Unit 2 No smoking, please!

Lesson 5

Wang Bing has just started working at a film studio. He’s in Hank’s office.

Wang Bing:    Do you mind if I smoke?

Hank:                    I’m sorry, but it’s not allowed.

Wang Bing:     Would yo mid if I smoked in the office next door?

Hank:                    I’m afraid all these offices are non-smoking offices.

Wang Bing:     Oh dear! Where can I go if I want to smoke a cigarette?

Hank:                    You can smoke in the entrance hall. Or outside, of course.

Wang Bing:     Thanks. I wonder if I could use your phone.

Hank:                    Sure. Go ahead.

A: May I borrow your bicycle?

B: I’m sorry.

A: It’s very important.

B: Why ?

A: I need to fetch a tape from a friend. I’ll be back in half an hour.

B: Oh, all right.

Lesson 6

Read the passage to see if these sentences are true:

Chinese people smoke more than British people.

In Britain more women smoke than men.

 
No smoking, please 1

At present about 38% of the Chinese population smoke. 89% of smokers are male.Every year, millions of smokers die because of illnesses which are caused by smoking tobacco.The Chinese government receives a lot of money from sales of tobacco; in 1989 it received about 24 billion yuan. But in the same year cigarette smoking cost the government even more money, about 28 billion yuan. Smokers cost the government ment a lot of money for two reasons. First, money is spent looking after people with illnesses which have been caused by smoking. Second, many fires are caused by smokers. People who smoke in bed often fall asleep while they are smoking. The bed clothes catch fire and the whole house may be burnt down. China produces one third of the world’s cigarettes. Each day, about 220 million packets of cigarettes are smoked by Chinese. This is good news for the tobacco campanies, but bad news for the health of the nation. Every year, tobacco companies must persuade new people to start smoking cigarettes. This is because each year millions of smokers die from the habit.

       In Britain, which has a population of only 58 million people, 110,000 people die from smoking each year. The chance is that one smoker in four will die from smokig.

       In Britain,sales of cigarettes have been reduced by 30% in the last ten years. Just under a third of the population now smokes, about 17 million people. In the 16-19 age group,32% of women smoke, compared to 28% of men. However, in the 20-24 age group, 39% of women smoke and 38% of men. The problem is that 300 people are dying each day from illnesses caused by smoking. Therefore, if the tobacco companies want to remain in business, they have to encourage more young people to start smoking.

 
Lesson 7

 
No smoking, please 2

In Britain, 70% of smokers say that they would like to stop smoking and of these smokers,83% have tried more than once to give it up. Why do smokers continue to smoke, even when they know that the habit may kill them or at least cause a serious illness? The problem with tobacco is that it contains a drug called nicotine. Nicotine is a drug that gets one into the habit of smoking. That means that once you start taking the drug, it is hard to stop.

       When smokers who are used to nicotine go without it for an hour or two, they begin to feel bad. The body is calling for a new supply of the drug nicotine. So they say “ I must have a cigarette. In fact, they don’t need a cigarette. All they need is something to make them feel better at that moment. One thing that will stop them feeling bad is the drug nicotine, which is contained in cigarettes. And so their habit of smoking continues.

 Grammar Noun Clauses as the Object and Predicative

They know that the habit may kill them.

The problem with tobacco is that it contains a drug called nicotine.

Useful expressions

1.  Go ahead

2.  Burn down

3.  Compared to

4.  Give up

5.  Be used to

6.  Get into the habit of

7.  Compare with