Heart Disease Factor
Pre-Reading Activities
A: Brainstorming
Work in pairs and answer the question below.
If you were going to do research into the reasons why some people have heart disease and some do not, which
factors would you concentrate on?
e.g. diet, family background, etc.
Reading Activities
A: Writing Questions
Here are the answers to some questions based on today's article. Scan the first four paragraphs of the article for
the information given in these answers and then write an appropriate question for each answer. Do this as quickly
as you can:
1.(write your question here) ____________________________________________
Answer: The University of Maryland.
2. ____________________________________________
Answer: 101 men and 95 women.
3. ____________________________________________
Answer: Whether there is a relationship between heart problems and certain personality traits.
4. ____________________________________________
Answer: No, 44 people had heart disease while the other 99 had no signs of it.
Domineering, irritable people at risk for heart
disease
By Nancy Deutsch
NEW YORK, Thursday March 23
(Reuters Health) -- Men who
interrupt others in the middle of
sentence -- as well as those that feel
a flash of irritation when they are
interrupted -- may be at higher risk of
heart disease, results of a study
suggest.
Having a dominant personality (one
sign being a tendency to interrupt
others) or a high level of irritability
are two personality traits that make
one prone to heart problems,
researchers report.
``Both of these types are very much
at risk of heart disease,'' said Dr.
Aron Wolfe Siegman, a psychologist
at the University of Maryland in
Baltimore County, and lead author of
a study in Psychosomatic Medicine.
The findings are from a study of 101
men and 95 women, including 44
people with definite heart disease
and 99 without heart disease. The
study subjects were interviewed
when they went for an exercise
stress test, which measures blood
flow through the heart.
(Continued/...)
B: Language
The paragraph below comes from the second part of the article. It has some mistakes. There are three word
order errors, three spelling errors and three preposition errors. Read the paragraph carefully and try to find all
the mistakes:
By women, there was a correlation between disease heart and covert displays for their anger, such as wearing
angry expresions or making cutting remarks. Men were more to likely suffer heart disease if they displayed
dominance, such as constantly over talking others or interrupting conversations, the investigaters found. Both
sexes were in risk for heart disease if they were constently irritable.
C: Matching Information
Now read the whole article and match the sentence beginnings with one of the two endings to summarize some of
the article's findings. (Be careful, there are two extra beginnings!)
Beginnings
1.If you're enthusiastic about your work you are...
2.If you feel irritated when you are interrupted by someone you are...
3.If you're easygoing you are...
4.If you're a man and you are often irritable you are...
5.If you're a woman and you are often irritable you are...
6.If you're a man and you are nervous about meeting new people you are...
7.If you talk about your anger calmly with someone you are ...
Endings
...less likely to have heart disease.
...more likely to have heart disease.
(.../Continued)
People who were rated as having a
dominant personality had a 47%
higher risk of heart disease, and
those who had high scores of
irritability had a 27% increase in
heart disease risk compared with
their less domineering, more
easygoing counterparts.
What's more, the researchers found
that the study did not support the
common belief that men display their
anger and women keep it in. Men
and women may just express their
anger differently, according to the
report.
An increased heart disease risk is
seen in women who have more
indirect displays of anger, such as
antagonistic behavior, while a man's
heart risk is higher if he tends
toward full-blown outward
expressions of ire, the authors note.
In women, there was a correlation
between heart disease and covert
displays of their anger, such as
wearing angry expressions or
making cutting remarks. Men were
more likely to suffer heart disease if
they displayed dominance, such as
constantly talking over others or
interrupting conversations, the
investigators found. Both sexes
were at risk for heart disease if they
were constantly irritable.
``The relationship between emotions
and disease are mediated through the
body,'' Siegman explained. Being
angry and exploding or making
cutting remarks increases blood
pressure, causing heart damage, he
said.
A subset of 97 patients had their
anger levels rated by their spouses.
Women's ratings of their spouses'
anger-out levels corresponded with
their husbands' coronary heart
disease.
The same was not true for the men's
ratings of their wives' displays of
anger. This shows that women do
not suffer heart disease related to
acting out in anger as is the case with
men, the researchers conclude.
``Anger should not be held in or kept
in subtle ways,'' Siegman warned.
``Anger should be discussed. You
should confront the person with
whom you are angry but in a
controlled fashion.''
D: Cloze
Here is a short passage based on today's article. Use the words below to fill the gaps:
explosively, heart disease, some, raised,anger, calmly, interrupt, higher, increases, why, dominant, heart
Do you often feel irritable? Do you _______________ your friends when they're in the middle of a
sentence? Do you show your anger indirectly by making sarcastic comments? If you answered 'yes'
to any of these questions then you may be at risk for _______________.
If you get irritated easily you have _______________ risk of heart disease and if you have what's
known as a _______________ personality (for example, interrupting others or talking over other
people) you have an even _______________ risk. Anger _______________ blood pressure.
_______________ blood pressure can cause _______________ damage.
There are one or two differences for men and women. Women shouldn't avoid showing their
_______________; men shouldn't get _______________ angry. It's much better to tell the person
you're angry with _______________ you're angry . Most importantly, do it _______________.
Post-Reading Activities
You may do one or more of these.
A: Vocabulary
Here are some words that all mean 'angry'. Can you think of any others? (Use your dictionary if you wish.)
annoyed
cheesed off
cross
enraged
fuming
furious
irate
irritated
livid
These words describe different intensities of anger. Try and put them into order from those that mean someone is
very angry through to those describing someone who is only a little angry.
B: Fun Quiz
How calm are you?
