contract to the National Health Service have an average about 2,250 patients. They provide the first
diagnosis in the case of illness and either prescribe a suitable course of treatment or refer a patient to
the more specialized services and hospital consultants.
A large proportion of the hospitals in the National Health Service were built in the nineteenth
century; some trace their origin to much earlier charitable foundations, such as the famous St.
Bartholomew's and St. Thomas' hospitals in London.
About 85 per cent of the cost of the health services is paid for through general taxation. The
rest is met from the National Health Service contribution and from the charges for prescriptions,
dental treatment, dentures and spectacles. Health authorities may raise funds from voluntary sources.
(See: "Britain 1983". Lnd., 1983)
2. Nobody pretends that the National Health Service in Britain is perfect. Many doctors
complain that they waste hours filling in National Insurance forms, and that they have so many
patients that they do not have enough time to look after any of them properly. Nurses complain that
they are overworked and underpaid.
3. Many Health Service hospitals are old-fashioned and overcrowded, and, because of the
shortage of beds, patients often have to wait a long time for operations. Rich people prefer to go to
private doctors, or to see specialists in Harley Street, the famous "doctors" street in London. When
these people are ill they go to a private nursing-home, for which they may pay as much as £ 100 a
week. Alternatively, they may hire a private room in an ordinary hospital, for which they will pay
about £ 10 a day.
(Musman R. Britain To-day. Lnd., 1974)
b) Write 10 questions about the facts mentioned in the texts that you find
interesting and discuss them in class.
XVIII. Find some jokes on a medical subject and tell them to your fellow-
students.
XIX. a) Give а very short description of each picture in the Present Tense. Use
prompt words and phrases listed in the Note.
b) Make up a story about the pictures in the Past Tense c) Find a short title to
the story.
Note: сточная труба — sewer; носилки - stretcher; санитарная машина — ambulance;
санитар - ambulance man; операционная operating-room; гипсовая повязка — plaster-bandage.
XX. Film "Mr.Brown's Holiday". Dilm segment 2 "Miss Peggy and the Pussy
Cays" (Canterbury), a) Watch and listen, b) Do the exercises from the guide to the
film.
STUDIES OF WRITTEN ENGLISH
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This time you will learn more about the smallest thought units that build up writing,