I. Vocabulary study

This booklet deals with talking about keeping fit, being healthy and being ill. To the words and word combinations below add up the vocabulary dealing with the topic which you'll pick up from the exercises and texts of this booklet.

Exercise 1. Study the following vocabulary:

Fitness − fit, unfit, out of condition, flabby, underweight, overweight, energetic, active, muscular, agile;

to... lose weight, put on weight, go on a diet, keep to a diet, keep fit, stay well, take exercise, do exercises, go jogging.

To feel − well, healthy, fine, better, unwell, poorly, run down, dizzy, funny, tender, sore, tense, seedy, queasy, sick.

Illness − disorder, ailment, disease, malady, infection, a virus, epidemic, influenza/flu (U), a cold, measles, nervous breakdown, a heart attack, rheumatism, a heart/heat/sun stroke, food poisoning, indigestion, concussion, a hangover, hay fever (U), diarrhoea (U), constipation, upset stomach, cancer, hepatitis, asthma, appendicitis, bronchitis, tonsillitis, tuberculosis (TB), cholera, insomnia, migraine, allergy (to be allergic to).

Being ill − to... cough, sneeze, sniff, groan, moan, gasp, be short of breath, snore, hiccup (hiccough), throw up, have a high temperature/fever, have a sore throat, have a runny (running) nose, have a hoarse voice, break, twister, sprain, be unconscious, faint, knock oneself unconscious.

Aches and pains − toothache (U), backache (U), earache (U), a stomach-ache, a headache, a bad (terrible, splitting) ache, a pain (in chest, in the back, etc.), painful, painless, a fainting spell, blister, swelling, fracture, scald, burn, graze, scratch, gash, cut, sting, bite, bruise, black eye, to hurt oneself, to hurt one's foot, etc., it hurts, aching muscles, a bout of, injury, wound.

Treatment − to... treat, cure, heal, examine, diagnose, to make a diagnosis, operate, prescribe, write out a prescription, recover from, suffer from, undergo treatment.

People − specialist, nurse, sister, family doctor, midwife, patient, in-patient, out-patient, general practitioner, therapist, surgeon, casualty, invalid, a disabled person, blind, dumb and deaf, mentally/physically handicapped.

Places − hospital, clinic, ward, surgery (doctor's room), waiting room, ambulance, operating theatre.

Medicine − drops, drug, pill, tablet, tonic, lotion, ointment, plaster (U), a plaster bandage, a plaster, a bandage, a sling, a stitch.

Exercise 2. Study the "case history" below. Then write ten headlines for the President's ten-day illness, from President taken ill to The nation holds its breath.

"You're in perfect health... as fit as a fiddle... there's nothing wrong with you."

"I feel a bit off-colour... rather under the weather... I do feel funny... I really don't feel well... I feel feverish."

"He's been taken ill... he's in a coma... fighting for his life... still critically ill... in a very critical condition... no change...still seriously ill... still hasn't regained consciousness... is responding to treatment... off the danger list... showing sings of coming round... making progress... his condition is satisfactory... he's come out of the coma... he's as well as can be expected... he's turned the corner... he's on the mend."

"We all wish you a speedy recovery...get well soon...we're glad you're over it."

"The worst is over... he's almost completely recovered... he's practically cured... he's convalescing... coming along nicely... he'll be on his feet again soon."

"He's had a relapse... he's no better... he's getting worse... his condition is deteriorating... he's getting weaker... he's slipping away... fading fast... his life is hanging by a thread... it's just a matter of time... he could go at any second."

"He's made a miraculous recovery... he's as good as new... as right as rain... he'll live till he's hundred."

Exercise 3. After all that, do you feel well enough to read on? Note the ways that illnesses can be spoken of and reported in the text below.

Examination Fever

For most of the year, most of us have been allergic to work; apparently there had been a history of such allergies in the school.

Throughout the spring there had been quite a few cases of "Exams are stupid", which proved highly contagious among friends.

Then in late May, one or two of us suffered a mild attack of "Gosh, is it really next month?" and we seemed to give that to the others rather rapidly. You could tell how it was spreading from improved attendance at lessons.

An even more serious outbreak was that of the very infectious "I don't know a thing" two weeks before. At about the same time everyone seemed to catch "You're no good" from the teachers. Then there was a bout of "I don't really care" followed by a few chronic cases of "My parents will kill me". This again proved very catching; half the class was down with it in the week leading up to the exam itself; and it had reached epidemic proportions by the Friday before.

By this time, those who had been suffering from "It'll be easy for me" had made a total recovery.

That Friday there was a "What if I'm suffering from amnesia?" scare, and this had developed by Monday into a touch of "I can't even remember my own name".

There were also, of course, the normal isolated cases of "My pen doesn't work" and several pupils had a sudden fit of "Where's the toilet?"

Afterwards there were a couple of complaints of "I know I've failed", but generally the worst seemed to be over. Such diseases are rarely terminal. And after all, we had a convalescence and recuperation period of six and a half weeks to follow.

