Read the following passage and answer the questions set on it:
Smoking kills 9,00,000 people every year in India. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that smoking-related deaths worldwide will surpass 9 million annually by 2020, with 7 million of those deaths occurring in developing nations.
People start smoking for a variety of different reasons. Some think it looks cool. Others start because their family members or friends smoke. Statistics show that about 9 out of 10 tobacco users start smoking before they are 18 years old. Most adults who started smoking in their teens, never expected to become addicted. That is why people say it is just so much easier to not start at all.
It is a hard habit to break because tobacco contains a drug called nicotine. This drug is highly addictive. Like heroin or other addictive drugs, the body and mind quickly become so used to the nicotine in cigarettes that a person needs to have it just to feel normal. The nicotine can raise one’s blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen demand for muscles, mainly for the heart. Moreover, the second hand smoke which comes from two places i.e., smoke breathed out by the person who smokes and smoke from the end of a burning cigarette causes health effects including cancer, breathing problems and asthma. Smoking is one of the most preventable causes of death in our society. It is an expensive habit. The tobacco industry makes billions of rupees each year and they do not care about anyone’s existence. All they want is money. The more cigarettes one buys, the more the company earns.
Today’s generation needs to beware of electronic cigarettes (ecigarettes). This contains cancer-causing chemicals and other toxins. This also has a compound used in antifreeze. These battery-operated devices use cartridges filled with nicotine flavorings and other chemicals and convert them into a vapour that is inhaled by the user. Counselling and medical help need to be sought for smoking addicts.
1. According to WHO, where do maximum deaths occur by smoking?
2. At what age do people start to smoke?
3. What did the teenagers never expect when they started smoking?
4. Name the drug in tobacco.
5. What is the effect of nicotine on the heart?
6. What is the most preventable cause of death in our society?
7. What does the tobacco industry care about?
8. ……………….. is needed to help smoking addicts to come out of it.
9. Smoking is an (addiction/addictive) habit.
10. Add a prefix to the word ‘expected’ to form the antonym, ……………..(non, un, re)
