Vocabulary check

Exercise 11. Complete the text below by filling each gap with one of the following verbs:

Dressing, setting, giving, taking, saving, fitting, sterilizing, taking out, transplanting, taking off, performing

A Nurse’s Lament

Well, don’t you think it’s unfair? There they are upstairs, … bones, …skin grafts, …pacemakers, …organs, …lives and exciting things like that. And here I am spending the whole of my day … people’s pulse, … injections, … bandages, … stitches, … wounds and … bottles. And to think they earn four times as much money for all the fun they have!

Exercise 12. Read the dialogue, and answer the following questions:

1. What information does Jackie get out of Gladys?

2. Why is Jackie concerned?

3. What does Jackie suggest or advise?

4. How does Gladys react?

5. Is the conversation formal or informal? What makes you think so?

Jackie: Good heavens, Gladys, you’re getting really fat, you know. You’d better do something about it.

Gladys: Yes, perhaps I should. Do you really think it’s that bad?

Jackie: Do you mind if I ask how much you weigh these days?

Gladys: About 18 stones [ s = 6,35kg].

Jackie: That’s an awful lot, Gladys. I mean, I hope you don’t mind my saying so, but you are dangerously fat for your age.

Gladys: What do you mean, dangerously?

Jackie: Well, heart attacks of course. I hate to say it, but that’s a lot of fat for one heart to carry. I really think you ought to lose weight.

Gladys: Yes well, I see your point, and I have tried a few diets, but nothing seems to work. What do you think I ought to do?

Jackie: Well, if you want my opinion, complicated diets don’t work. How many times a day do you eat?

Gladys: Well, I hardly stop, really.

Jackie: Well, have you tried just eating less often? Why don’t you eat twice a day?

Gladys: I’ve tried that, but it’s not good; I just can’t resist the temptation.

Jackie: Well, the way I see it, you’ve simply got to resist it.

Gladys: Well, it’s easier said than done, isn’t it? I mean it’s all right for you , you are thin anyway. It’s easy for you to talk. The thing is, I’ve got so much weight to lose that it hardly seems worth starting.

Jackie: Well, you’ve got to start, if you want to know what I think.

Gladys: I suppose you’re right. Perhaps I’d better.

Jackie: I’d advise you to do exercises.

Gladys: Oh yes, I tried keep-fit classes, but they didn’t do any good.

Jackie: How many times do you go?

Gladys: You know, a few. Well, three or four.

Jackie: Well, what do you expect? You’ve got to keep it up! If you don’t lose weight you’re going to have problems with health.

Gladys: All right, you’ve got a point I suppose. I’ll try again.

CULTURAL NOTE In recent years people in the US and UK have become more concerned about the food they eat and the effect it has on their health. People are worried about additives (=added chemicals) in food, and many people have reduced the amount of salt, fat and sugar that they eat in order to lose weight, lower their cholesterol, and reduce their risk of getting heart disease. Many people, especially women, regularly go on a diet (=have a period of time when they eat less than usual in order to become thinner). They pay companies such as weight watchers to help them develop their own diet programmes and to give them support while they are losing weight. Most women’s magazines include diet plans, every year new books are published that contain the latest diets.