A lot of doctors leave time at the end of a checkup for

a) questions

b) talking to your parents

c) to explain simple rules of a healthy lifestyle

4. Keeping fit and staying healthy …

a) have become very expensive

b) give a chance to live to a hundred

c) have become a growing industry

5. Nowadays huge sums of money are spent on…

a) calling the ambulance

b) on doctors' prescriptions

c) health foods and drugs of various kinds

d) being on sick-leave

e) health clubs

6. They say, we are more concerned now about…

a) the water we drink and the air we breathe

b) coughs and sneezes

c) smoking more, though not yet drinking alcohol.

7. A teetotaller means…

a) a non smoker

b) a person who drinks only tea

c) a person who avoids taking strong drinks

8) As many joggers have discovered…

a) too much exercise can be harmful

b) a lot of vitamins can be useful

c) Eating the right food can easily become an obsession

Text 2

What is Flu?

Before you read:

Have you ever suffered from flu?

What are the symptoms of flu?

Are there any serious after-effects?

How did you treat for flu?

Influenza is also called flu. It's an infection that causes fever, chills, cough, body aches, headaches, and sometimes earaches or sinus problems. Flu is caused by the influenza virus. A virus is a microorganism, which means it's so small that you can't see it without a strong microscope. For most people, flu is a drag, but it goes away in a week or two. But for some people, flu can make them very sick. Those groups include: babies and kids younger than age 5, people older than 50, adults and kids who have health problems, such as diabetes and asthma. Anyone who's at risk of getting really sick needs to get a flu shot, or vaccine. People such as doctors and nurses also need the shot because they take care of sick people, and it's good for anyone who is around older people and younger kids to get the vaccine. And now, experts say that all kids between the ages of 6 months and 18 years should get the flu shot. This is especially important for kids who have: heart or lung disorders, including asthma, chronic diseases such as diabetes, kidney disease, certain kinds of anemia, or immune system problems, including HIV/AIDS. Flu vaccines are usually given in the fall, before flu season starts. Flu season means the months of the year when a lot of people have flu and it's easy to catch it. It starts in November and usually ends in April. If you get the flu vaccine, or shot, it will protect you from getting abad case of flu. You either won't get flu at all or, if you do get it, you will have only mild symptoms and you should get better pretty quickly. Like other shots, a flu shot is given using a needle. There's also a nasal mist flu vaccine, which is a spray that's squirted up your nose. Whichever one you get, you need to get a new vaccine every year. Why? Because the flu virus changes every year and the vaccine is specially created to fight the viruses that are going to be a problem that year. This virus gets around in little drops that spray out of an infected person's mouth and nose when he or she sneezes, coughs, or even laughs. You can catch flu from someone who has it if you breathe in some of those tiny flu-infected drops. You can also catch flu if those drops get on your hands and you touch your mouth or nose. No wonder people are always saying to cover your mouth when you sneeze! But even if you get a flu shot, steer clear of sneezers, and you wash your hands regularly, you still might get flu. At the doctor's office, the doctor will ask you how you've been feeling and examine you. He or she might use a long cotton swab to get a sample of the gunk in your nose or throat. Testing this sample in a lab can determine, for sure, that you have flu. But usually this isn't necessary. Based on your symptoms, your doctor can usually tell if you have flu, especially during times when a lot of flu is going around your town.

Once your doctor says you have flu, you can start taking these steps to feel better:

ü Rest in bed or on the couch.

ü Drink lots of liquids, like water, chicken broth, and other fluids.

ü Take the medicine prescribed for you to ease your fever, aches, and pains.

ü If you have trouble breathing, your muscles really hurt, or you feel confused, these are signs you may need to see the doctor again.

ü Most of the time, you’ll feel better in a week or two. Until then, you’ll have to stay home from work and take it easy.

What Is a Cold?

You wake up in a cranky mood. Your head hurts. You don't have the energy to even get out of bed. And you can't breathe out of your nose. What's wrong? You have a cold! Having a cold is the number-one reason kids visit the doctor and stay home from school. Kids get up to eight colds per year with each cold lasting an average of 5 to 7 days. Let's find out more about them. A cold is an infection of the upper respiratory system. This just means it affects the nose, throat, and ears. A cold virus gets inside your body and makes you sick. There are over 200 viruses that cause colds. The rhinovirus is the most common cold virus, but there are more than 200 viruses that cause colds. Because there are so many, there isn't a vaccination, or shot, to prevent you from getting colds. Fortunately, your body already has the best cold cure — your immune system. The immune system defends your body against illness. Mucus is the wet, slimy stuff inside the nose. When someone sneezes or coughs, mucus drops float in the air. Breathing in these droplets can spread a cold from one person to another. You can also catch a cold if you touch your eyes or nose after handling something with cold viruses on it. Getting a cold works like space travel — the virus actually has docking points that stick to the inside of your nose — just like a small spaceship attaching to a mother ship! The virus takes over the cells lining the nose and begins creating more viruses.

Symptoms. Once you've been in contact with a cold virus, it takes 2 to 3 days for cold symptoms to begin. If you have some of the following symptoms, you probably have a cold:

low fever (100 to 101 degrees Fahrenheit or 37.2 to 37.8 degrees Celsius)

body chills

itchy or sore throat

sneezing, runny nose, and watery eyes

coughing

feeling tired and not hungry

congestion (when your nose is stuffy and it's hard to breathe)

Here are some feel-better tips:

Bring on the heat. Hot drinks soothe coughs and sore throats while also clearing mucus. So eat (or drink) your chicken soup!

