How can we lead a healthier life?

Write essay1:

Everyone wants to be happy, healthy, wise and wealthy. Health experts are sure that having a healthy lifestyle is the only option for a long and happy life. However, some young people neglect their health considering other things to be more important and trying to make their dreams come true. What is your opinion? Do your lead a healthy life?

Can you feel the rhythm? (+audio)

“Routine” is usually seen as a negative term nowadays, largely because we no longer belong to a society of nine-to-fivers. We live in what is fast becoming a 24-hour society, where everything is open all hours. You can buy your groceries at midnight, book your holiday on the Internet at 3 am, and do business online at the crack of dawn. Before you join the 24-hour revolution, however, take a minute to listen to what your body is trying to tell you – that a round-the-clock lifestyle is not what nature intended.

In an area of our brains called the hypothalamus, we have a “body clock” that controls our body’s natural rhythms. It tells us when it’s the right time to eat, sleep, work and play. It plays an important part in our physical and psychological well-being. It is, in fact, what makes us tick and it controls many things including our hormones, temperature, immune functions and alertness. It synchronises all these like a conductor with an orchestra; it regulates tempo and brings in all the different instruments on time to make music rather than random noise. If we try to ignore our body clocks, or even to switch them off for a while, we not only deprive ourselves of much needed rest but we also run the risk of seriously damaging our health.

Ignoring your body clock and changing your body’s natural rhythms can not only make you depressed, anxious and accident prone, it can lead to much more serious health problems. For example, heart disease, fatigue, ulcers, muscular pain, and frequent viral infections can all result from trying to outsmart our body clocks. Altering our patterns of sleeping and waking dramatically affects our immune system. While we sleep the body’s repair mechanisms are at work; when we are awake natural killer cells circulate around our bodies and cause more damage. Our digestive system is affected, too – high levels of glucose and fat remain in our bloodstream for longer periods of time and these can lead to heart disease.

Unfortunately, we were not designed to be members of a 24-hour society. We can’t ignore millions of years of evolution and stay up all night and sleep all day. We function best with a regular pattern of sleep and wakefulness that is in tune with our natural environment. Nature’s cues are what keep our body clocks ticking rhythmically and everything working in harmony. So, next time you think a daily routine is boring and predictable, remember that routine may well save your life in the long run.

1. What does “It” in line 8 refer to? a) our body’s natural rhythms b) the hypothalamus c) our body’s biological clock d) our brain 2. What does the word “tick” in line 10 mean? a) check b) motivate c) select d) function 3. In what way is our body clock like the conductor of an orchestra? a) The hypothalamus controls our actions. b) It makes all the body’s functions work together at the right time. c) The body clock is very precise. d) We have a special programme.

4. If we change our sleep patterns, we a) will get an infection. b) will disturb our immune system. c) will get heart disease. d) get high levels of dangerous cells. 5. According to the text, we should a) do things when our body tells us to. b) organise our body clock according to a strict schedule. c) use the natural environment to work out a regular routine. d) have a boring, slow-paced life-style. 6. According to the text, our body clock a) can be changed without harm. b) determines when we should do things. c) helps us to fight sleep. d) is a boring routine.

Do you wake up on your own? Or do you need an alarm clock to get up?

go to bed early? often have late nights?

have a regular sleep pattern? get ill more often than other people?

have a strict daily routine? often have accidents because you are clumsy?

have meals at the same time every day? have health problems (heart problems, insomnia)

Would you like to change your lifestyle? suffer from indigestion, muscular pains, headaches?

work long hours?

Write essay 2:

Health experts agree that a healthy lifestyle is a balanced lifestyle including the correct amounts of work, recreation and sleep. But some young people find daily routine boring and predictable. What is your opinion? Do you have a strict daily routine?

Write essay 3:

Some young people try to change their schedules and work at night because they claim that being night owls is their natural existence. Health experts, however, advise us to sleep at night and stay active during the day. What is your opinion? Are you an early bird or a night owl?

(Muzlanova, Task 16 ) It is believed that young people today are not as healthy as they were fifty years ago. What is your opinion? Do you agree or disagree? Write 200-250 words.

We often hear a statement that the health of modern teenagers is much worse than that of their counterparts who lived fifty years ago. But is it really so?

In my opinion, nowadays young people are not as healthy as they used to be. To begin with, young people today eat lots of genetically modified and junk food, which is definitely harmful. Be­sides, modern teenagers often smoke, drink alcohol and take drugs, which leads to serious diseases. What is more, lots of teen­agers are addicted to computers or watch TV all day long instead of walking and doing sports. As a result, many young people are overweight and suffer from heart diseases.

However, many people ignore these facts claiming that teen­agers' health is steadily improving due to modern health care and better nutrition. Of course, young people do not die today of such diseases as pneumonia and tuberculosis but their health is defi­nitely getting worse because they breathe polluted air, drink pol­luted water and eat food with different harmful additives. Addi­tionally, teenagers usually ignore their parents' advice to eat healthy food and eat what they want or even skip meals. What is more, we must admit that today we are threatened by such incur­able diseases as AIDS or hepatitis.

In conclusion, I want to say that our society should pay more attention to the health of younger generation because they are the basis of our future development. I strongly believe that teenagers should be actively involved in various health projects.

Write essay 2:

It is believed that young people today are not as healthy as they were fifty years ago. What is your opinion?

(Muzlanova,Task 17) Should people be responsible for their own health care and have private health insurance? What is your opinion?

In the USSR almost all medical care was guaranteed by the state and was free of charge. Nowadays only a small part of it is cov­ered by state insurance. In other cases people have to pay for their medical expenses or to buy private health insurance. Is it right?

In my opinion, the government should have overall responsi­bility for people's health. Firstly, those people who work pay enough taxes for the government to ensure sufficient health care for everybody and the authorities should provide money to keep medical service at a proper level. In addition, disabled people who do not work and have no money to pay for their treatment should not be underprivileged. Finally, medications are getting more and more expensive that is why not all people can afford to pay for the required medical care.

However, there are people who think private health insurance will provide better health care than state insurance. I think the quality of health care does not depend on who pays for your expenses but depends on the development of medicine in the coun­try. What is more, private insurance companies may go bankrupt and people will not get any medical help at all.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that in a democratic society everybody should have the right to health insurance. Of course, people ought to be responsible for their health and avoid bad hab­its or do sports. But if they need medical help, the government must provide them with proper treatment and medications.

Discuss:

1. Are Russian people generally healthy?

2. Are old people in Russia generally fit and healthy?

3. What are typical health problems of old people?

4. What should we do to remain fit when we are old?

5. What are advantages and disadvantages of being treated in hospital?

6. What problems can result from an unhealthy lifestyle?

7. The number of people who suffer from stress-related addictions (alcoholism, workoholism, compulsive gambling, excessive eating, drug abuse, chain smoking) is growing. Why?

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16