Lesson 24
WantKill Yourself ?
Text A
wonder whether smokingas harmful as doctors make us believe itbe? Somethe things they say are really hair-raising,even if only halfwhat they saytrue , then it, if not suicidal, at leastself-inflicted chronic disease.
This afternoon our League branch organizeddiscussionthe harmful effectssmokingwhat effective measures should be takenprevent young people from smoking. Accordingour form master , 50 %our class smoke , or have smoked at one time or another. If thattrue, then allboys because we make up about 50 %our class-can hardly believe that.
I,one, certainly don't smoke, thoughmust admitdid once takefew puffs just outcuriositys , but you can't call that smoking.
The discussion was quitelively one. The girls ,course , all spokeone voice against smoking , butthe most part , they had nothing originaloffer besides repeating what we can readthe paperspopular science magazines. At firstboys listenedglum silence andcould see boredomdisdaintheir faces. Thencross-fire between FattyLiu Dandan livenedmeeting up.
Dandan has always been somethingan actress andher theatrical manner she wentanddescribing how badcigarette tastes. Fatty couldn't contain himself any longermuttered underbreath, "Heavens , you must bevery experienced smoker! " Everybody burst out laughingDandan spluttered with rage. The girls rallied round herbeganattack Fatty. Of course we could have nonethatthe classroom was soonuproar.
"All right you boysgirls , thatquite enough. Show some sense. " Our form master's firm voice had quitesobering effectorder was restored again. "Those who do smoke, please put up your hands. " Taken by surprise, nobody made any move. "Come on. Therenothingfear. Thisnotpunishment.
I only want statistics.only want information so that we can really find out something about smoking. " We looked at each other. First Fatty, then about halfdozen boys raised their hands. Then our form master proceededask eachthem why they smokedwhether they liked smoking. Did they ever trygiveup? Why not? And soand so on. Soon he didn't haveask any questions as we all volunteered informationthe discussion became very livelythe atmosphere relaxed.
Some interesting facts came out. Familysurroundings playvery important partinfluencing smokers. All those who smoke come from smoking families or are surrounded by smoking friendsrelatives. FilmsTV plays also playpart. Inpast only villains smokeddrank. Now heroes also smokedrink,heroes now are mostly young people with"spiritthe 80s" fighting feudalismconservatism.
Asthose who smokedhave given up , they did so because they didn't enjoy smokingfoundtoo expensive. Very few people think about health dangers. All those who still smoke admit that they don't derive any great pleasure outsmoking. Srncking haa not bccomea.a:rdenecl habit with themthey could giveup easily if thcy really wanted to. They just haven't felt any urgent needdo it.
A very interestingrewarding discussion . Those smokers who haven't given much thoughttheir smoking will, I'm sure, give more thoughtit now.
Text B
Few people like changing their habits , good or bad ,, whether itsmoking, drinking or over-eating, they continue `enjoying' themthe end, oftenbitter end. On every packetcigarettes andevery advertisement , Americans are warned againstdangerssmoking, "Warning ; The Surgeon Gcneral Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is DangerousYour Health".
In spitethis, millionsthem start smoking or gosmoking. Why ? One reason rnay be that people watch their 'heroes'TV drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettesfighting their way from adventureadventure, `heroes' who seemfear nothing, neither killing other people nor killing themselves with alcoholcigarettes.
If they are not afraidthe effectssmokingdrinking alcohol, why should John Smith , sitting at homehis armchair watching all this, be afraid? The simple warningthe cigarette packet does not influence"hero's" habits either. But even stronger warnings, likc showing picturessmokers who have lostleg or diedcanccr, seemhave no effectpeople's smoking habits. Knowingbelieving seembe two different things.
The young girl smokingcigarettethe advertisement runsriskdyingcancera few years. The smoker sitting nextyou may haveheart attack next week. But don't worry ! The chancedyingan accidentjust as great. Particularly if enough people agree with one advertiser that drivingcar at 22 m. p. h.smoking interesting cigarettesall that lifereally
about.
Additional lnformation
(A)
World 'No Tohacco' Day
Peopleall partsthe world are observing "No Tobacco Day". Itthe day whenWorld Health Organization appealspeoplestop using tobacco products. The W-H-O hopes if people stop smoking cigarettes or chewing tobaccoone day, they will stop permanently.
The day includes special observancesawards ceremoniesonehundred-sixty-six countries. The target groupthis year's "No Tobacco Day"women. Organizers wantmake sure women knowdangerssmoking.
Health experts have warnedyears that smoking can leadheart disease, cancerother problems. The World Health Organization says diseases linkedsmoking kill at least two-million five-hundred-thousand persons each ycar.
Still, many people finddifficultstop smoking. One reasonnicotime,
a substance foundcigarettes. Nicotinea drug. 'The effectsnicotine are similarthe effectscocaineheroin.
"No Tobacco Day"aimed at smokersthose who earn money from tobacco sales. So businesses are askedstop selling tobacco productstwenty-four hours. Newspapers are asked notpublish advertisementscigarettes.
Two important developments have been observedrecent years. In inciustrial count.ries,numbersmokers has been falling about one perceritvear. Butdeveloping countries,number has bcen rising two percentyear.
