Smoking

Health Matters

Do you smoke? Do you have a loved one who smokes? Are you or your loved ones trying to quit smoking? Read these 9 tips
for quitting smoking. Do you think these tips would help someone become a nonsmoker? Can you come up with a tenth tip?

Warm-Up ☀ 9 TIPS FOR QUITTING SMOKING

Why is it so difficult for smokers to quit?
1. Sign a contract
Set your own deadline. Choose a realistic date. Sign the
Talk to your classmates about people who contract and post it somewhere you will see it daily.
have quit or tried to quit smoking. What is
the hardest part about quitting? 2. Make a list of reasons to quit
Write down the top five reasons you want to quit, and put
managing stress the most important one at the top. Are you quitting for
being around other smokers yourself or for your loved ones?
going to social events 3. Put cigarettes out of sight
gaining weight Store your cigarettes in hard-to-reach places, such as
managing cravings upstairs, downstairs, or in your vehicle.
4. Track your savings
As you cut down, track how much money you are saving.
Make plans for how you will spend your cigarette money
when you are a nonsmoker.

5. Find alternative stress relievers

Many smokers say that the hardest part of quitting is
battling stress. Instead of lighting up after a stressful day,
try exercising, phoning a friend, or watching a movie.
6. Learn about secondhand smoke
Many smokers deny the seriousness of secondhand smoke.
Take time to learn about the real dangers that smokers pose
to their loved ones.

7. Manage the cravings

Pre-Reading Warm-Up Questions ☀ Learn about why your body has cravings for nicotine. Don’t
1. Why do people start smoking? worry too much about weight gain if you crave sugar. Most
successful quitters only gain 3–5 pounds (about 1.4–2.3 kg).
You can lose it later!
2. What reasons do people have for quitting smoking?
8. Keep your hands busy
Pencils, puzzles, and squeeze toys can keep your hands busy
3. Why do many smokers fail to quit even if they try while you’re quitting. Teach your fingers that they will no
many times? longer be holding stinky cigarettes.

4. What tips can you think of for quitting smoking?
5. What is secondhand smoke?
9. Have a smoke-free policy
Don’t blame your smoking on your social circle. Have a
smoke-free policy in your home and your car. Enjoy coffee
breaks or lunches with nonsmokers until you are a
nonsmoker. Resist the urge to smoke at social get-togethers.

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 Smoking
Health Matters

COMPREHENSION ✍ True, False, or Not Mentioned

Listen to your teacher read some “should” statements related to the list on page 1. If the statement is true based on the text write T
beside the sentence. If it is false, write F, and correct the information. If it is not mentioned, write NM.

1. __________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. __________________________________________________________________________________________________

VOCABULARY REVIEW Doctor’s Orders

A. ODD ONE OUT ROLE PLAY
Look at the groups of words. Which word does not belong in the group?

1. track / record / deny / count _____________________

2. fight / battle / war / crave
3. leave / store / hold / stock
4. likely / realistic / policy / practical
5. deadline / term / store / end date
Create a dialogue between a doctor
_____________________
and a person who wants to quit
_____________________ smoking. The doctor must use at
_____________________ least 5 “should” statements.
_____________________ Perform your skit for your class!

B. GAME - BUTT OUT!

Dot to Dot - Team Challenge
Vocabulary
1) Get into two teams. Each team chooses one player
to go to the board. The team captains each draw a
cigarette. The captains also draw six dots in the shape deadline policy
of an X that go through the cigarette they drew. cut down resist
track urge
2) The teacher will call out a word from the vocabulary box. The teacher will deny battle
also call out a command from the list below. The first person to raise a hand store secondhand
and give the correct answer gets to go up to the board and draw one line on craving realistic
their team’s X. The first team to connect six dots in the shape of the X wins!

Teacher Commands
• spell the word • provide the # of syllables • give a synonym or antonym
• provide the word form (in context of the reading) • pronounce it perfectly • give the definition

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 Smoking
Health Matters

CORNER QUESTIONS Create your own list for curing a bad

habit. You can use smoking or any other
Time to move! Designate a corner of the classroom for each bad habit, such as “Ten Tips to Stop
of the following categories: Sucking Your Thumb” or “Ten Tips To
Quit Biting Your Fingernails.”
• Strongly Agree
• Agree
• Disagree Ten Tips _________________________
• Strongly Disagree

Listen to your teacher read out each statement. Walk to the 1.

corner that best describes your feelings about each statement.
Discuss each item when the movement stops.

1. Being addicted to cigarettes is worse than being addicted to 2.

alcohol.

2. Parents who smoke are poor role models for their children. 3.

3. It should be illegal to smoke in your personal vehicle.

4.
4. Quitting smoking “cold turkey” is the best way to become a
nonsmoker for life.

5.
5. People who only smoke when they drink alcohol aren’t
really “smokers.”

6. The government should place higher taxes on cigarettes. 6.

7.
DEEP THOUGHTS
Some smokers argue that smoking is actually good for
8.
you because it helps you maintain close social ties with
people. How do you feel about this argument? Is there
anything “healthy” about smoking?
9.

What does this expression mean? 10.

I quit “cold turkey.”

________________________________

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 Smoking
Health Matters

ANSWER KEY

Lesson Description: In this lesson, students learn 9 tips for quitting smoking. They discuss the reasons people have
difficulty quitting, and write their own lists of tips for quitting another bad habit.
Tags: smoking, health, habits, tobacco, intermediate, high-intermediate

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS - Read these “should” statements out loud. Have students listen and write True,
False, or Not Mentioned as they listen. Tell them to write True if the reading stated this, False if the reading stated
something different, and Not Mentioned if the reading did not mention this information in any way.

1. People who are trying to quit smoking should keep cigarettes in their pockets or purses at all times. False. People who are
quitting should place their cigarettes in hard-to-reach places.

2. Smokers should explain to their loved ones that secondhand smoke is not as hazardous as some people think. False. Smokers
should learn the facts about secondhand smoke. This might make them want to quit.

3. Smokers who want to quit should play with pencils and puzzles to try to keep their hands and fingers occupied. True.

4. Smokers who are trying to quit should drink more coffee and take breaks with nonsmokers. True.

5. People who want to quit smoking should reward themselves daily for not having cigarettes. Not Mentioned.

VOCABULARY REVIEW To quit “cold turkey” means

to quit suddenly and never go
A. Matching
back to the bad habit.
1. track / record / deny / count
2. fight / battle / war / crave BUTT OUT
Here are some possible answers. Be sure to familiarize
3. leave / store / hold / stock yourself with the proper pronunciation of any words that
4. likely / realistic / policy / practical you are unsure of. The / shows the syllable break. The
main stress is in bold. It may be difficult to find an
5. deadline / term / store / end date antonym and a synonym for some words.

dead/line | noun | synonym: due date

pol/i/cy | noun | synonym: rule
cut/ down | verb | antonym: increase
re/sist | verb | antonym: accept
track | verb | synonym: record
urge | noun | synonym: need
de/ny | verb | antonym: allow
ba/ttle | verb, noun (gerund form in context) | synonym: fight
store | verb | synonym: hold, keep
se/cond/hand | adjective | antonym: firsthand
cra/ving | noun | synonym: desire
re/a/lis/tic | adjective | antonym: unlikely

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