Illnesses

 17. Tétel - Illnesses - Betegség

• common illnesses

• addiction (alcohol, drugs, smoking)

• stress, psychic diseases

In Hungary most people have coronary diseases or suffer from cancer. I think the majority of people don’t pay enough attention to their health and go and see a doctor only when it’s too late.

In my opinion, in Africa the biggest problem is the spread of AIDS, which is due to ignorance, lack of money and education. In the developed countries the most serious issue is cancer because in most of the cases it is incurable.

When you are unwell, you see the doctor in his surgery or send for him. From 15th February you have to pay visit fee. You tell him your trouble and he examines you by sounding your lings, listening to your heart, taking your blood pressure, feeling your pulse and taking your temperature. If it is nothing serious, there is nothing much to worry about, but you may have to take some prescription. He may put you on a diet, tell you to stay away from work or put you on the sick list.

If you are in need of urgent hospital treatment, the doctor will ring for the ambulance. As polyclinics are not self-sufficient for every kind of medical examination, you may be sent to hospital for observation.

Medical attendance covers the emergency medical- and accident attendance, hospital treatment and recourse of family doctor.

Herbs can replace medicines in certain cases and provide a more natural treatment. Herbs are mainly used to make teas. I believe in natural therapy not tablets and medicines.

Unfortunately many people are overweight in Hungary. People don’t care about leading a healthy way of life. They eat too much and too many fatty foods and they don’t do any sports. They don’t even walk, but use their cars or public transport.

There are addictions, which are very harmful, for example: smoking, drugs and drinking.

Smoking is very harmful and it’s very difficult to give up smoking. I think smokers smoke cigarettes out of sheer habit not for the taste and flavour of cigarette.

Drinking coffee is harmful too, but some people who has low blood pressure it’s helpful.

I think drugs are the most dangerous passion because it’s crocked up the body so quickly. Taking drugs weakens the addicts’ immune system, makes them susceptible to strokes and causes anemia. Young people try drugs mostly because of curiosity. Young people’s idols, famous pop stars, actors and actresses, also take drugs and show a bad example for them. Giving up drugs is very difficult because drugs are extremely addictive. I think it is almost impossible to give up drugs without professional help.

Drinking is as dangerous as taking drugs, both of them mend the feelings for a short time. Adults should call the attention of young people to the health hazards of drinking. They should make teenagers realize that alcohol is as addictive as drugs and cigarettes. Drinking is especially dangerous for young people as their liver functions are not developed enough to stop alcohol from destroying their brain cells.

I think it’s impossible to stop people from smoking and drinking with laws or regulations. Producing and distributing cigarettes and alcoholic drinks is a very profitable business. 

Stress is a common trouble in our days. The most typical form is the stress at occupation. Future exercises and quick worktempo cause quick pulse, strain and phobia. This is a psychological trouble, such as anorexia, sexual problems, phobias (hydrophobia, claustrophobia), inside illnesses, etc.

18. Tétel - Services - Szolgáltatások

• catering facilities

• banks

• repair and maintenance

• emergency services (ambulance, police, Automobile Association)

There are several services in the world, such as restaurants, banks, hairdressers, dry-cleaners, patrol services and so on.

People are usually in a hurry and they don’t have time to wait for meals in restaurants. They go to self-service restaurants, which don’t offer many kinds of dishes, but the service is quick and the food is acceptable. There are cheaper and some more expensive ones. You can buy your food at takeaway restaurants if you don’t have time to cook but would like to eat at home. Fast food restaurants are very popular but not so healthy. I like these foods but I eat there rarely.

Many students complain about the canteen food, saying that it is tasteless and full of fat. I think the situation is not that bad. The kitchen provides food for several hundred students a day and can’t afford to use the best ingredients. There are some dishes that they cook really well.

In Hungary the number of foreign restaurants is growing. There are more and more Chinese, Greek, Italian, Turkish and Arabic restaurants. You can also find other international restaurants, mainly in big towns.

I go to the hairdresser’s to have my hair cut two- or three times a year because I grow my hair and I dye it at home. 

It’s much cheaper to do all the work yourself and with the help of your family and friends, but you might not be so satisfied with the result. Employing professionals is quite expensive but they work faster and better.

I take suits, overcoats, leather jackets, fur coats and other clothes made of materials that can’t be washed to the dry-cleaner’s.

At the post office you can buy stamps, envelopes, cards, scratchcards and so on. You can post letters and parcels, pay your bills, transfer money, etc. I transfer money by internet.

