The Risk of Cigarette Smoke Reading Answers

The risks of cigarette smoke

Nicotianine was discovered in the early 1800s, now it is the main active ingredient of tobacco. It is in the form of oily essence. Though nicotine is only a tiny component of cigarette smoke, it has above 4,700 chemical compounds. It includes 43 cancer-causing substances. Scientific research has proven that an increase of cigarette smoking results in the development of fatal medical conditions. 

Smoking is responsible for more than 85 % of lung cancers and also it causes about 14 percent of cervical cancers and leukaemia and accompanied with cancers of mouth, stomach, and kidneys. Smoking killed 84,000 people in 1990, it is the result of problems such as pneumonia, bronchitis and influenza. It is also believed that smoking causes about 30 percent of all deaths from cancer.

The smoke comes from burning of tobacco either between puffs or exhalation of smoke can cause serious health problems. Breathing this smoke is termed as Passive smoking. And this kind of smoke is known as side-stream smoke. A US Environmental Protection Agency report says that side-stream smoke contains smaller particles which can settle deep in the lungs. By this report, The EPA puts environmental tobacco under the category of highest risk of causing cancer. 

As an illustration of the health risks, in the case of a married couple where one partner is a smoker and one a non-smoker, the latter is believed to have a 30 per cent higher risk of death from heart disease because of passive smoking. The risk of lung cancer also increases over the years of exposure and the figure jumps to 80 per cent if the spouse has been smoking four packs a day for 20 years. It has been calculated that 17 per cent of cases of lung cancer can be attributed to high levels of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke during childhood and adolescence. 

Consider the example of a married couple where one partner is a smoker and another partner is non smoker. Non-smokers have a 30 percent chance of getting heart disease because of passive smoking. The risk of getting lung cancer also increases over the years of exposure to smoke. If the spouse smokes four packs a day for 20 days, the percentage of getting lung cancer increases upto 80 years. It is found that 17 percent of lung cancer cases are attributed to passive smoking during childhood and adolescence.

Questions 1-5

Answer the questions below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

1. Which is the main active ingredient of tobacco ?
2. How many cancer causing substances nicotine contains ?
3. How many percent cigarette smoking is responsible for lung cancers ?
4. Which term refers to the act of breathing a side-stream smoke ?
5. How many percent of cases are attributed to smoking during childhood and adolescence ?

1.   Nicotianine

Explanation: Nicotianine was discovered in the early 1800s, now it is the main active ingredient of tobacco. 

2.   43/forty three

Explanation: It includes 43 cancer-causing substances. Scientific research has proven that an increase of cigarette smoking results in the development of fatal medical conditions. 

3.   85/eighty five

Explanation: Smoking is responsible for more than 85 % of lung cancers and also it causes about 14 percent of cervical cancers and leukaemia and accompanied with cancers of mouth, stomach, and kidneys. 

4.   Passive smoking

Explanation: The smoke comes from burning of tobacco either between puffs or exhalation of smoke can cause serious health problems. Breathing this smoke is termed as Passive smoking. And this kind of smoke is known as side-stream smoke.

5.   17/seventeen

Explanation: It is found that 17 percent of lung cancer cases are attributed to passive smoking during childhood and adolescence.