Sports: Drugs can be Dangerous Activities 1 Discuss with your classmates: What kind of addictions can you name?. Addicted to Baseball According to Kevin Quirk, recovered sportsaholic a
Trang 1Be a Sport!
English Toolkit 1 - Natural Sciences
Our 17-year-old son dreams of a professional
football career He dedicates every waking hour
to getting stronger and, it appears to us, simply
becoming more massive Neither my husband
nor I are very big people and we are increasingly
worried that some of his increase in size and
strength is a result of drugs He denies using drugs,
but we know that the gym where he goes has a
reputation of dispensing steroids Please explain
the pros and cons of these drugs How common is
their use? Should we be concerned about our son’s
health?
Selma,
San Diego, California.
Sports: Drugs can be Dangerous
Activities
1 Discuss with your classmates: What kind of
addictions can you name?
Addicted to Baseball
According to Kevin Quirk, recovered sportsaholic and the author of the self-help paperback Not Now, Honey, I’m Watching the Game,
my husband is addicted
to baseball This means that five or six times a year
I accompany him to the ballpark, though I care nothing about the San Francisco Giants and understand few subtleties of the game I turned
to Quirk’s book for help to make Ed feel bad about his
passion for baseball
Ed doesn’t collect pennants and programs and display
them in a sports memorabilia room He didn’t name his
kids after players and dress them in tiny Giants uniforms
He doesn’t paint his face in team colours These are
actual behaviours sports addicts admitted to in a survey
Baseball Addict
Sunny and warm
High: 22°C Low: 12°C
Tomorrow: partly cloudy
High: 18°C Low: 12°C
Response:
Many athletes are convinced, and probably for a good reason, that the drug you have named can help improve their performance In some cases, medical experts agree But the medical community warns that these drugs can be dangerous, especially when taken without medical supervision and in large doses and varied combinations often used by athletes and body builders
conducted by Quirk, who was, for a time, as extreme as any
of them He once had a heated argument with his wife over his sports habit while having a look at the living room TV set to keep up with the game
Quirk says that although the majority of sports addicts are men, women are by no means immune to the condition
He describes a pregnant woman who decided to go to the game though her contractions were only ten minutes apart
Quirk’s book presents many theories as to why people become obsessed with sports He thinks boys get involved with sports as a way to bond with fathers He also thinks men use sports as an escape, a way of shutting out worries
or making up for what’s missing in their lives
Ed didn’t buy Quirk’s explanations for why he spends so much time watching baseball and he says he is not a baseball addict Maybe he just loves the game and I just don’t There’s no point in going deeper into the subject
Mary Roach, contributing editor at Health magazine
Adapted from: www.medicinenet.com
Health March 23
Trang 23 BModule
English Toolkit 1 - Natural Sciences
2 Tick (3) the right option to complete the ideas
4 Find information about addictions Choose one and organise
a campaign at school to inform your classmates about it
3 ‘Your best friend is an addict He tells you his secret’
What can you do to help him? Give him two pieces of
advice using should and shouldn’t
a According to Kevin Quirk’s book, Mary’s
husband is
…addicted to baseball
…not addicted to baseball
b The pregnant woman
went to the game
…decided not to go to the game
c Selma’s son…
…doesn’t like practising sports
…practises sports all day long
d Doctors say…
…steroids are not really dangerous
.…steroids are very dangerous
e Mary thinks
…Ed is definitely a baseball addict
…perhaps Ed just loves sports