Teacher
Grade: 10
Part one: Comprehension (11 pts)
Read the following selection in which the writer deals with one major problem that teenagers fall for in
the US, drug abuse. When you are through with reading, answer the questions that follow.
Teen Drug Use: Number One Health Problem
1 Matt Helmer was the teen who begged his parents to give each homeless person $20 on the street.
He was the guy who worked at the bagel shop and brought the day-old breads to the local food pantry
instead of throwing them out. He was the 20-something who always stopped for a broken down car on
the side of the road. However, he was the teen who began smoking marijuana at 14 before turning to
oxycontin two years later. He wrecked his mother's car while driving stoned, pilfered money from his
friends, dropped out of high school and spent three weeks in jail after his parents turned him in for
stealing their credit cards. "He went from experimenting to being stoned all the time," said his mother,
Evelyne Morel, of Cream Ridge, New Jersey. "It was so painful to watch. Those last few years were
intensely hellish."
2 But in 2008, Morel received the phone call that Matt, then 22, attempted to hang himself while
being high on cocaine. He was in a coma for three days before he died on Sept. 24, 2008. Now, a new
report found that most addicts are like Matt—90 percent of them begin in high school. It is a striking
statistic to many, but Morel wasn't surprised. “Matt knew he'd end up dead or in jail if he didn't go to a
rehabilitation center and get clean," said Morel. "Unless you witness it, you don't realize how addiction
can spiral so out of control.”
3 Researchers from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, or CASA, found that
nine out of 10 American addicts started smoking, drinking or using drugs before the age of 18 and one in
four of those people become addicted to some sort of drug. "We now have enough knowledge to show
that adolescent substance use is America's number 1 public health problem," said Susan Foster, senior
investigator of the study. “By recognizing this as a health problem and responding to it, we can actually
make the difference by improving the life prospects of teens and saving costs in society.”
4 It is a critical period of brain development and experts say the teen years put people at increased
danger of addiction because their brains are more sensitive to substances and they're more likely to
experiment and take risks. “The brain is still developing up until age 25, so when you put nicotine and
psychoactive substances in the body, it's actually messing with the brain as it's developing,” said Dr.
Stanton Glantz, director of the University of California at San Francisco Center for Tobacco and
Research and Education. “Nicotine tends to be the gateway drug when kids start smoking younger.
They're more likely to become addicted and smoke for a longer period of time.”
5 Glantz continued to say that smoking creates permanent changes in the brain. When a person
quits, some of those changes reverse, but never completely. Researchers also know that tobacco, alcohol
and other drugs act similarly in the brain, so that the use of one substance heightens the risk of
dependence on others. “Addiction is the most costly health problem in America today, and it drives 70
other diseases that require hospitalization,” said Foster. “It drives a host of very costly health and social
problems that are largely preventable. We can do something about it.”
6 Foster said preventing teens from substance use begins with screening young people for their
mental health and family addiction history. “We need to ask questions and intervene and understand what
circumstances exist in the family, including mental health conditions, history of addiction and eating
disorders.” Society also needs to move away from a culture that glorifies and promotes substance use as a
way to relax or have fun and improve accessibility of available treatment, she said.
7 As for Morel, who works with teens, she hopes to see better communication among parents and
teens about drugs and addiction. "This is a disease that can happen to anyone," said Morel. "In ninth
grade, it was like a switch went off in Matt. It's not just poor kids or the homeless that this can happen to.
They're not any more likely than any of the rest of us."
Comprehension questions:
A) Answer the following questions in 2-4 sentences each.
1. What contradiction did Matt Helmer’s life entail? Support your answer with details. (1pt)
2. How did Matt Helmer die? (1pt)
3. At the end of the third paragraph, Susan Foster said something about “improving the life
prospects of teens and saving costs in society.” In your opinion, how can they save costs in
society? (1pt)
B) The following statements are false because they misinterpret information stated or implied in the text.
Rewrite each correctly. (2pts)
1. Researchers found that smoking, alcohol and drugs create changes in the brain, but the brain gets
back to normal when someone quits.
2. Ninety percent of the American addicts started smoking, drinking or using drugs before the age of
18, and half of those people become addicted to some sort of drug.
C) Skills
1. What kind of introduction does the writer use? Explain. (1pt)
2. Scan paragraph 2 for a figurative language. Tell its kind and explain it. (1pt)
3. What is the thematic link depicted between paragraphs 4 and 5? Explain (1pt)
4. How are paragraphs 3 and 4 linked? Explain your answer. (1pt)
5. Copy the following chart and fill it in as required. (1pt)
Sentence pattern Example from the selection
Cause and effect
Chronological order
Listing
Contrast
D) Scan paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 5 to find words which mean the same as the following: (1pt)
1. Entrance
2. Possibilities of success
3. Can be avoided
4. Remedy, treatment
