4. Common Sense about Smoking It is often said, “I know all about the risk to my health, but I think that the risk is worth it.” When this statement is true it should be accepted. Everyone has the right to choose what risks they take, however great they may be. However, often the statement really means, “I have a nasty feeling that smoking is bad for my health, but I would rather not think about it.” With some of these people the bluff¹ can be called and they can be asked to explain what they think the risk to their own health is. When this is done few get very far in personal terms.
　　The bare fact that. 23, 000 people died of lung cancer last year in Great Britain often fails to impress an individual. When it is explained that this is the eq.uivalent of one every twenty- five minutes or is four times as many as those killed on the roads, the significance is more apparent. The one-ineight risk of dying of lung cancer for, the man who smokes twenty-five or more cigarettes a day may be better appreciated if an analogy is, used If, when you boarded a plane, the girl at the top of the steps were to welcome you aboard with the greeting, “I am pleased that you are coming with us-only one in eight of our planes crashes.”
　　how many wouid think again, and make other arrangements？ Alternatively, the analogy of Russian Roulette may appeal. The man smoking twenty-five or more a day runs the same risk between the ages of thirty and sixty as another who buys a revolver with 250 chambers³ and inserts one live bullet and on each, of his birthdays spins the chamber², points the revolver at his head,
　　and pulls the trigger. One of the difficulties in impressing these facts on pgople is that, despite the current epidemic⁴ of lung cancer, because it is a disease which kills relatively⁵ quickly, there are many who have as yet no gxperience of it among their family or friends.
　　5. On Smoking -Its History and Harm Tobacco smoking is believed to have started in Central and South America. Nearly 500 years ago explorers who went there with Columbus brought back to Europe the habit of pipe smoking, which they had Learned from the New World Indians. It was introduced into China from Luson during the Ming dynasty.
　　Until the 1900's tobacco was used mainly for cigars, ,chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco and snuff. Cigarettes may first have been made by the Aztecs of Mexico. They smoked shredded⁷ tobacco rolled in corn husk covering. Cigarette smoking gained some popularity in Europe during the 1800's. It increased sharply after World War I and again after World War II.
　　For centuries the smoking of tobacco in cigarettes, cigars and pipes has produced controversy⁸ over possible health hazards. Scientific investiBations of smoking and health gained impetus⁹ after the beginning of the 20th century, when an increase in lung cancer was noted¹⁰. But only since the 1950's has sufficient scientific evidence accumulated to make possible a thorough evaluation¹¹ of the health risk. Although some gaps in knowledge still exist, the information now available is sufficient to permit making sound judgements.
　　Since cigarettes have steadily¹² become more popular than cigars and pipes, investigators¹³ have directed their principal consideration to cigarette smoking. As we now know, tobacco contains an organic compound-nicotine¹⁴. It is the rincipal alkaloid of tobacco, occurring throughout the plant. Nicotine, one of the many  substances pharmacologically active in tobacco smoke, exerts an effect on the heart and nervous system in particular. The effect on the nervous system is predominantly tranquilizing and relaxing. There is little doubt that the physiological¹⁵ effects strengthen the habit. So for centuries, some people obstinately¹⁶ believed tobacco smoking possessed¹⁷ medicinal properties.
　　It reduced tension and was pleasurable. But in reality, it has turned out to be tragedy. When you smoke, you're breathing in close to a gram of dirty brown tar⁶ a day. Even the smoking of only a few cigarettes a day causes many dangerous ailments¹⁸. An American scientist estimated that smokers²⁰ who average a package a day for 20 years will lose about eight years of their lives. Along with the increase in cigarette smoking, many scientific investigations²¹ have been undertaken. Overwhelming evidence proves the danger and harm of smoking.
　　Experimental, clinical-pathological, and epidemiological evidence indicates that cigarette smoking is the main cause of lung cancer.The risk of developing lung cancer increases with the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the duration of the smoking habit, and it diminishes with the cessation of smoking.
　　Cigarette smoking was also found to be connected with other types of cancer. It is considered a major factor in causing cancer of the larynx and is associated with cancer of the esophagus. Smoking is a significant factor in the development of oral cancer, and pipe smoking alone or with other tobacco use, is causally related to lip cancer. Cigarette smoking is the greatest cause of chronic²² bronchitis. A person suffering from chronic bronchitis may have the disease and the cough connected with it, for many years, perhaps for the rest of his life.
