I. Study the table below and comment on the facts given there

Popular ways of losing weight

Which of the methods mentioned above are most effective in your opinion? Give your reasons.

II. Read the following quotations and comment on them.

1) On the Continent people have good food; in England people have good table manners (George Mikes).

2) If the English can survive their food, they can survive anything (G.B.Shaw).

3) Even today, well-bred English girls are taught to boil all vegetables for at least a month, just in case one of the dinner guests comes without his teeth (C.Trillin).

4) English cooking? You just put things into boiling water and then take them out again after a long while (Anonymous French chef).

5) Britain is no longer totally a white place where people ride horses, wear long frocks and drink tea. The national dish is no longer fish and chips, it’s curry (Marianne Jean-Baptiste, a British actress).

III. Translate the statements below and discuss them.

1) A gourmet is just a glutton with brains (Philip W. Haberman).

2) We are not content with appreciating the good things … Appetite grows with what it feeds on. The good is not enough to satisfy our greedy appreciation; we must swallow the bad as well (A. Huxley).

3) … frozen foods, package foods, TV dinners, fast food, franchises, preservatives and additives – all stem from a culture that made pragmatism, step saving and time saving virtues in themselves (Time Magazine).

4) For some reason over-eating is considered the mark of the beast, and over-drinking the mark of rather a fine fellow (A. Milne).

5) I feel about airplanes the way I feel about diets. It seems to me that they are wonderful things for other people to go on (Jean Kerr).

6) Exercise is bunk. If you are healthy, you don’t need it; it you are sick you shouldn’t take it (H. Ford).

7) The twentieth century will be remembered chiefly, not as an age of political conflicts and technical inventions, but as an age in which human society dared to think of the health of the whole human race as a practical objective (A. Toynbee).

8) The first law of dietetics is: if it tastes good, it’s bad for you (I. Asimov).

IV. Comment on the following proverbs and sayings in connection with the problems under discussion.

The appetite comes with eating.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

A hungry man is an angry man.

One man’s meat is another man’s poison.

As you brew, so you must drink.

Eat at pleasure, drink with measure.

Fasting comes after feasting.

Diet cures more than the lancet.

Text 3

VALLEY OF THE DOLLS

(an extract)

She had to sleep. She returned to the bedroom. Anne [her friend] was almost asleep. She got into bed and turned off the light. An hour later she was still wide awake. This was going to be another of those nights. She got out of bed quietly and went into the living room. She could sleep – if she had the nerve. She went to her bag and took out the small bottle. She stared at the tiny, bullet-shaped red capsules. Irma had given them to her last night. (“Just take one and you’ll sleep for hours.”)

Seconals. Irma had given her four. (“They’re like gold to me. I can’t give you any more.”) She claimed the little red “dolls” had saved her life. (“I’d give you more, Jennifer, but you need a doctor’s prescription. I can only get ten a week.”) Should she try one? It was a frightening idea, that a little red capsule as tiny as this could put you to sleep. She walked to the small pantry and poured a glass of water. She held the pill for a second, feeling her heart pound. This was dope – but that was ridiculous! Irma took one every night, and she was fine.

Well, one pill couldn’t hurt. She swallowed it, replaced the bottle in her bag and rushed into bed. How long would it take? She still felt wide awake. She could hear Anne’s even breathing, the clock on the night table ticking, the traffic sounds outside – in fact, everything seemed intensified… Then she felt it! It was glorious! Her whole body felt weightless… her head was heavy, yet light as air. She was going to sleep… sleep…

The following day she visited Henry’s doctor. He turned her down cold. She was in excellent condition. What was this nonsense! No, he would not give her a prescription for Seconals. Stop drinking coffee. Cut down on cigarettes. She’d sleep. If she didn’t, then her body didn’t need it.

“That isn’t the way to do it,” Irma explained a few days later. “You can’t go to a good doctor and just ask for them. It’s best to find a little doctor – one whose ethics are a little shady.”

“But where? I slept four nights in a row with those blessed red dolls, and it was heavenly. I haven’t slept two nights without them.”

“Look for one of those third-rate hotels on the West Side. You’ll see a doctor’s sign on a dirty window,” Irma explained. “But don’t just walk in and ask for pills. You have to play the game. Walk in and say you’re from out of town – California is always good. Don’t wear the mink, or the rates will go up. Tell him you can’t sleep. He’ll make a stab at listening to your heart, and you keep saying all you need is a few nights’ sleep. Then he’ll charge you ten bucks and give you a prescription for a week’s supply, knowing you’ll be back. And he knows he’s good for ten bucks a week. But believe me, it’s worth it. You may have to try a few doctors before you hit the right one – two turned me down – but you’ll find one. Don’t go to the Mackley Hotel – that’s mine. He might get suspicious.”

