1. Read the text and do the exercises given below.
Science against Pain
Many doctors and scientists in various countries in the past tried to discover ways and means of killing pain. Anaesthesia, which is an ordinary thing now, is the result of the long and hard work of many. It is difficult to say now who was the first, but some of the names must not be forgotten. In 1776 Joseph Priestley, a prominent English chemist, found a gas which is now called "laughing-gas" because it makes people feel a little drunk after inhaling it. For about thirty years no one was seriously interested in it, but in 1800 Humphry Davy, the famous English chemist, noticed its effects. He also said that it would probably be useful in operations because it could take away pain.
About 1824 an English doctor called Hickman read Davy's books and tried laughing-gas on dogs and other animals. He got some good results, but still no interest was shown. Hickman died young, before he could make people believe in laughing-gas as an anaesthetic.
Laughing-gas became known in America, where young men and women went to parties to try it. Most of them spent their time laughing, but one man at a party, Horace Wells, who was a dentist, noticed that people did not seem to feel pain when they were under the effects of this gas. He decided to try an experiment on himself. He asked a friend to help him.
Wells inhaled some of the gas, and his friend pulled out one of Wells' teeth. Wells felt no pain at all. He had lost a perfectly good tooth, but he was delighted. Teeth could now be pulled out without pain.
a) Mark the statements which are True.
1. Nobody knows who was the first to use anaesthesia for killing pain. □
2. It was in America where "laughing-gas" was found by Joseph Priestley, a prominent chemist. □
3. For a long time no one was seriously interested in "laughing-gas". □
4. A French doctor called Hickman was the first to try "laughing-gas" on dogs and other animals. □
5. Horace Wells, an American dentist, decided to try an experiment on himself, but his friend refused to help him. D
b) Write down your answers to the following questions.
1. Did many doctors and scientists in the past try to discover means of killing pain?
2. Is it difficult to say who was the first to find out anaesthesia?
3. Who found the gas which is now called "laughing-gas"?
4. How does the gas effect people and animals?
5. For what purpose was it first used by the young people of America?
6. Who made experiments with the gas on himself?
c) Ask five questions on the text.
2. Make up your sentences using the following words and word combinations on the topic Great Britain.
1. parliamentary monarchy 6. ruling party
2. consist of 7. educational centres
3. produce and export 8. found
4. the Queen 9. customs and traditions
5. Parliament
