1-Critical Reading and Thinking Questions for “Here’s to Your Health” You should apply the seven critical reading strategies as you read the article. Be sure to question what the author, Joan Dunayer, states in her writing. Look for facts and think critically about the article.
As the only freshman on his high school’s varsity wrestling team, Tod wasanxious to fit in with his older teammates. One night after a match, he was offered atequila bottle on the ride home. Tod felt he had to accept, or he would seem like asissy. He took a swallow, and every time the bottle was passed back to him, he tookanother swallow. After seven swallows, he passed out. His terrified teammates carriedhim into his home, and his mother then rushed him to the hospital. After his stomachwas pumped, Tod learned that his blood alcohol level had been so high that he waslucky not to be in a coma or dead.Unfortunately, drinking is not unusual among high-school students or, for thatmatter, in any other segment of our society. And that’s no accident. There arenumerous influences in our society urging people to drink, not the least of which isadvertising. Who can recall a televised baseball or basketball game without a beercommercial? Furthermore, alcohol ads appear with pounding frequency in magazines,on billboards, and in college newspapers. According to industry estimates, brewersspend more than $600 million a year on radio and TV commercials and another $90million on print ads. In addition, the liquor industry spends about $230 million a year onprint advertising. And recently, Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc. decided to defy theliquor industry’s voluntary ban on the radio and TV ads for hard liquor. The companybegan running commercials for its Crown Royal Canadian Whiskey on a Texas TVstation.To top it all off, this aggressive advertising of alcohol promotes a harmful mythabout drinking.Part of the myth is that liquor signals professional success. In a slick men’smagazine, a full-page ad for Scotch whiskey shows two men seated in an elegantrestaurant. Both are in their thirties, perfectly groomed, and wearing expensive-lookinggray suits. The windows are draped with velvet, the table with spotless white linen.Each place-setting consists of a long stemmed water goblet, silver utensils, and thicksilver plates. On each plate is a half-empty cocktail glass. The two men are grinningand shaking hands, as if they’ve just concluded a business deal the caption reads, “Thetaste of success.”Contrary to what the liquor company would have us believe, drinking is moreclosely related to lack of success than to achievement. Among students, the heaviestdrinkers have the lowest grades. In the work force, alcoholics are frequently late orabsent, tend to perform poorly, and often get fired. Although alcohol abuse occurs in alleconomic classes, it remains most prevalent among the poor.Another part of the alcohol myth is that drinking makes you more attractive tothe opposite sex. “Hot, hot, hot,” one commercial’s soundtrack begins, as the camerascans a crowd of college-age beachgoers. Next, it follows the curve of a woman’s legup to her bare hip and lingers there. She is young, beautiful, wearing a bikini. A youngguy, carrying an ice chest, positions himself near to where she sits. He is tan,muscular. She doesn’t show much interest—until he opens the chest and takes out abeer. Now she smiles over at him. He raises his eyebrows and, invitingly, holds upanother can. She joins him. This beer, the song concludes, “Attracts like no other.”Beer doesn’t make anyone sexier. Like all alcohol, it lowers the levels of malehormones in men and of female hormones in women—even when taken in smallamounts. In substantial amounts, alcohol can cause infertility in women and impotencein men. Some alcoholic men even develop enlarged breasts, from their increasedfemale hormones.The alcohol myth also creates the illusion that beer and athletics are a perfectcombination. One billboard features three high action images: a basketball playerrunning at top speed, a surfer riding a wave, and a basketball player leaping to make adunk shot. A particular light beer, the billboard promises, “won’t slow you down.”“Slow you down” is exactly what alcohol does. Drinking plays a role in over sixmillion injuries each year—not counting automobile accidents. Even in small amounts,alcohol dulls the brain, reducing muscle coordination and slowing reaction time. It alsointerferes with the ability to focus the eyes and adjust to a sudden change inbrightness—such as the flash of a car’s headlights. Drinking and driving, responsiblefor over half of all automobile deaths, is the leading cause of death amongteenagers. Continued alcohol abuse can physically change the brain, permanentlyimpairing learning and memory. Long-term drinking is related to malnutrition,weakening of the bones, and ulcers. It increases the risk of liver failure, heart disease,and stomach cancer.Finally, according to the myth, alcohol generates a warm glow of happiness thatunifies the family. In one popular film, the only food visible at a wedding reception is anuntouched wedding cake, but beer, whiskey, and vodka flow freely. Most of the guestsare drunk. After shouting into the microphone to get everyone’s attention, the bandleader asks the bride and groom to come forward. They are presented with two wine-filled silver drinking cups branching out from a single stem. “If you can drink your cupswithout spilling any wine, “the band leader tells them, “you will have good luck for therest of your lives.” The couple drain their cups without taking a breath, and the crowdcheers.A marriage, however, is unlikely to be “lucky” if alcohol plays a major role init. Nearly two-thirds of domestic violence involves drinking. Alcohol abuse by parents isstrongly tied to child neglect and juvenile delinquency. Drinking during pregnancy canlead to miscarriage and is a major cause of such birth defects as deformed limbs andmental retardation. Those who depend on alcohol are far from happy: over a fourth ofthe patients in state and county mental institutions have alcohol problems; more thanhalf of all violent crimes are alcohol-related; the rate of suicide among alcoholics isfifteen times higher than among the general population.Advertisers would have us believe the myth that alcohol is part of beingsuccessful, sexy, healthy, and happy; but those who have suffered from it—directly orindirectly—know otherwise. For alcohol’s victims, “Here’s to your health” rings with aterrible irony when it is accompanied by the clink of liquor glasses.
Main Ideas Quiz—Here’s to Your HealthUsing the Five Thinking Strategies1. Were your predictions about this article confirmed or denied after reading it? Whatparts of the article did you use to help you predict what the reading was about?2. What images/pictures formed in your mind as you read the article?3. What comparisons did you make between the article and what you know?4. What did you use to check your understanding? Did you underline words orphrases, summarize each paragraph, write notes in the margins of the article, or writeyour thoughts or questions as you read?5. Did you correct any gaps in your understanding?Main Ideas—Number the paragraphs before completing this exercise.6. The topic sentence of paragraph 2 isa. first sentence.b. second sentence.c. third sentence.d. last sentence.7. The topic sentence of paragraph 4 isa. first sentenceb. second sentence.c. third sentence.d. last sentence.8. The topic of paragraph 5 isa. drinking and the wealthy.b. drinking and work.c. drinking and the poor.d. drinking and lack of success.9. The topic sentence of paragraph 5 isa. first sentence.b. second sentence.c. third sentence.d. fourth sentence.10. The topic sentence of paragraph 10 isa. first sentence.b. second sentence.c. next-to-the-last sentence.d. last sentence.
