Discovered in the early 1800s and named nicotinamide, the oily essence now called nicotine is the main active ingredient of tobacco. Nicotine, however, is only a small component of cigarette smoke, which contains more than 4,700 chemical compounds, including 43 cancer-causing substances. In recent times, scientific research has been providing evidence that years of cigarette smoking vasty increases the risk of developing fatal medical conditions.
In
addition to being responsible for more than 85 per cent of lung cancers,
smoking is associated with cancers of, amongst others, the mouth, stomach and
kidneys, and is thought to cause about 14 per cent of leukemia and cervical
cancers. In 1990, smoking caused more than 84 000 deaths mainly resulting from
such problems as pneumonia, bronchitis and influenza. Smoking, it is believed, is
responsible for 30 per cent of all deaths from cancer and clearly represents
the most important preventable cause of cancer in countries like the United
States today.
Passive
smoking, the breathing in of the side-stream smoke from the burning of tobacco
between puffs or of the smoke exhaled by a smoker, also causes a serious health
risk. A report published in 1992 by the US Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) emphasized the health dangers, especially from side-stream smoke. This
type of smoke contains more, smaller particles and is therefore more likely to
be deposited deep in the lungs. On the basis of this report, the EPA has
classified environmental tobacco smoke in the highest risk category for causing
cancer.
As
an illustration of the health risks, in the case of a married couple where one
partner is a smoker and one a non-smoker, the latter is believed to have a 30 per
cent higher risk of death from heart disease because of passive smoking. The risk
of lung cancer also increases over the years of exposure and the figure jumps
to 80 per cent if the spouse has been smoking four packs a day for 20 years. It
has been calculated that 17 per cent of cases of lung cancer can be attributed
to high levels of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke during childhood and
adolescence.
A
more recent study by researchers at the University of California at San
Francisco (UCSF) has shown that second-hand cigarette smoke does more harm to
non-smokers than to smokers. Leaving aside the philosophical question of whether
anyone should have to breathe someone else’s cigarette smoke, the report
suggests that the smoke experienced by many people in their daily lives is
enough to produce substantial adverse effects on a person’s heart and lungs.
The
report, published in the journal of the American Medical Association (AMA), was
based on the researchers’ own earlier research but also includes a review of
studies over the past few years. The American Medical Association represents
about half of all US doctor and is a strong opponent of smoking. The study
suggests that people who smoke cigarettes are continually damaging their cardiovascular
system, which adapts in order to compensate for the effects of smoking. It
further states that people who do not smoke do not have the benefit of their system
adapting to the smoke inhalation. Consequently, the effects of passive smoking are
far greater on non-smokers than smokers.
This
report emphasizes that cancer is not caused by a single element in cigarette
smoke; harmful effects to health are caused by many components. Carbon monoxide,
for example, competes with oxygen in red blood cells and interferes with the
blood’s ability to deliver life-giving oxygen to the heart. Nicotine and other
toxins in cigarette smoke activate small blood cells called platelets, which
increases the likelihood of blood, there by affecting blood circulation
throughout the body.
The
researchers criticize the practice of some scientific consultants who work with
the tobacco industry for assuming that cigarette smoke has the same impact on
smokers as it on non-smokers. They argue that those scientists are
underestimating the damage done by passive smoking and, in support of their recent
findings, cite some previous research which points to passive smoking as the cause
for between 30,000 and 60,000 is the third most preventable cause of death after
active smoking and alcohol-related diseases.
Questions 15 – 17
Choose the appropriate letters A
– D and write them in boxes 15 – 17 on your answer sheet.
15 According to
information in the test in the text, leukemia and pneumonia
A Are responsible for 84,000 deaths each year
B Are
strongly linked to cigarette smoking
C Are
strongly linked to lung cancer
D Result
in 30 per cent of deaths per year
16 According to
information in the text, intake of carbon monoxide
A Inhibits the flow of oxygen to the heart
B Increases
absorption of other smoke particles
C Inhibits
red blood cell formation
D Promotes
nicotine absorption
17 According to
information in the text, intake of nicotine encourages
A Blood circulation through the body
B Activity
of other toxins in the blood
C Formation
of blood clots
D An
increase of platelets in the blood
Questions 18 – 21
Do the following statements
reflect the claims of the write in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 18 – 21 on your answer sheet write
YES if
the statement reflects the claims of the write
NO if
the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the write thinks about this
18 Thirty per cent of deaths in the United States are caused
by smoking-related disease.
19 if one partner in
a marriage smoke, the other is likely to take up smoking
20 Teenagers whose parents smoke are at risk of getting
lung cancer at some time during their lives
21 Opponents of
smoking financed the UCSF study
Questions 22 – 24
Choose ONE phrase from the
list of phrases A – J below to
complete each of the following sentences (Questions 22 – 24)
Write the appropriate letters in boxes 22 – 24 on your answer sheet
22 Passive
smoking….
23 Compared with
a non-smoker, a smoker….
24 The American
Medical Association…...
A Includes
reviews of studies in its reports.
B Argues
for stronger action against smoking in public places.
C Is
one of the two most preventable causes of death.
D Is
more likely to be at risk from passive smoking diseases.
E Is
more harmful to non-smokers than to smokers.
F Is
less likely to be at risk contracting lung cancer.
G Is
more likely to be at risk of contracting various cancers.
H Opposes
smoking and publishes research on the subject.
I Is
just as harmful to smoker as it is to non-smokers.
J Reduces
the quantity of blood flowing around the body.
Questions 25 – 28
Classify the following statements as being
A A finding of the UCSF study
B An opinion of the UCSF study
C A finding of the EPA report
D An assumption of consultants to
the tobacco industry
Write the appropriate letters A
– D in boxes 25 – 28 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than one
25 Smokers’ cardiovascular systems adapt to the
intake of environmental smoke.
26 There is a philosophical question as to whether
people should have to inhale others’ smoke.
27 Smoke-free
public places offer the best solution
28 The intake of side-stream smoke is more harmful
than smoke exhaled by a smoker