ADDICTIONS

1. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

scientists / addictions / hereditary /siblings / abnormalities / self-control / wired / researcher / choice of lifestyle / overcome problems / daily life / taking drugs

2. ADDICTIONS: Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

Addicted to…	How bad an addiction?	How to treat it?
drugs
video games
shopping
cigarettes
stealing
fast food

3. HEREDITARY: Rank these in order of what you would like to pass on to your children. Share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

your level of intelligence your height your hair your personality

your capacity to love your food dislikes your health your athleticism

4. SIBLINGS: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘siblings’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING 

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	Scientists say that many addictions may be hereditary.	T / F
b.	Drug addicts can have the same brain abnormalities as their siblings.	T / F
c.	Abnormal brain structures usually results in better self-control.	T / F
d.	The study may be able to help people control themselves better.	T / F
e.	Everyone who takes drugs becomes addicted in some way.	T / F
f.	A researcher said addiction is a brain disorder and not a choice.	T / F
g.	The researcher said one in fifty of us are drug addicts.	T / F
h.	The doctor knows why some siblings of drug addicts are not addicts.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	discovered	a.	get over
2.	siblings	b.	give
3.	linked	c.	tried
4.	provide	d.	decision
5.	sought	e.	brothers and sisters
6.	lead	f.	stay away from
7.	choice	g.	found out
8.	overcome	h.	head
9.	colleagues	i.	connected
10.	resist	j.	co-workers

WHILE READING 

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Scientists have discovered that addictions may be (1) ____________. A team from Britain’s University of Cambridge found that (2) ____________ of drug addicts share the same brain abnormalities as their drug-(3) ____________ brothers and sisters. The research team said these abnormal brain structures are linked to (4) ____________ self-control and drug dependence. The researchers suggest that addiction is in some ways a “(5) ____________ of the brain”. This may provide important new ways into helping people with problems of self-control when it (6) ____________ to addictions. The study sought to find out if drugs changed the “(7) ____________” of the brain or whether the brains of drug addicts were wired differently from (8) ____________.		comes disorder using hereditary birth wiring siblings poor
Lead researcher Dr Karen Ersche told the BBC: “It has (9) ____________ been known that not everyone who (10) ____________ drugs becomes addicted.” She continued: “It shows that drug addiction is not a (11) ____________ of lifestyle, it is a disorder of the brain and we need to recognise this. These brothers and sisters who don't have addiction problems, what they can tell us is how they (12) ____________ these problems, how they manage self-control in their (13) ____________ life.” Dr Ersche and her colleagues studied 50 (14) ____________ of siblings — one with a history of drug addiction and one with no (15) ____________ of taking drugs. She compared these with 50 healthy people. She concluded: “We need to find out how these non-addicted siblings were able to (16) ____________ using drugs.” ESL Conversation Questions: Are you addicted to anything? What is the difference between a habit and an addiction? Do you have any harmless bad habits? Do they annoy other people? What are some good habits that you would like to have? Are you addicted to any television shows? How serious is this addiction? Smartphones are taking more and more of our attention. Are you addicted to your phone? How much or how often should a person drink to be considered an alcoholic? What is the most addictive substance in the world? What makes it addictive? Which addictions are safer than others? Is it okay to be addicted to something like coffee? Have you ever broken an addiction to something? How did you do it? How hard was it to give that thing up? Some people replace one addictive behavior with another. Can you think of an example? Is it true that giving up smoking means you will gain weight? How can this problem be solved? What is the difference between addictive behavior, like gambling, and consuming an addictive substance, like nicotine (from tobacco)? Are you a shopaholic? Why do some people love shopping? What is the strangest addiction you have ever heard of? A few celebrities have admitted to suffering from sex addiction. What do you think about this? Is having an addiction embarrassing? If so, what is the most embarrassing addiction? An addictive personality refers to the characteristic of easily getting addicted to things. Do you know anyone with an addictive personality? Describe their behavior. Alcoholics Anonymous is a famous support group for people with drinking problems. What other forms of help can an addicted person get? Have you ever been to a casino? If so, did you win anything and how did it feel? Some people lose huge amounts of money gambling. Why can’t they quit playing? Read the short story. Why do teenagers drink alcohol? Read this and find out.		choice experience daily long resist takes overcome pairs