Surprising News 3

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1/4 NEWS LESSONS / Life expectancy data packed with surprises / Elementary

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W E B S I T E© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2013

Life expectancy data packed with surprises

Level 1 Elementary

Find the information2

Find the following information in the text as quickly as possible.

1. What is the average life expectancy for women in the UK?

2. How long can a man expect to live in Andorra?

3. What is the average life expectancy for women in the Central African Republic?

4. How many deaths of under-ves were there in 2010?

5. How many people die of malaria each year?

6. What is life expectancy in Brazil now?

Key words1

Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text. The paragraph numbers are given to

help you.

1. A person’s _________________________ is the length of time that they will probably live. (para 1)

2. If something is _________________________, it includes or affects the whole world. (para 2)

3. An _________________________ is a medical examination of a dead person’s body to nd out why they died.

(para 3)

4. If you are _________________________, you are safe from a disease because you cannot be infected by it.

(para 4)

5. A _________________________ is a medical condition in which the temperature of your body is very high and

you feel ill. (para 4)

6. _________________________ is a woman’s ability to have babies. (para 6)

7. A _________________________ disease is one that can be passed from one person to another. (para 7)

8. A _________________________ is a medical condition in which blood is suddenly blocked and cannot reach

the brain. (para 7)

9. _________________________ is a medical condition in which your body does not produce enough insulin to

reduce the amount of sugar in the blood. (para 7)

10. _________________________ is a medical condition in which your blood contains too few red blood cells.

(para 8)

autopsy global immune life expectancy fever

communicable fertility stroke diabetes anaemia



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Level 1 Elementary

Life expectancy data packed

with surprises

Sarah Boseley, health editor

13 December, 2012

1 On average, a girl born today in the UK will

live to the age of nearly 82 and her brother

will live to 78. They would have a longer

life in Andorra (the girl 85 and the boy 79)

but will live a little longer than in the US (81

and 76). If they lived in the Central African

Republic, they would die in middle age (49

and 44). Almost everywhere in the world,

except countries such as Lesotho, which

have problems with HIV and violence, life

expectancy is increasing. The best news is

that small children die much less often than

forty years ago. There has been a reduction

in deaths of under-ves of nearly 60%, from

16.4 million in 1970 to 6.8 million in 2010.

2 Over the past ve years, the Institute of

Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in

Seattle has led a very big project to look

at the global effects of disease. If we knowhow many children die and why, the world

can try to keep them alive. The big IHME

database will help global organizations and

governments to better care for us all.

3 The project has been controversial. IHME

has been very radical in some of its

methods. When they didn’t have death

registries or medical records they decided

the cause of death by an interview with the

family – called a ‘verbal autopsy’. The most

surprising result has been with malaria.IHME said 1.2 million die of the disease

every year – this is twice as many as people

believed. The big increase is in adult deaths.

It is commonly believed that malaria kills

mostly children under ve.

4 “We are taught, as doctors, that in areas

with malaria, you become semi-immune as

an adult,” said Dr Christopher Murray, IHME

Director. But he says the evidence tells them

that may not be right. “African doctors write

on hospital records that adults are dying

of malaria a lot.” But their fever could be

something different, he adds. The results

have led to more studies.

5 Although the Director General of the WorldHealth Organization was happy about

the IHME study, other people are not so

sure. “We need to be very careful,” said

Colin Mathers, a senior scientist. He thinks

scientists need to nd out if the numbers are

correct. One of the most important things

in the study, said Murray, was “the very fast

change in the main causes of death and the

speed of that change is a lot faster than

we thought”.

6 Reduced fertility and longer life haveled to an increase in the average age of

the world’s population in ten years from

26 years old to almost 30. The change

has been dramatic in Latin America, for

example, where countries like Brazil and

Paraguay had life expectancy of below

30 in 1970 and almost 64 in 2010. That is

a 35-year increase in the average age of

death in forty years.

7 Also important is the change outside Africa

from communicable diseases to “lifestyle”

diseases, such as heart disease, stroke,diabetes and cancer. That change is very

obvious in Latin America, the Middle East

and south-east and even south Asia,

Murray said.

8 The third big result was, he said, “a surprise

to us”. The study showed that there are

lots of people with disabilities and it has a

big effect on people who are living longer

but not healthier lives. “The main causes

of disability are different from the ones that

kill you,” he said. They were mental healthproblems, such as anxiety and depression,

disorders, such as arthritis and lower back

pain, anaemia, sight and hearing loss

and skin disease. Also, there was drug

abuse. “The number of people with these

problems is not reducing over time,” he said.

“We are making no progress in reducing

these problems.”

© Guardian News and Media 2013

First published in The Guardian, 13/12/12


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W E B S I T E

NEWS LESSONS / Life expectancy data packed with surprises / Elementary

© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2013


Level 1 Elementary

Comprehension check3

Chunks4

Two-word phrases5

Match the beginnings and endings to make statements about the text.

1. Life expectancy is increasing …

2. There has been a 60% reduction …

3. The average age of the world’s population has

increased …

4. There has been a move from communicable

diseases to …

5. People are living longer lives but …

6. Scientists are not making progress …

a. … they may not be living healthier lives.

b. … because of reduced fertility and longer life.

c. … “lifestyle” diseases.

d. … in almost every country in the world.

e. … in reducing mental health problems.

f. … in deaths in children under ve

Rearrange the words to make phrases from the text.

1. in almost the everywhere world

2. the years past over ve

3. the population the age world’s of average

4. believed as twice many people as

5. effects global disease of the

Match the words in the left-hand column with the words in the right-hand column to make phrases from the text.

1. medical

2. life

3. communicable

4. semi-

5. main

6. mental

a. expectancy

b. health

c. immune

d. cause

e. records

f. disease

Discussion7

Should we spend more money on treating diseases such as malaria? Why? Why not?

Complete the table.

Word-building6

adjective noun

1. violent

2. globe

3. surprise

4. fertile

5. disabled

6. anxious



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Level 1 Elementary

KEY

1 Key words

1. life expectancy

2. global

3. autopsy

4. immune

5. fever

6. fertility7. communicable

8. stroke

9. diabetes

10. anaemia

2 Find the information

1. nearly 82

2. to 79

3. 49

4. 6.8 million5. 1.2 million

6. almost 64

3 Comprehension check

1. d

2. f

3. b

4. c

5. a

6. e

4 Chunks

1. almost everywhere in the world

2. over the past ve years

3. the average age of the world’s population

4. twice as many as people believed

5. the global effects of disease

5 Two-word phrases

1. e

2. a

3. f

4. c

5. d

6. b

6 Word-building

1. violence

2. global

3. surprising

4. fertility

5. disability

6. anxiety

Surprising News 3

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