Thisthe resultincreased efforts by tobacco companiessell their productsdeveloping countrics.
The World Health Organization has approved planshelp reach its goala 'smoke-free' world. One urges governmentsoffer tobacco farmerschanceearn money by growing other crops. Another involves improved public information campaigns aboutdangerssmoking.
(B)
MIRIAM Yeah, when, when did you start smoking?
STEVE Well,started whenwas, er, about sixteen, andreally started because
I. . . well ,think my family smokedthat really made me want to, er,...
really; somehowwas like growing up.
MIRIAM Yeah.
STEVE And,course, my friends around me were smokingwhen we, when we
left school we'd go overparkhaves... ,havequick cigarette.
And er,mean,do remember whenfirst started thatdidn't really draw
cigarettes at all becausedidn't really know howdoanddidn't think
was very pleasant ;it's only as time goes by you get moremore
involvedthat,erm,that process until finally you've ... you realise
that you, you can't give up. And,fact, whenfirst startedused
pretend thatwas so hooked thatcouldn't give up, becausewas like
beingchild-it was like being a, beinggrown-up. You know, grown-ups say
they can't give up smoking, they wish they couldn't smoke andusedpretend
say that.Andcourse , bytimereally happens it's too late.
It doesn't meansame thing any more. You actually wantgive up but you
can't.
MIRIAM I've smoked sincewas eighteen andstarted , er. . as you did , sort...
sortsocially. Andwasn'tlotfunstart with.
STEVE Right.
MIRIAM It was quite embarrassing, sometimes, you know. You get srnokeyour eyes
your eyes would waterit'sdead give-away that you've only just started.
STEVE Mmm.
MIRIAM Er. Anddidn't carethe taste all that much but everybody. . . people
smoked. . .meanstarted smokinglong time ago before anything was
known about cancer and, er...was justthingdo. And as, as you said,
was a... ,was being grown-up. It was drawing that line, you know:
am, now grown up.
ANNE should thinkstarted at nine. ..started. No,really started my first
year at university. Everybody else smoked. It was justthingdo.And
now not.so many people smoke, it's ...seemsme thatwas an awful
wastetimemoney. But my father smokedmy mother didn't sowas
alwayssplit thingthe house.don't know,really..thinkprobably
just wassocial habit more than anything else.
JOHN Like most people ,started smoking at school , foolishly. Er ,was offered
cigarettes by other, er, children andthose days,suppose smoking was
equivalentdrug taking today; er, thatwas considered, erm, ... erm,...
fashionablesophisticatedadultsmoke.
WantKill Yourself ?
Text A
wonder whether smokingas harmful as doctors make us believe itbe? Somethe things they say are really hair-raising,even if only halfwhat they saytrue , then it, if not suicidal, at leastself-inflicted chronic disease.
This afternoon our League branch organizeddiscussionthe harmful effectssmokingwhat effective measures should be takenprevent young people from smoking. Accordingour form master , 50 %our class smoke , or have smoked at one time or another. If thattrue, then allboys because we make up about 50 %our class-can hardly believe that.
I,one, certainly don't smoke, thoughmust admitdid once takefew puffs just outcuriositys , but you can't call that smoking.
The discussion was quitelively one. The girls ,course , all spokeone voice against smoking , butthe most part , they had nothing originaloffer besides repeating what we can readthe paperspopular science magazines. At firstboys listenedglum silence andcould see boredomdisdaintheir faces. Thencross-fire between FattyLiu Dandan livenedmeeting up.
Dandan has always been somethingan actress andher theatrical manner she wentanddescribing how badcigarette tastes. Fatty couldn't contain himself any longermuttered underbreath, "Heavens , you must bevery experienced smoker! " Everybody burst out laughingDandan spluttered with rage. The girls rallied round herbeganattack Fatty. Of course we could have nonethatthe classroom was soonuproar.
"All right you boysgirls , thatquite enough. Show some sense. " Our form master's firm voice had quitesobering effectorder was restored again. "Those who do smoke, please put up your hands. " Taken by surprise, nobody made any move. "Come on. Therenothingfear. Thisnotpunishment.
I only want statistics.only want information so that we can really find out something about smoking. " We looked at each other. First Fatty, then about halfdozen boys raised their hands. Then our form master proceededask eachthem why they smokedwhether they liked smoking. Did they ever trygiveup? Why not? And soand so on. Soon he didn't haveask any questions as we all volunteered informationthe discussion became very livelythe atmosphere relaxed.
Some interesting facts came out. Familysurroundings playvery important partinfluencing smokers. All those who smoke come from smoking families or are surrounded by smoking friendsrelatives. FilmsTV plays also playpart. Inpast only villains smokeddrank. Now heroes also smokedrink,heroes now are mostly young people with"spiritthe 80s" fighting feudalismconservatism.
Asthose who smokedhave given up , they did so because they didn't enjoy smokingfoundtoo expensive. Very few people think about health dangers. All those who still smoke admit that they don't derive any great pleasure outsmoking. Srncking haa not bccomea.a:rdenecl habit with themthey could giveup easily if thcy really wanted to. They just haven't felt any urgent needdo it.
