At the Doctor’s

Last winter I fell ill. I caught a bad cold. I felt sick and giddy. I had a bad cough and was running a high temperature. I had also a cold in my head and a terrible sore throat. It hurt me when I swallowed. It was clear that I needed a doctor’s aid.

My mother dialed the polyclinic and made an appointment with the doctor. In an hour or so the doctor in a white gown came in. Before diagnosing the disease, she asked me to strip to the waist, examined my throat, felt my pulse, sounded my heart and lungs and tested my blood pressure. She said it was quinsy.

The doctor told me to stay in bed for a week to avoid complications after the illness. Then she prescribed me some pills, drops and mixture. I was to take a table-spoonful of mixture twice a day, three pills a day after meals and some drops of medicine into my nose. Then my mother went to the chemist’s to have the prescription made up.

I followed all the doctor’s directions and in a week I felt much better. At the end of the week I went to the polyclinic where I had my chest X-rayed and my blood tested. Everything was all right. I recovered. The doctor gave me a sick-note and said that I was as fit as a fiddle.

Topical Vocabulary

duty	обязанность
to keep in perfect order	содержать в безупречном порядке
a headache	головная боль
a heartache	сердечная боль
a toothache	зубная боль
a backache	боль в спине
an earache	боль в ушах
a sore throat	боль в горле
a bad cough	сильный кашель
to have (to catch) a bad cold in one’s head	простудиться
to suffer from high (low) blood pressure	страдать от высокого (низкого) кровяного давления
to examine	осматривать
to feel one’s pulse	измерить пульс
to test one’s blood pressure	измерить давление
to have one’s chest X-rayed	сделать рентгеновский снимок
	грудной клетки
to prescribe treatment	прописать лекарство
medicine	лекарство
at the chemist’s	в аптеке
to stay in bed	оставаться в постели
complications	осложнения
to follow doctor’s recommendations	следовать рекомендациям доктора
to feel sick and giddy	чувствовать тошноту и головокружение
to recover	выздороветь
to be as fit as a fiddle	быть в добром здравии

I. Answer the questions:

1. Why must we keep our body in perfect order?

2. When were you ill last time?

3. What did you feel?

4. Did you call a doctor?

5. What was the diagnosis?

6. Did the doctor prescribe you any medicine?

7. Did you follow the doctor’s directions?

8. When did you recover?

9. Every year we all suffer from the epidemic of the flu. Describe the symptoms of this disease and say what should be done in case you fall ill with it.

10. Fitness is important. The fitter you are the better you feel and the more you can enjoy life. How fit are you? What do you do to keep fit?

11. Do you agree that people who become ill because they are smokers should pay for their medical treatment? Give your reasons.

12. You have made up your mind to lose weight. Would you keep a diet? Give your reasons.

13. Camping is fun for both heart and body. Do you agree? Give your reasons.