INTEGRATED ENGLISH REFERENCE NOTES - Prof. Dr. Ziya Yurttaş

A Talk on Smoking
A- Do you smoke?
B- No. I don’t smoke now.
A- Did you used to smoke?
B- Yes. I used to smoke.
A- When did you used to smoke?
B- I used to smoke when I was abroad.
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A- Did you stop smoking when you came from abroad?
B- Yes. I stopped smoking just before I boarded the plane to come back home. I was
a heavy smoker. In fact I was a chain smoker. I smoked my last cigarette in the
waiting lounge and threw away my remaining cigarettes before boarding. Since
then, my life has been free of that addiction.
A- Is smoking an addiction?
B- Yes of course, it is an addiction. Cigarette contains a very strong addictive
substance, namely nicotine. It makes you get addicted. When you inhale the
smoke of a cigarette a few times, you get strongly hooked on it.
A- That is very bad habit. Isn’t it?
B- Yes it is. It is really a very bad habit. I am very sorry to have had that habit. I had a
very hard time to kick the habit and quit smoking.
A- I have never smoked. But I know that it is harmful for the smokers as well as the
people around.
B- Yes you are right. It is very harmful. I have watched a program on TV. about
smoking when I was abroad and decided to quit smoking right then. On that
program it was mentioned that there are more than 3000 harmful substances in
the smoke of a cigarette. These substances cause serious illnesses including
cancer.
A- I understand. That is why there is a warning on the cigarette packs indicating that
it is hazardous to health. By the way, how long had you been smoking when you
quit?
B- I had been smoking for 10 years when I quit. It has been 5 years since then.
I would have been smoking for 15 years now, if I had not stopped smoking 5 years ago.