Science and Technology, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd.,1997