Answer these questions by choosing a., b. or c.:
1. You are waiting to park your car in a busy car park. You wait for a woman to get into her car, pull out and
drive off. You are just about to turn into her parking place when another driver accelerates and 'steals' it.
Do you:
a.smile patiently and decide that the driver must have a good reason for doing this.
b.get out of your car and walk towards the driver shouting at the top of your voice.
c.get out of your car and go to the driver and say, "You know, I'd been waiting for that park for 3 minutes."
d.look angry and then drive away to find another parking place.
2. You are trying to tell your friends a funny story. One of them has just bought some popcorn and keeps
interrupting you as she offers you and the others some of it. You allow her to interrupt you three times but just as
you get to the funniest part of the story she says again, "Go on, have some more!"
Do you:
a.take a deep breath and give up trying to tell the story.
b.say, "You've interrupted me 3 times! No one wants your stupid popcorn. Just shut up and listen!"
c.say, "Hey, can I finish my story? "
d.think about how rude she is, say "no thanks, popcorn is really fattening, but I guess you know that," and
give up trying to tell your story.
3. You are watching a movie on television with your mother. It's a love story and the hero is just about to tell the
heroine that he loves her. Your mother turns to you and says, "Did I tell you that I met Margaret at the shops
today?"
Do you:
a.smile at her, say "Oh that's interesting. How is she?" and turn down the volume so you and your mother can
talk.
b.say, "I'm trying to watch this program. I don't care about Margaret!"
c.say," This is a good movie. Can we talk about Margaret a bit later?"
d.give her an angry look and then listen with an unfriendly expression on your face while you try to watch the
program at the same time.
What it means:
If you chose
Mostly a's: You don't show your anger. In fact you don't seem to get angry. Perhaps this means that other people
will bully you or force you to do things you don't want to do. Perhaps you need to stand up for yourself a bit
more.
Mostly b's: You show your anger clearly, perhaps too clearly! You are rude to your friends and very angry with
strangers. Be careful that this behavior does not lead to you getting hurt, or losing a friend! Take a deep breath
before you express your anger.
Mostly c's: You are a calm person. You feel angry but you express why you are angry calmly and in a controlled
way. Well done! Your friends will appreciate your calmness.
Mostly d's: You hide your anger by instead using sarcastic comments or unfriendly facial expressions. It may be
better to show your anger a little more clearly by saying why you are angry .
C: Tell someone else
Work in pairs and answer these questions about how you show your anger:
1.What facial expressions do you use?
2.What body language do you use?
3.What are you likely to say?
4.Are you calm when you are angry or are you explosively angry?
5.Are you likely to show your anger in different ways depending on who the person is? (e.g. how do you
show you're angry with a teacher, your parents, your closest friend etc.)
6.When someone is angry with you, do you want them to tell you they are angry?
7.Do you think that males and females show their anger in different ways?
8.Are there any particular facial expressions or body signals from your culture or country that show anger? (Show your partner.)
Produced by cmercer
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Produced by cmercer
[email protected]
TEACHERS' NOTES AND ANSWER KEY
Reading Activities
A: Writing Questions - Notes
Students could write any variations on the suggested answers below.
A: Writing Questions - Suggested Answers
1. Where was the study done?
2. How many people were involved in the study?
3. What was the study researching?
4. Did all of the subjects have heart disease?
B: Language - Notes
Do not hand out the whole article until you have done this activity, or else ask students to cover the article and only look at if
after they have completed this activity.
Students can check their own answers simply by looking at the article.
B: Language - Answers
In women, there was a correlation between heart disease and covert displays of their anger, such as wearing angry expressions
or making cutting remarks. Men were more likely to suffer heart disease if they displayed dominance, such as constantly talking
over others or interrupting conversations, the investigators found. Both sexes were at risk for heart disease if they were
constantly irritable.
C: Matching Information - Answers
If you feel irritated when you are interrupted by someone you are...more likely to have heart disease.
If you're easygoing you are...less likely to have heart disease.
If you're a man and you are often irritable you are...more likely to have heart disease.
If you're a woman and you are often irritable you are...more likely to have heart disease.
If you talk about your anger calmly with someone you are ...less likely to have heart disease.
No matches: If you're enthusiastic about your work you are... If you're a man and you are nervous about meeting new people
you are...
D: Cloze - Answers
Do you often feel irritable? Do you interrupt your friends when they're in the middle of a sentence? Do you show your anger
indirectly by making sarcastic comments? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you may be at risk for heart
disease.
If you get irritated easily you have some risk of heart disease and if you have what's known as a dominant personality (for
example, interrupting others or talking over other people) you have an even higher risk. Anger increases blood pressure. Raised
blood pressure can cause heart damage.
There are one or two differences for men and women. Women shouldn't avoid showing their anger; men shouldn't get
explosively angry. It's much better to tell the person you're angry with why you're angry . Most importantly, do it calmly.
Post-Reading Activities
A: Vocabulary - Notes
If you are living in an English speaking country, tell students which words on this list are most commonly used in your country
and give examples of when they might be used. For example, the words 'fuming' and 'enraged' describe someone who is visibly
angry.
A: Vocabulary - Suggested Answers
(in order of intensity of anger)
livid
irate / enraged / fuming / furious
cheesed off / cross / annoyed / irritated
B: Fun Quiz - Notes
This is a very short quiz, and not serious. Students could add their own examples of questions and then try the quiz on another
class.
C: Tell someone else - Notes
This could be turned into a writing activity with students being asked to choose some of the questions and write their answers.
Produced by cmercer
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