At the dentist’s

Nell: Hello, is that you, Bert? Nell is here. I’m so glad I’ve found you in.

Bert: Hello, Nell. How are things?

N.: Fine. Listen, Bert. I’m bursting with news. Just imaging: yesterday I had the first real patient of my own.

B.: You don’t say! Who was it?

N.: A nice old dear with a lot of teeth to be pulled out. It’s such wonderful practice for me!

B.: Are you quite sure that some of his teeth couldn’t be filled?

N.: None of them! I sent him to have his teeth X-rayed, so it’s all right.

B.: How did you manage to get such marvelous patient, I wonder?

N.: He came with a bad toothache. It had been bothering him for a day or two already.

B.: Were there no other dentists in the surgery?

N.: No, I was the only one. It was Sunday.

B.: Poor old thing! I hope you didn’t try to pull out all his teeth at once, did you?

N.: Don’t be silly. I just chose the easiest one to begin with.

B.: I see… And how did you get along?

N.: Wonderfully! I tested his blood pressure and gave him a couple of injections, though he said that my smile worked better than any injection.

B.: Oh… And he didn’t have heart attack after the tooth was taken out? It would have been natural for an old man.

N.: No, he just felt a bit sick and giddy. I gave him a tonic and told him to stay in bed for a while and take his temperature.

B.: Perhaps I’d better drop in and check his heart? I’m on sick leave now and can do it at any time.

N.: You needn’t. I’ll ring him up and in case he’s running a high temperature I’ll let you know. But I do hope he won’t. The day after tomorrow he’s coming again.

B.: Are you sure he’s not going to make an appointment with some other dentist?

N.: I don’t think he will. When he was leaving he said he looked forward to having all his teeth pulled out and he would keep them all as souvenirs to remember me by.

B.: Well, I wish you good luck. Hope to hear from you soon. Bye for now, Nell.

N.: Good-bye, Bert. I’ll let you know how things are going on.

13. Answer the questions:

1. What should you do if a) you feel feverish; b) you susceptible to drugs; c) your brother/sister is running high temperature; d) you have a very bad headache.

2. What should a doctor do to diagnose you? How can you arrange for a doctor’s visit to you?

3. Which do you prefer: to go to the local out-patient clinic or to send for a doctor?

4. What should you do with those prescriptions that the doctor has written out for you?

5. How long is your sick-leave?

6. What can you cure your running nose with?

14. Make up a monologue about your visit to a doctor.

ТЕМА №9: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Практические вопросы

1. Защита окружающей среды.

2. Экологические проблемы.

Задания для отработки практических навыков

1. Read the text. Environmental protection

The poisoning of the world's land, air, and water is the fastest-spreading disease of civilization. It probably produces fewer headlines than wars, earthquakes and floods, but it is potentially one of history's greatest dangers to human life on earth. If present trends continue for the next several decades, our planet will become uninhabitable.

Overpopulation, pollution and energy consumption have created such planet-wide problems as massive deforestation, ozone depletion, acid rains and the global warming that is believed to be caused by the greenhouse effect.

The seas are in danger. They are filled with poison: industrial and nuclear waste, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The Mediterranean is already nearly dead; the North Sea is following. The Aral Sea is on the brink of extinction. If nothing is done about it, one day nothing will be able to live in the seas.

Every ten minutes one kind of animal, plant or insect dies out for ever. If nothing is done about it, one million species that are alive today will have become extinct twenty years from now.

Air pollution is a very serious problem. In Cairo just breathing the air is life threatening– equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. The same holds true for Mexico City and 600 cities of the former Soviet Union.

Industrial enterprises emit tons of harmful substances. These emissions have disastrous consequences for our planet. They are the main reason for the greenhouse effect and acid rains.

Even greater environmental threats are nuclear power stations. We all know how tragic the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster are.

People are beginning to realize that environmental problems are not somebody else's. They join and support various international organizations and green parties. If governments wake up to what is happening – perhaps we'll be able to avoid the disaster that threatens the natural world and all of us with it.