Jennifer found her doctor on West Forty-eighth Street. She knew he was the right one when he disinterestedly dragged out a dusty stethoscope and made a half-hearted attempt to feel her pulse. Sure enough, he pulled out his prescription blank. Here’s a week’s supply of Seconals.” He handed her the prescription. “This should straighten you out. If not, come by again.”

Anne was delighted at the change in Jennifer. She knew nothing about the pills, but she was pleased to see Jennifer sleeping through the night.

***

“I’ve lost five pounds already,” Neely said. She took out a pillbox and popped a speckled green capsule into her mouth. “What an invention! They’re marvellous. Really kill your appetite. Only trouble is, they pep me up so much I can’t sleep.”

“Try Seconals,” Jennifer suggested.

“They really work?”

“Gloriously. They’re beautiful red dolls that take all your cares away and give you nine blissful hours of sleep a night.”

“No kidding? I’ll try them. Mel [her husband], call Dr. Holt right away. Tell him to send me a hundred.”

“A hundred? Neely, they aren’t available as aspirin. You only take one a night, no doctor will give you more than twenty-five.”

“They won’t, huh? Wanna bet? Dr. Holt will give me anything I ask for. Mel, call him right now.”

Mel lumbered off to the phone. “Just one a night?” Jennifer nodded. She saw no reason to tell Neely she sometimes took as many as three. One would help Neely. Besides, she intended to cut down…

Mel returned. “The pills will be here any minute. Dr. Holt said it was a very good idea.”

***

“Neely, you don’t understand. I want this baby. I’m happy about it.”

“Oh. Well say, that’s marvellous. You know, it’s beginning to show already, now that you mention it. You’ve lost your marvellous waistline.”

“Who cares, as long as I have a marvellous baby.” Jennifer mimicked Neely’s enunciation of the word.

Neely laughed good-naturedly. “After it’s all over, I’ll lend you some of my green dolls to help you get your figure back.”

“They sure worked for you.”

“Yeah, but the trouble is, you gotta keep taking them. The second I stop, I eat like a maniac. But the feeling is great – sets you on fire, like you could dance for hours. And I bless you every night for the red ones. They saved my life. Oh, hey. Have you ever tried a yellow one? They’re called Nembutals. If you take one of each – a red and a yellow – wow! You really sleep. I learned it by experiment. The red one puts you to sleep fast, but it wears off in six hours. The yellow works slower, but lasts longer. So I figured, why not try both? I only do it at weekends. Sometimes I sleep twelve hours.”

***

The pills weren’t working. She wondered whether Jennifer ever took three. She just bet she did… She had hardly been able to catch her breath today. Those green pills were beautiful and kept you awake and skinny, but they also made your heart pound so you couldn’t practice a two-hour dance routine. She looked at the clock – midnight. The pills weren’t working. She needed some more Scotch to help them along. It was lucky she had learned booze helped the pills work. She wondered if Jen had found out about that. The dolls without booze were nothing. Well, she’d just have to go downstairs and get some more. …

She sent the dinner tray back untouched. Might as well skip a meal. She had weighed a hundred and three that morning. Besides, the dolls always worked faster on an empty stomach. She took two red and one yellow. Then she poured half a glass of Scotch. The wonderful, relaxed drowsiness began. She sipped her drink and waited for the real reaction, the anesthetic feeling that would seep through her whole body and drag her down into sleep. But it didn’t come, just the drowsiness.

Perspiration made her neck damp and trickled down her back – she felt clammy. She stumbled out of bed and changed her pajamas. Fear was creeping into her heart. Dr. Mitchell was right – she was building up tolerance to the pills. Maybe one more yellow… No, then she’d be groggy and hung-over in the morning. Today she had needed three green dolls just to get through the morning shooting. She poured a full glass of Scotch. Maybe one more red pill … they wore off faster. She swallowed quickly. And she wouldn’t drink all this Scotch, just sip at it until the pills worked. Maybe she should read, that always made her drowsy.

It must have been midnight when she woke. She opened the blinds. Night… and nothing to do. She wandered into the bathroom and unconsciously got on the scale. She had lost two pounds. Hey, that was an idea – if she just slept and took pills and didn’t eat she could take ten pounds off in no time. She took a vitamin pill – that would keep her healthy – then she swallowed a few more red dolls and washed them down with a generous slug of Scotch.

When she woke she could see the sun sneaking through the drapes, which caused a smarting sensation in her eyes. She fumbled her way into the bathroom. She was groggy, but not sleepy. No, she wouldn’t get on the scale. She’d wait and be surprised. She felt hollow and empty. Better take two vitamins… This time she took five yellow pills and then two red ones. That would speed up the action. There was just enough Scotch left for another good drink…

When she opened her eyes everything looked too clean and bright. What was that goddam needle doing taped to her arm? And that bottle hanging upside down? Christ! This was a hospital room! She tried to sit up and a nurse rushed over.

“Relax, Miss O’Hara,” the nurse urged in her professionally cheerful voice.

(by Jacqueline Susann)

EXERCISES