Read and render the text “Drugs”.

More people are abusing drugs today than in any other time in history of mankind, and many of those people are youth.

Understanding what drugs are is fundamental for understanding their potential abuse. Drugs are a psychoactive substance.

A psychoactive substance is something that people take to change the way they feel, think or behave. Some of these substances are called drugs and others, like alcohol and tobacco, are considered dangerous, but are not called drugs. The term drug also covers a number of substances that must be used under medical supervision to treat illnesses.

I am going to talk about drugs as those man-made or naturally occurring substances used without medical supervision, basically to change the way a person feels, thinks or behaves.

In the past, most drugs were made from plants. That is, plants were grown and then converted into drugs such as coca paste, opium and marijuana. Over the years, these crude products were further processed to drugs like cocaine and heroin and finally, in the 20th century, people found out how to make drugs from chemicals.

These are called man-made or synthetic drugs and include ecstasy, LSD, etc. These were initially manufactured for largely experimental reasons and only later were used for recreational purposes. Now, however, with the increased size and scope of the drug trade, people set out to invent drugs especially for human consumption.

For the first time in human history, a whole industrial complex creates and produces drugs that are meant to be used for the sole purpose of «having fun.» People use drugs just to escape the reality, to have fun. The majority of them are young, even very young, who do not understand what might happen to them because of drugs.

1. Read and render the text “Healthy Food”.

All food is made up of nutrients which our bodies use. There are different kinds of nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, fats» vitamins and minerals. Different foods contain different nutrients.

Before we cut down on fat, sugar and salt, we have to know a bit more about the kind of food these things might be in. The biggest problem comes when these things are hidden in other foods: biscuits, crisps, sausages, meat pies, soft drinks and so on.

The best way is to get into the habit of checking the ingredients and nutritional value on the sides of packets although this isn't always easy to do. Another thing to know is, for example, that we do need fat to live, it's an essential part of our diet and physically we couldn't exist without it.

But we all know that to eat much fat is bad for our health. The matter is that there are different kinds of fat. There are fats that are good for us and fats that are bad for us. Eating less of the bad ones and more of the good ones can actually help us to live longer!

One more thing to know is that when food is cooked, its structure changes. It can change the vitamin and nutrient contents of food.

The food we eat, depends on lots of things. Taste is a big factor. Culture, religion and health also play a part in what food we eat. Advertising and social factors also have a big influence.

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 2236