Exercise 4. Put a preposition in each space in the sentences below.

a) He suffered _________ bad headaches.

b) I have a pain _______ my back.

c) What's wrong _________ you?

d) She got worse so they sent _______ a doctor.

e) He died ______ cancer.

f) She was taken ________ hospital.

g) He was operated _________ yesterday.

h) She is allergic ________ pollen from grass.

i) Dad is ________ perfect health.

j) I feel a bit ________ the weather.

k) He's ________ a critical condition.

l) At long last he's come _______ of the coma.

m) He's responding _______ treatment.

n) He's _______ the mend.

o) His life is hanging ________ a thread.

p) There was a bout ________ asthma.

Exercise 5. Fill the gaps with suitable words.

A) I hit my hand on the desk and it really __________.

B) They say she died of a heart ____________.

C) She had some apples that weren't ready to eat and now she's got a ____________.

D) I've got a terrible ______________ pain in my neck from sleeping in the wrong position.

E) He died of lung ____________ though he never smoked a cigarette in his life.

F) I went to the doctor and she gave me a ___________________ for some tablets.

G) I hurt my ___________ when I fell of the chair.

H) My back ___________ from sitting at the computer all day.

I) When I stand up, the room seems to be going round. I feel really __________.

J) I'm not in pain but the glands in my neck seem to be ___________.

K) I've got a ________________ nose. I suppose it's a cold coming on.

L) I've come out in a rash all over my chest and arms. I think I'm ________ tcats.

M) It's like being sea-sick. I feel _________ whenever I move about.

N) It's hard to describe. I just feel generally ______________. Can you prescribe a tonic?

O) My throat's awfully _____________. I hope it's not another bout of tonsillitis.

P) I haven't taken her temperature yet but her face is flushed and she seems _____________.

Q) He fell on the pavement and ______________ his knee. I've washed and dressed it but it's not serious.

R) The lid of the kettle wasn't on properly and I ____________ my arm in the steam.

S) My feet are all ____________________ after my attempt at the marathon yesterday.

T) He landed awkwardly after the high jump and ____________ his ankle. He's lucky it's not broken.

U) Don't make such a fuss. That's not a cut, it's just a ___________.

V) I caught my leg on the drawer and it gave me quite a nasty ___________.

W) The X-ray showed that I had _________________ several ribs in the accident.

X) She fell down the stairs and was lucky to get away with a few _______________.

Y) Please don't cough all over everyone! Don't forget that flu is _____________. As it's a virus, there is no _________ for it.

Z) I hurt my wrist yesterday and today it's ______________.

Exercise 6. Give the Ukrainian names of the following diseases:

a) appendicitis

b) bronchitis

c) cancer

d) chicken pox

e) diabetes

f) hay fever

g) hepatitis

h) influenza

i) leukemia

j) measles

k) pneumonia

l) tuberculosis.

Exercise 7. The following are terms referring to some types of diseases.Match the types with their definitions.

1) acute a) indicating hypersensitivity to particular foods, kids, of pollen, etc.

2) allergic b) caused by mental stress

3) chronic c) coming sharply to a crisis

4) congenital d) lasting for a long time

5) contagious e) due to disturbances in anabolic and catabolic processes

6) familial f) transmitted genetically from parent to child

7) infectious g) caused by improper diet

8) metabolic h) spread by bacteria or viruses

9) nutritional i) present from of before birth

10) psychosomatic j) spreading by physical contact

Exercise 8. Choose the best answer.

a) Children with ______________________ diseases should not be allowed to go to school.

constant contact infectious influential

b) He has ______________________ bronchitis. He has suffered from it for many years.

chronic durable fatal mortal

c) I have been advised to take every ______________________ against catching flu again this winter.

precaution prediction premeditation prevention

d) After the outbreak of a mysterious illness, investigation revealed ____________ of the town's water supply.

contagion eruption infiltration pollution

e) Apart from the ___________________ cough and cold, I have been remarkably healthy all my life.

irregular odd opportune timely

f) Smallpox, once responsible for millions of deaths, has been virtually ____________________.

abolished eradicated erased exterminated

g) Unless we take immediate precautions, we shall not be able to ______________ the epidemic.

contain destroy hold staunch

h) Peter can't play with the children next door because he is still in _______________ with measles.

confinement detention seclusion quarantine

i) The outbreak of whooping cough among children under 5 has not reached ________________ proportions.

contagious endemic epidemic pathological

j) My little daughter is not allowed to play with her friends next door because one of them is suffering from a _______________ disease.

contagious contiguous touching transmitting

k) An illness that is caused by the mind is known as __________________ illness.

an acute a congenital a familial a psychosomatic

l) She suffers from a morbid fear of spiders, known to doctors as ___________________.

agoraphobia arachnophobia claustrophobia xenophobia

Exercise 9. Fill theblanks with words below. You may use each word only once.

bacteria body break dangerous delicate

disease eyes germs line liquids

membrane moisture mouth nose parts

prick skin sneeze stomach