A very interestingrewarding discussion . Those smokers who haven't given much thoughttheir smoking will, I'm sure, give more thoughtit now.
Text B
Few people like changing their habits , good or bad ,, whether itsmoking, drinking or over-eating, they continue `enjoying' themthe end, oftenbitter end. On every packetcigarettes andevery advertisement , Americans are warned againstdangerssmoking, "Warning ; The Surgeon Gcneral Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is DangerousYour Health".
In spitethis, millionsthem start smoking or gosmoking. Why ? One reason rnay be that people watch their 'heroes'TV drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettesfighting their way from adventureadventure, `heroes' who seemfear nothing, neither killing other people nor killing themselves with alcoholcigarettes.
If they are not afraidthe effectssmokingdrinking alcohol, why should John Smith , sitting at homehis armchair watching all this, be afraid? The simple warningthe cigarette packet does not influence"hero's" habits either. But even stronger warnings, likc showing picturessmokers who have lostleg or diedcanccr, seemhave no effectpeople's smoking habits. Knowingbelieving seembe two different things.
The young girl smokingcigarettethe advertisement runsriskdyingcancera few years. The smoker sitting nextyou may haveheart attack next week. But don't worry ! The chancedyingan accidentjust as great. Particularly if enough people agree with one advertiser that drivingcar at 22 m. p. h.smoking interesting cigarettesall that lifereally
about.
Additional lnformation
(A)
World 'No Tohacco' Day
Peopleall partsthe world are observing "No Tobacco Day". Itthe day whenWorld Health Organization appealspeoplestop using tobacco products. The W-H-O hopes if people stop smoking cigarettes or chewing tobaccoone day, they will stop permanently.
The day includes special observancesawards ceremoniesonehundred-sixty-six countries. The target groupthis year's "No Tobacco Day"women. Organizers wantmake sure women knowdangerssmoking.
Health experts have warnedyears that smoking can leadheart disease, cancerother problems. The World Health Organization says diseases linkedsmoking kill at least two-million five-hundred-thousand persons each ycar.
Still, many people finddifficultstop smoking. One reasonnicotime,
a substance foundcigarettes. Nicotinea drug. 'The effectsnicotine are similarthe effectscocaineheroin.
"No Tobacco Day"aimed at smokersthose who earn money from tobacco sales. So businesses are askedstop selling tobacco productstwenty-four hours. Newspapers are asked notpublish advertisementscigarettes.
Two important developments have been observedrecent years. In inciustrial count.ries,numbersmokers has been falling about one perceritvear. Butdeveloping countries,number has bcen rising two percentyear.
Thisthe resultincreased efforts by tobacco companiessell their productsdeveloping countrics.
The World Health Organization has approved planshelp reach its goala 'smoke-free' world. One urges governmentsoffer tobacco farmerschanceearn money by growing other crops. Another involves improved public information campaigns aboutdangerssmoking.
(B)
MIRIAM Yeah, when, when did you start smoking?
STEVE Well,started whenwas, er, about sixteen, andreally started because
I. . . well ,think my family smokedthat really made me want to, er,...
really; somehowwas like growing up.
MIRIAM Yeah.
STEVE And,course, my friends around me were smokingwhen we, when we
left school we'd go overparkhaves... ,havequick cigarette.
And er,mean,do remember whenfirst started thatdidn't really draw
cigarettes at all becausedidn't really know howdoanddidn't think
was very pleasant ;it's only as time goes by you get moremore
involvedthat,erm,that process until finally you've ... you realise
that you, you can't give up. And,fact, whenfirst startedused
pretend thatwas so hooked thatcouldn't give up, becausewas like
beingchild-it was like being a, beinggrown-up. You know, grown-ups say
they can't give up smoking, they wish they couldn't smoke andusedpretend
say that.Andcourse , bytimereally happens it's too late.
It doesn't meansame thing any more. You actually wantgive up but you
can't.
MIRIAM I've smoked sincewas eighteen andstarted , er. . as you did , sort...
sortsocially. Andwasn'tlotfunstart with.
STEVE Right.
MIRIAM It was quite embarrassing, sometimes, you know. You get srnokeyour eyes
your eyes would waterit'sdead give-away that you've only just started.
STEVE Mmm.
MIRIAM Er. Anddidn't carethe taste all that much but everybody. . . people
smoked. . .meanstarted smokinglong time ago before anything was
known about cancer and, er...was justthingdo. And as, as you said,
was a... ,was being grown-up. It was drawing that line, you know:
am, now grown up.
ANNE should thinkstarted at nine. ..started. No,really started my first
year at university. Everybody else smoked. It was justthingdo.And
now not.so many people smoke, it's ...seemsme thatwas an awful
wastetimemoney. But my father smokedmy mother didn't sowas
alwayssplit thingthe house.don't know,really..thinkprobably
just wassocial habit more than anything else.
JOHN Like most people ,started smoking at school , foolishly. Er ,was offered
cigarettes by other, er, children andthose days,suppose smoking was
equivalentdrug taking today; er, thatwas considered, erm, ... erm,...
fashionablesophisticatedadultsmoke.