Foscari - Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica
Foscari - Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica
Foscari - Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica
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the mid-1980s when President Gorbachev tried to stop people in Russia drinking so much alcohol.<br />
After the end of communism the death rate in Russia increased in the early 1990s. This was probably<br />
because of alcohol.<br />
One study found that Russians, and people in other countries of the former Soviet Union, drank more<br />
than anybody else in the world - about 15.2 litres of pure alcohol per person each year for people over<br />
15 years of age. They also drank more dangerously and often drank for two days or more without<br />
stopping.<br />
The scientists examined the me<strong>di</strong>cal records and interviewed the families of 1,750 men who had <strong>di</strong>ed in<br />
Izhevsk from 2003-05. They compared these men with 1,750 who were still alive. They found that<br />
problem drinkers and people who drank alcohol from products like perfume and aftershave often <strong>di</strong>ed<br />
younger than those who <strong>di</strong>d not have a drinking problem.<br />
The scientists say that men who lost their jobs because of drinking had very little money and often<br />
drank household products containing pure alcohol. In the group of men who were still alive, 47% who<br />
drank household products containing alcohol were out of work compared with 13% who drank only<br />
vodka and beer. In total, 43% of deaths of men aged 25 to 54 in Izhevsk were because of alcohol. This<br />
is probably because they drank household products with very high levels of alcohol.<br />
Another report says that people who get their alcohol from household products often live in poor<br />
housing and have bad <strong>di</strong>ets, and this could also lead to an early death. The report also says that many<br />
people also drink illegally produced alcoholic drinks.<br />
The Russian government agrees that alcoholism is a huge problem and calls it a “national tragedy”.<br />
With Vla<strong>di</strong>mir Putin as president, the Russian economy has grown very quickly since 2000 but people<br />
are still drinking a lot of alcohol. Russian alcoholics - drinking perfume, aftershave and cheap local<br />
alcohol - face great dangers. In winter they fall through ice or freeze to death in the snow.<br />
Accor<strong>di</strong>ng to 2005 figures, Russia has 2,348,567 registered alcoholics, and alcohol is linked to 72% of<br />
murders and 42% of suicides. The World Health Organisation says Russia is one of the most alcoholic<br />
countries in the world.<br />
© Guar<strong>di</strong>an News & Me<strong>di</strong>a 2007<br />
Comprehension check<br />
Match the beginnings and en<strong>di</strong>ngs to make sentences about the text.<br />
1. Many men in Russia <strong>di</strong>e young because…<br />
2. Many people drink household products containing alcohol because…<br />
3. Household products containing alcohol are dangerous because…<br />
4. The population of Russia is falling because…<br />
5. Winter is a dangerous time for alcoholics in Russia because…<br />
6. Life expectancy increased during the mid-1980s because…<br />
a. … President Gorbachev tried to stop people drinking alcohol.<br />
b. … life expectancy is very low and the birth rate is low.<br />
c. … they drink household products containing alcohol.<br />
d. … they contain a very high percentage of alcohol.<br />
e. … they may fall through ice or freeze to death in the snow.<br />
f. … they are poor.<br />
Vocabulary 1: Chunks<br />
Rearrange these words to make short phrases from the text. Check your answers in the text.<br />
1. age working of men<br />
3
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