4. Put the jumbled sentences in the logical order.

1. The process of scanning one’s iris takes about three minutes.

2. A compressed air cartridge with two darts allows police to deal with violent people.

3. This system is used at airports to speed passengers through passport control.

4. GPS is used during offender’s tracking.

5. If offenders break the borders of the restricted area it is immediately reported to the police.

Unit XXIII

Key words and expressions: an active ingredient, lung cancer, passive smoking, to underestimate the danger.

Pre-reading tasks

Before reading the text answer the questions.

1. Why do people smoke?

2. Do you think it is difficult to avoid this harmful habit?

The Risks of Cigarette Smoke

Discovered in the early 1800s and named nicotianine, the oily essence now called nicotine is the main active ingredient of tobacco. Nicotine, however, is only a small component of cigarette smoke, which contains more than 4,700 chemical compounds, including 43 cancer-causing substances. In recent times, scientific research has been providing evidence that years of cigarette smoking vastly increases the risk of developing fatal medical conditions.

In addition to being responsible for more than 85 per cent of lung cancers, smoking is associated with cancers of, amongst others, the mouth, stomach and kidneys, and is thought to cause about 14 per cent of leukemia and cervical cancers. In 1990, smoking caused more than 84,000 deaths, mainly resulting from such problems as pneumonia, bronchitis and influenza. Smoking, it is believed, is responsible for 30 per cent of all deaths from cancer and clearly represents the most important preventable cause of cancer in countries like the United States today.

Passive smoking, the breathing in of the side-stream smoke from the burning of tobacco between puffs or of the smoke exhaled by a smoker, also causes a serious health risk, A report published in 1992 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emphasized the health dangers, especially from side-stream smoke. This type of smoke contains more, smaller particles and is therefore more likely to be deposited deep in the lungs. On the basis of this report, the EPA has classified environmental tobacco smoke in the highest risk category for causing cancer.

This report emphasizes that cancer is not caused by a single element in cigarette smoke; harmful effects to health are caused by many components. Carbon monoxide, for example, competes with oxygen in red blood cells and interferes with the blood's ability to deliver oxygen to the heart. Nicotine and other toxins in cigarette smoke activate small blood cells called platelets, which increases the likelihood of blood clots, thereby affecting blood circulation throughout the body.

The researchers criticize the practice of some scientific consultants who work with the tobacco industry for assuming that cigarette smoke has the same impact on smokers as it does on non-smokers. They argue that those scientists are underestimating the damage done by passive smoking and, in support of their recent findings, cite some previous research which points to passive smoking as the cause for between 30,000 and 60,000 deaths from heart attacks each year in the United States. This means that passive smoking is the third most preventable cause of death after active smoking and alcohol-related diseases.

Post-reading tasks

1. Form synonymous pairs.

1. Breath in a) link

2. Essence b) basis

3. Main c) substance

4. Fatal d) inhale

5. Associate e) friend

2. Complete the following sentences.

1. Cigarette smoke contains … .

2. Smoking can cause such fatal diseases as … .

3. Passive smoking is … .

4. Among the many components that are harmful to health due to smoking are … .

5. Some scientific consultants working with the tobacco industry are criticized for assuming that … .

3. Agree or disagree with the following statements.

1. Nicotine is the main component of cigarette smoke.

2. Smoking is connected with many types of cancer.

3. Passive smoking is not harmful to one’s health.

4. Other components of cigarette smoke are also responsible for many health disorders.

5. Passive smoking is a preventable cause of death.

4. Put the jumbled sentences in the logical order.

1. Smoking is responsible not only for lung cancer but also for developing many other diseases.

2. It is worth mentioning that some scientists underestimate the damage done by passive smoking.

3. Many other elements such as carbon monoxide harmfully affect health.

4. Nicotine, the oily essence, is the main ingredient of tobacco.

5. Passive smoking contains much smaller particles which are deposited deep in the lungs thus causing cancer.

6. Medical evidence proves that cigarette smoking is the cause of developing fatal diseases.