Banks offer a wide choice of services. They deal with savings, payment services, lending, insurance, foreign currency exchanges, leasing, giving advice on investments, and so on. Nowadays more and more banks provide telebanking services. It means that people use their phones or the internet to give orders to the banks to carry out different kinds of business transactions for them. 

Patrol services are ambulance, police, fire service and auto club. Ambulance callable in 104, police in 105 and fire service in 107 in emergencies. In Hungary these services are not so quick and modern. Auto club helps the motorists in default. It’s available in 188, and it has 80 modern “yellow angels’.

19. Tétel - Shopping - Vásárlás

• everyday shopping

• buying consumer durables

• shopping habits

• sales, discounts

• the role of advertisements

• consumer society

I buy some bread and milk almost every day in a little shop opposite my house, but we go to a big hypermarket to buy other all things for the household usually every third weekend.

We always buy big hunks of cheese, crates of yoghurt and kephir, tubs of margarine and butter, sugar, flour, cooking oil, spices, mineral water, cereals, meat, cleaning supplies, domesticities, nappy, consumer durables, electrical goods, toys, etc., so almost everything. Vegetables and fruits we buy at the market near my house because these goods are fresh there.

Advantages of hypermarkets are that you can find almost everything from food to gardening equipment in one place and there is also a wide range of goods. There is usually a place where the children can play while their parents are shopping. The hypermarkets offer some products at reduced prices and cards for regular customers. With these cards you can earn points that you can exchange for goods or services. 

I like shopping in hypermarket because they’re opened non-stop and I can buy everything in one place at a low price. The disadvantages of hypermarkets are that they are often incredibly crowded, especially at weekends. It’s difficult to move with fully packed trolleys among the shelves. These hypermarkets are generally far from the town centre and it can take long to get there and home. Fortunately there is a hypermarket near my house so we don’t have to travel a lot.

Usually we get catalogues from super- and hypermarkets about sales so we go to there at that time.

Recently I buy books and Avon essences by internet. It’s very comfortable and cheap, I like it.

In small shops the customer service is usually better than in bigger stores because the shop assistants consider the customers more important there. These shops are closer to your home and aren’t so crowded and you don’t have to stand in a long queue. Their disadvantages are that you can’t find as many brands as in big shops and they are more expensive.

I think I pertain to the majority, which do the shopping in hypermarkets.

20. Tétel - Transport - Közlekedés

• everyday transport

• public transport in the city

• intercity transport

• individual transport (cars, motorbikes, bicycles)

• public transport problems

• individual transport problems

There are several ways of travelling. People can travel by bicycle, motorcycle, car, taxi, bus, tram, trolleybus, underground, train, plane, ship, boat, hydroplane and so on. 

There are many ways of getting about town. In most big cities people have a wide choice of tram, bus, trolley-bus and underground routes in addition to a taxi service. Trams, trolley-buses and buses stop to pick up passengers at special stops. During the morning rush hours, with so many people hurrying to work, the vehicles are usually overcrowded. During the evening rush hours, with everyone hurrying home, they are packed full, too. 

You can buy railway tickets at newsagent’s, ticket offices, in shops, from ticket machines and in some towns from the drivers, which is always more expensive. Then you have to validate your ticket either punching it or stamping it. But if you have a monthly ticket, you don’t have to worry about buying a ticket because monthly and weekly tickets are valid for several journeys within a particular period of time. They are also cheaper than separate tickets. You can also buy half-yearly and yearly tickets.

I used to go to work by bus, underground and tram but nowadays we go to work by car with my husband and our daughter. It’s more comfortable and quicker than the public transport.

I don’t like public vehicles because they are slow and crowded, and the service is not frequent enough.

The fastest type is the underground because it isn’t influenced by weather or traffic conditions. In Hungary you can find it only in the capital.

People travel by taxi when they are in a hurry, when they have much to carry or when they are in unknown places. You go by taxi if there is no public transport or it isn’t operating because it’s too late.

The London underground (the Tube) is one of the largest in the world. It has 10 lines and nearly 300 stations. Underground called subway in New York and metro in Paris and many other cities. 

Public transport can be made more environmentally friendly by replacing buses with trams and trolleybuses or running them on natural gas.

Parking is getting more and more difficult nowadays because the number of cars has increased dramatically.

In Hungary the point-to-point transport is very critical. Buses and trains are crowded, slow, expensive and often late.