Text 3 Fact or myth?

1. It’s difficult to ignore your mother when she tells you to “wrap up warm” or “dry your hair or you’ll get a cold”- but colds are not caused by the cold: they are caused by viruses! Walking around with wet hair or a T-shirt in winter may look silly, and will make you feel cold, but you will only get a cold or the flu, if you come into contact with an infected person. The best way to avoid viruses like these is to wash your hands regularly when there’s a bug going around.

2. Despite the huge medical advances that have been made over the last century, the common cold is still incurable and medicine does little for the symptoms either. Antibiotics won’t help as your cold is caused by one of over 200 viruses. The only time you may need them is if you develop a throat or ear infection. Otherwise, go to bed and drink lots of fluids and wait till you get better.

3. Acne is a hormonal condition which causes the skin to produce too much oil. Eating a lot of fatty foods may be bad for you in other ways, but research has failed to find any connection between diet and acne. Incidentally, washing too much can make the condition worse. It’s best just to wash gently twice a day and don’t rub the skin too hard.

Doctors have several ideas about what leads to arthritis including bacterial or viral infections and jobs which involve an overuse of your joints. Some types of arthritis can even affect children. However, no types are caused by cracking your finger joists.

Text 4

“Being the eldest”

The way I am today is a complete reflection of my position in the family. When people ask me questions, I always feel I have to know the answer, because my brothers always assumed I knew everything.

I was the one who did everything first, like learning to read. I didn’t always want to be the first, but I felt I had to.

I always helped with the housework. As I was the only girl, my mom often used to say “Jane, could you wash up? Jane, can you make the supper?”. Of course, my brothers were never asked.

I was completely aware of the power I had being the eldest, and in retrospect I think I was probably very bossy, and in a way selfish, because I did everything myself and didn’t give the others the opportunity. When my brothers grew up, it took me ages to accept that they were independent adults – I still think of my brother Michael as twelve years old, and in fact he’s a father himself now!

And I’ve continued being the one who has to look after people even today. My job involves looking after people, and my husband is a “youngest child” himself, and I end up looking after him too. I think I would be a more relaxed person today and worry less if I hadn’t been an eldest child.

Text 5 Money has no smell

People say that these words belong to Vespasian, an emperor of Rome. Suetonius, a Roman historian, writes that the words were used by Vespasian on the following occasion. Once the emperor’s son Titus reproached his father that he had introduced a tax on public lavatories. Vespasian told him to smell the money he was holding in his palm and to see if the smell was not foul. Titus said that the smell was not foul. Vespasian remarked that money was in the urine, because it had been just paid as the tax on lavatories.