Get steamed up. A steamy shower helps stuffy or irritated noses. Or run a humidifier (a small, quiet machine that sprays fine cool mist in the air) to relieve your scratchy throat, stuffy nose, and itchy eyes. Humidifiers make room air moist, which loosens mucus.

Practice healthy habits. Your immune system will be ready to fight colds if you eat a balanced diet, get plenty of sleep, and keep your body fit through regular exercise.

Blow your horn. Blowing your nose is the best way to get rid of mucus.

Rest. Take a nap or go to bed a little earlier for a few nights.

De-stress. Kids who are stressed out feel worse when they have colds. Relax and use the time to read, listen to music, or watch a movie. In other words, chill out and you might prevent a cold!

What is Pneumonia?

You're out in the rain, jumping around in puddles, and somebody yells, "Get inside before you catch pneumonia!" But what is pneumonia? And can you really catch it from playing in the rain?

Pneumonia is an infection of one or both lungs. To know what that means, you have to know something about lungs and what they do. When you breathe in, you pull oxygen into your lungs. That oxygen travels through breathing tubes and eventually gets into your blood through the alveoli. How can something so small get oxygen into your blood? You have about 600 million of them! When oxygen-rich air reaches the alveoli, it can be absorbed into the blood. Then your red blood cells can carry oxygen all over your body. The body needs oxygen to keep working properly and to stay alive. But if a person has pneumonia, his or her lungs can't do their job as well as they usually do. Why? Because this kind of infection creates fluid that blocks the alveoli. This makes it hard for oxygen to get deep into the lungs, where it can be passed through to the blood. The person can still breathe, but it might be harder to breathe, especially if the pneumonia affects both lungs. Pneumonia can happen to people at any age, from tiny babies to really old people. Getting wet doesn't cause pneumonia — an infection from bacteria or a virus does. A cold or flu that gets worse can turn into pneumonia. That's because the cold or flu will irritate the lungs, creating an environment where it's easier for pneumonia germs to move in and start an infection. Most kids with pneumonia will feel sick. The symptoms can vary depending on a kid's overall health and whether it's caused by a virus or bacteria. With bacterial pneumonia, a kid might feel sick suddenly and have a high fever with chills. Either way, a kid might feel like he or she has the flu with a cough, fever, headache, and sometimes belly pain. Pneumonia often causes chest discomfort, too — and a feeling like you can't quite catch your breath. The kid might be breathing faster than usual and may cough up mucus. Pneumonia can even make a kid feel sick to his or her stomach and not want to eat at all. It's not much fun, but with the right treatment, most kids with pneumonia recover completely. To diagnose pneumonia, a doctor will first ask you questions about how you are feeling — including how well you're breathing — and examine you. The doctor will listen to your chest with a stethoscope. We usually think about stethoscopes listening for heartbeats, but they help doctors hear what's going on in your lungs, too. Your lungs don't beat, but the doctor can hear the sounds they're making. If there's fluid in there — a sign of pneumonia — he or she might be able to hear bubbling or crackling sounds called rales. If your doctor thinks you could have pneumonia, he or she may order a chest X-ray or begin treatment right away. On an X-ray, the doctor can often see signs of the pneumonia infection. Any buildup of fluid or infection often shows up as a cloudy, patchy white area in the usual see-through spaces of the lungs. In some cases, the X-ray can help a the doctor tell if the infection is caused by a virus or bacteria. If the pneumonia is caused by bacteria, antibiotic medicine will be given. If the doctor thinks you won't be able to keep the medicine down, or if you are having trouble breathing, the treatment might be given in the hospital through an IV. Antibiotics won't work on viruses, so if that's the cause of the pneumonia, only fever reducers and sometimes cough medicine will be suggested. No matter which germ caused the pneumonia, getting rest and drinking plenty of fluids is always recommended. There are several ways to keep from getting pneumonia. One is to get all your shots because one of them can help to prevent a type of pneumonia called pneumococcal pneumonia. Getting a flu shot can also help guard against getting pneumonia, particularly in kids who have asthma or certain other lung conditions. Getting enough rest is also very important because lack of sleep may make it harder for your immune system to fight infections.

Comprehension:

1. Fill in the table:

Flu can cause	Sneeze, cough ….
Groups of risk	….
Getting a flu shot a) Who? b) When? c) Why? d) How?	a)…. b)…. c)…. d)…
Steps to treat smb for flu	….

2a. Translate the following words and expressions from the text. Use them in sentences of your own:

Озноб, носовая пазуха, поставить прививку, бороться с вирусом, впрыскивать (в нос), держаться подальше от чихающих, ватный тампон, взять мазок, дыхательная система, действовать на, капелька, всасываться в кровь, красные кровяные клетки (тельца, эритроциты), выздоравливать, хрип.

2b. Find in the text the English equivalents to the following words and expressions:

Anemia, a bad case of flu, a sample of the gunk (gunge) in your nose, flu-infected drops, slimy stuff, to soothe coughs and sore throats, a humidifier, alveoli, overall health, belly pain, muscus, to guard against getting pneumonia.

3. Imagine that you are a doctor and one day a little patient comes to consult you. There is an epidemic of flu and the child is sure to have influenza. Describe how you will examine the kid, what you will ask and prescribe. (Don’t forget to use the ideas and the vocabulary from the text).

Text 3