Barack Obama would find it a lot easier to stub out the cigs if he had access to the NHS Long-lost pictures of a young Barack Obama emerged this week, showing him dragging deeply, and with great pleasure, on a cigarette. Nearly 30 years on, he still hasn’t entirely kicked the habit. But time is running out for the President-elect. Not only is the White House a smoke-free zone, but in Washington smokers are regarded as lowlife. To light up in the city is to attract a million accusing eyes and the emotions of a cop, because you have broken one of its ferocious anti-smoking bylaws. So like many of us, Obama needs to stop within next few months. He has always said that he means to quit. But when a journalist asked him how he was getting on during the last frantic months of the presidential campaign, Obama said: "I need to cut myself a little slack.” A presidential campaign is one hell of an excuse for not giving up smoking, but it’s still an excuse, and that makes Obama no different from all those smokers citing the economic meltdown or the last frantic days before Christmas as their "not yet” reason. Most would-be quitters delay their attempt until after the festivities. This isn’t entirely a bad thing, as long as it doesn’t turn into sometime, never. You have a better chance of successfully quitting if you do so at a time when you are not under intense pressure, for instance, during holidays. Having a specific date indicates that you believe you need to stop smoking and that there is a plan. You need to prepare for giving up, and now is the time to start planning for the next year. It is important to understand that stopping is not simply about willpower or determination (qualities that Obama personifies). Smoking is an addictive behavior and to quit you need to overcome the addiction and learn new behavior. On the addiction front, Obama uses Nicorette gum. He even handed some out to someone in the crowd who said they were trying to quit. But many quitters use it only when they have a craving. That isn’t going to work. You need to chew the gum of the right strength as directed, using up to 15 pieces a day. There are dozens of randomized controlled trials showing that if nicotine replacement is used properly, you double your chances of quitting successfully. Obama also seems to have got it right when he says "you need to eliminate connections”. In other words, if you always smoke after a meal, while on the phone or with a cup of coffee, you need to find something to distract yourself at these times. Exercise — Obama spends an hour a day in the gym — helps, as does the support of those around you. Hopefully, the non-smoking Michelle Obama will be firm but fair. He will just have to make sure that he doesn’t hang out too much with secret-service men who smoke. Whether Obama’s efforts are successful or not may ultimately depend on his motivation for giving up. If he is just quitting to save himself from embarrassing photos having a crafty one behind the White House bike shed, he might not succeed. He needs to really want to give up: for financial reasons (unlikely), for the sake of those around him, or for his health. There’s one very effective way of providing a health motivation for giving up: ask your doctor for a lung function test and get him or her to estimate your lung age and how smoking might have affected it. A trial published in the BMJ earlier this year showed smokers were twice as likely to give up when confronted with the dramatic evidence of lung damage that the test provides. We Britons do have one big advantage. The NHS. You are four times more likely to quit if you have support such as that provided by NHS clinics. And while Obama doesn’t have access to these, there’s the free NHS smoking helpline, 0800 0224332, open seven days a week, 7am to 11pm, where he could also record a promise to the American nation, along with the date of the inauguration as his start date. Yes, he can.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT ANSWER
1) The main idea of the text is: A) to inspire smokers to quit smoking B) to advertise the NHS service for those who wish to quit smoking C) to criticize Obama for smoking D) to discuss different motivations for quitting to smoke 2) Barack Obama: A) is against forced efforts to suppress smokers B) introduces new law projects against smoking C) publicly smokes behind a bike shed D) cannot refrain from smoking 3) Nicorette is: A) the most effective means to stop smoking B) the drug offered by NHS C) chewing gum to alleviate the quitting D) the name of a technology for would-be quitters 4) The word CRAVING in line 21 means: A) bad habit B) addiction C) painful desire D) abstinence 5) The phrase "I need to cut myself a little slack” (line 8) means: A) he needs to apply more effort B) he must reduce the strain of the pre-election campaign C) he must reduce the number of cigarettes he smokes daily. D) he needs to use special medication for quitters 6) To be able to quit one must: A) have enough motivation B) break the nicotine dependence C) develop an altered behavior D) All of the above 7) The author’s attitude to using gum to quit smoking is: A) negative B) he pins great hopes on it C) he thinks the chances are twice as high D) he is sure the gum must e combined with other means
Keys: 1) B; 2) D; 3) C; 4) C; 5) B; 6) D; 7) C;
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