Health and medicine ENGLISH COLLOCATIONS IN USE (ADVANCED)

 

ENGLISH COLLOCATIONS IN USE (ADVANCED)

UNIT 37

Health and medicine

 

A	Maintaining good health Do you want to enjoy good health? Or perhaps you want to reduce your stress levels? Build up your strength by doing plenty of exercise1. It’s better to start with gentle exercise unless you already do a lot of sport2. It’s equally important to watch what you eat. There’s no need to go on a diet: just eating the right food will help you to build up resistance to disease. 1 NOT making exercise 2 NOT make sport
B	Treatment When Alexa was diagnosed with a serious medical condition, she was worried that she might have to have an operation1. However, her doctor first prescribed a course of medication. Fortunately, she responded well to treatment, and made a full recovery. 1 NOT make an operation PATIENT INFORMATION LEAFLET ·       Do not exceed the recommended dose. ·       If you think you have taken an overdose2, consult a doctor immediately. ·       If you suffer any of the side effects3 mentioned in this leaflet, or any other adverse4 reactions, consult your doctor or pharmacist. 2 taken too much of a drug 3 unwanted secondary effects of a drug 4 negative
C	Illness collocation example meaning a streaming cold I’ve had a streaming cold for days now. a heavy cold shake off a cold I wish I could shake off this cold – I’ve had it for nearly two weeks. get rid of a cold be in poor health My gran’s been in poor health for years. not be very well an infectious disease There are a number of infectious diseases which mainly affect children. diseases caught from someone with that disease a rare illness/disease The baby was born with a rare illness. an illness that seldom occurs suffer from a chronic disease Oscar Wilde suffered from a chronic ear disease which ultimately led to his death. to have a disease which usually lasts throughout a person’s life critically ill She’s still critically ill in hospital. extremely/dangerously ill fight for one’s life The accident has left three people fighting for their lives. in danger of dying fall into / come out of a coma The boxer fell into a coma after receiving a blow to the head and didn’t come out of the coma for five days. become unconscious; regain consciousness a massive heart attack He suffered a massive heart attack. a very serious heart attack untimely/premature death We were all saddened by the young woman’s untimely/premature death. death at too early an age

 

EXERCISES

 

37.1	Look at A. Combine the words in the box to form eight collocations. Use each word only once.   your suffer watch do do enjoy exercise sport good exercise what gentle on health levels chronic of you plenty reduce disease eat stress diet from go a
37.2	Complete the collocation forks.
37.3	Match each question with its answer. 1 Is the man still in a coma? 2 What did Tasha’s grandfather die of? 3 How did Tim’s uncle respond to treatment? 4 Why did Sam have to stay in hospital? 5 Your little boy has a runny nose, hasn’t he? 6 What sort of medical condition has he got? 7 What cured Julian’s brother? 8 Why does Tony look so worried? 9 How does Joe plan to build up his strength? 10 Is the patient recovering yet? a He had to have an operation. b A massive heart attack. c A rare but not incurable disease. d His friend is critically ill. e Yes, he’s had a streaming cold since Sunday. f A course of medication. g By doing some gentle exercise. h He initially had some adverse reactions. i He’s still fighting for his life. j He came out of it this morning.
37.4	Complete each short dialogue using a collocation from the opposite page. 1 Anna: Did the medication the doctor prescribed help you? Ben: Yes, but it has had some rather unpleasant ________________. 2 Clara: Mozart died when he was just 35. Dean: Yes, he had a very ________________. 3 Ellie: Have you still got that cold? Fran: Yes, I just can’t ________________. 4 Grant: Your aunt doesn’t look very well. Harry: Yes, I’m afraid she is in rather ________________. 5 Inga: Why do they only sell these tablets in small packets? Joan: To try to prevent people ________________. 6 Karl: Make sure you don’t take more than the doctor told you to. Lotte: Don’t worry. I would never ________________. 7 Masha: What did the doctor say about your grandfather’s painful leg? Nina: She has referred him to a surgeon. He has to ________________. 8 Orla: Do you have to change your diet if you’re diabetic? Luisa: Well, you have to ________________. 9 Edward: What’s the prognosis for your uncle now he’s had a kidney transplant? Rita: He’s still feeling rather weak but he’s expected to ________________.

ANSWER KEY

37.1 enjoy good health reduce your stress levels do plenty of exercise go on a diet gentle exercise suffer from a chronic disease do sport watch what you eat   37.2 1 diet 2 dose. A dose of medicine/penicillin is a measured amount of it, while a dose of flu is an experience of flu (dose in this second sense would only be used about an unpleasant experience). 3 build up 4 disease 5 cold 6 course   37.3 1 j           6 c 2 b         7 f 3 h         8 d 4 a         9 g 5 e         10 i   37.4 1 side effects 2 untimely death (premature is also possible but does not sound right after very) 3 shake it off 4 poor health 5 taking an overdose 6 exceed the recommended dose 7 have an operation 8 watch what you eat 9 make a full recovery