Reading - Intermediate level

1. READING COMPREHENSION INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
Take your timeto thinkand answer thefollowing questions:
 What’sthedifference between a habit andan addiction?
 Are some types ofaddictionmore sociallyacceptablethanothers?If so, which typesand
why do you thinkthis is so?
 Do you thinkthere are certain types of peoplewho are more likelyto become an addict?
Read thefollowing text.
BEING A SHOPAHOLIC
Some peoplecan beshopaholics and theystilldon´t know it. You becomea shopaholic when
shopping getsout ofyour control.In our current societythis is happening more and more. There
is a survey that says that almost one out of five peoplecannot keep theirshopping habitsunder
control.
Shopaholismhasbecomea new illness. Doctors have begunto treat peoplewho suffer from a
compulsive need to shop with similar medicines theyuse to treat depression. Most shopaholics
get into hugedebtsand suicidalrate is increasing among them.
Doctorssay that `if you help them to be calmer and under control, people stop doing silly things.´.
That is why theybelieve it is a new typeofdepression and it must be dealt with as such.
Dr Lane says: `I am treating a young girl who has got over a hundred T-shirts. She doesn´t even take
them out of the shopping bag. She just has piles of them and she has the need to get more and
more.´
He says that thisproblemcomes togetherwith othersillnesses such as eating disorders. He
claims that theproblemis that nowadaysour societyallows these new types of illnesses to
become sociallyacceptable.However, shopaholicsneed help as theycan end up in a dramatic
personal situation.
After reading thetext, answer thefollowing questions:
1. Explainin English themeaning of “Shopaholic”.
2. What kind oftreatment do doctors suggest to dealwith shopaholism?
3. What is one of the consequences of compulsive shopping mentioned in thistext?
4. Thetext says that “our societyallows these new typesof illnesses to become socially
acceptable”.What do you thinkit means?
5. Do youagree with thestatement that shopaholismisan illness? Justify your answer.