　　Cigarette smoking has also been found to be connected with pulmonary emphysema, a disabling disease of the lungs. The smoking of cigarettes increases the risk of dying from chronic bronchitis and from pulmonary emphysema. Smoking is associated with coronary heart disease. Nowadays this disease accounts for a high percentage of deaths annually²³. Cigarette smokers are much more likely to die from a heart attack than nonsmokers.
　　Smoking injures blood vessels²⁴, speeds up hardening of the arteries²⁵ and increases the work of the heart. It is one of the factors contributing to high blood pressure. What little we've mentioned above is sufficient to show that smoking is extremely harmful to health. Most peple throughout the.world have come to realize the danger. Nowadays some governments are taking practical measures against smoking. We sincerely advise those who have formed the smoking habit to stop and those who haven,t yet started not to. It is both for your own sake and for the sake of the next generation.
　　A recent survey report says that children exposed to parental²⁶ cigarette smoke may be put at a higher risk of developing lung disease later in fheir lives. Passive exposure to smoke may. also interfere²⁷ with normal lung growth in young children. There is a strong association between parental smoking and children' s pulmonary function. Children who recorded the weakest lung function were found to be smokers themselves and to have parents or brothers and sisters who smoked. So let us join together to launch a mass movement to break this harmful smoking habit, and build ourselves up, healthy and strong, to work hard for the four modernizations²⁸.
　　6. Call to Stop Offering Cigarettes！
　　To the Chinese, who claim to have invented rules of etiquette²⁹, offering igarettes is a way of being hospitable³⁰ to guests. When somebody calls, first of all, the host would offer him a cigarette and a cup of tea. In the countryside, hospitable, old men often allow visiting guests to share the long-stemmed Chinese pipe which they themselves are smoking. At wedding ceremonies, brides would offer cigarettes to all guests who came to eXpress their congratulations and light the cigarettes for.each of them one after another.
　　All these were originally aimed…… at displaying the Chinese hospitality and respect towards the guests. But in recent years, the oId tradition has been used as a means to nurse good relations. Even those who never smoke have brand-name cigarettes in their pockets. Whenever they have to seek somebody's favour, they first offer him a cigarette, If the other party turns it down, he is being impolite. If he accepts it he has to do something, for courtesy demands a favour in return.
　　Tobacco contains harmful substances. So offering cigarettes to somebody is equal to doing harm to him, gut³¹ neither people who offer cigarettes nor those who take them fully³² realize it. It is even more unhealthy for the host to pass the long-stemmed Chinese pipe or water pipe to the visitor after smoking it beforehand. Once I paid a visit to a relative who had just returned from abroad. He was smoking but did not produce one for me. Instead, he placed the cigarette packet on the table and told me： “Cigarettes produce carbon monoxide and nicotine. But if you don't mind this, take it yourself.？
　　His way of offering cigarettes was unique but worth learning. Many people throughout the world are attempting to quit smoking. But to give up the practice, firstly I think, we had better cl7ange the tradetional method of entertaining guests. Not to offer cigarettes does not mean one is inhospitable. The cigarette packet is on the table. If you cannot check your craving³³ for one at the risk of your health, you may. But you will have to bear the consequences yourself. You had better also bear in mind that while you are smoking and harming yourself, you are also polluting the air and hurting others.
　　7. Smoking Is a Bad Habit Smoking is a bad habit. Firstly, it ruins people's health. Health experts have warned us for years that smoking can lead to heart disease, lung cancer and various respiratory ailments. The World Health Organization says diseases linked to smoking kill at least 2, 500, 000 people each year. Research conducted in many countries also indicates that pregnant women who smoke run the risk of having deformed³⁴ babies. Besides, it has been proven beyond doubt that when a person smokes, he subjects the people around him not only to great discomfort³⁵ but also to physical harm.
　　Secondly³⁶, smoking is extravagant³⁷. Smokers, either wage-earners or those who live off their parents, spend a large sum of money on cigarettes, which cost them at least 10% of their expenses each month. What's more, sensible women try to avoid marrying heavy smokers, even though some of them appreciate the image of a handsome young man with a cigarette dangling³⁸ from the corner of his mouth. A friend of mine, a heavy smoker¹⁹, has been seeking an ideal wife who will tolerate his extravagant “hobby？ but up to now he hasn't found one.
　　Thirdly, smoking has a bad impact on the psyche³⁹ of the smokers. After realizing the bad effects of smoking, many people try to give up smoking. but no matter how hard they try ,some of them just can't resist the temptation to smoke again. Gradually, they lose confidence in themselves and get used to making excuses.

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