Voice 2 Adam and Jamie discovered the best way to avoid spreading germs while sneezing is to sneeze into your elbow.. This is also what the World Health Organization recommends.[r]
(1)Why Do I Sneeze? 07 April, 2014 A sneeze in progress, revealing the plume of salivary droplets Photo Credit: CDC Public Health Image Audio Player pop-up player Download Options » Normal Quality (Mono - 4.27 MB) » High Quality (Stereo - 13.7 MB) Voice Welcome to Spotlight I’m Liz Waid Voice And I’m Colin Lowther Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live Voice Today’s Spotlight is on sneezing (2) Voice In ancient Greece, a sneeze was a sign of good luck Voice But in Europe, hundreds of years ago, if a person sneezed people thought he would surely die Voice Today in parts of India, a sneeze can be a sign that something bad will happen Some people believe that it is a bad sign if you sneeze before you begin a trip They say you should take a drink or wait a short while before you continue your trip Voice In parts of eastern Asia, some people think you sneeze because someone is talking about you! Voice People have all kinds of beliefs and ideas about sneezing For example, have you ever heard this one? If you keep your eyes open when you sneeze, your eyes will come out of your head! Scientists today know that this is not true Your eyes are very securely attached But some children still tell this story Voice Here is another story about sneezing But this one is true! Have you ever sneezed in your sleep? The answer is always no! People never sneeze while they are sleeping Voice Through history people have tried to explain why we sneeze People cannot make themselves sneeze It is a reflex of our bodies Doctor Neil Kao is an expert on allergies He gave the website WebMD a very simple definition for a sneeze Voice (3) “Sneezing is a nerve transmission This message from a nerve tells your brain that something in your nose needs to come out.” Voice A sneeze usually begins in the nose As people breathe in air through their nose, they also breathe in anything that is in the air This can be dirt, dust, or germs like viruses and bacteria The air and these particles enter the nose Some of the particles get caught in the hairs inside the nose But the hairs not always catch everything Voice Some particles go through to the lining, or inside, of the nose The lining of the nose is very sensitive That is, it can sense very small particles in the nose Nerves in the lining sense that it is irritated Voice The nerves in the lining send a message to a particular part of the brain Some experts simply call this part of the brain the “sneeze center” The sneeze center accepts these messages from the nose It sends messages back The throat, eyes, and mouth close Then the throat quickly opens again while the lungs pull in quickly The result is a sneeze! The air from the lungs leaves very quickly Some experts say sneezes travel from about 55-65kph Others believe sneezes travel at about 160kph! Voice But during a sneeze, it is not just air that leaves a person’s body The air blows out the liquids in a person’s mouth and nose This is the saliva from the mouth, and the mucus from the nose Often, these liquids contain germs like viruses and bacteria When a person sneezes, these liquids fly quickly out of the nose in very small pieces called droplets A single sneeze can contain about 40,000 droplets and many more germs! Voice There are many reasons why a person sneezes Many of them are because of chemical or environmental irritants Some people sneeze (4) when they breathe in strong smells like perfumes or cigarette smoke The cooking spice pepper makes some people sneeze Other people may sneeze because of a sudden change in temperature, or a full stomach Other people sneeze when they look at the sun! This is a particular kind of sneeze called a photic sneeze About one in every three people are photic sneezers They get this trait from their parents! Voice But there are also ways to avoid this kind of sneezing If you feel a sneeze coming, press your tongue behind your front two teeth This is the part behind your teeth, but before your mouth curves up You may have to use your tongue to push very hard But you should feel that the sneeze will stop However, health workers warn that people should not stop a sneeze that has already started Sneezes travel at great speeds Stopping a sneeze by blocking the mouth or nose can be dangerous You could damage your hearing or the blood vessels in your head Voice Probably the most famous reason for sneezing is that a person is sick! In fact, sneezing is one major way to spread sicknesses like influenza As we said, tens of thousands of germs escape from a person’s nose and mouth during a sneeze These germs can stay in the air or travel with the wind If someone else breathes them in, he or she may get sick! For this reason, many health experts encourage people to cover their mouths when they sneeze But what is the best way to that? One experiment that shows the answer comes from a place people may not expect – television! Voice Mythbusters is a television program In this program, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman try to prove common beliefs about common things - like sneezes They use science and experiments to look at these beliefs Adam and Jamie used a very powerful camera to record a person sneezing Each man put a colored liquid in his mouth When he sneezed, cameras recorded where the droplets (5) went Adam and Jamie tested three methods of containing a sneeze They wanted to know which method stopped the most germs Voice In the first test, Adam sneezed into his open hand Droplets from his mouth traveled almost three meters! And his hand was covered in droplets If he touched anything without washing his hands, he would spread the germs Voice Next, Jamie sneezed into his elbow He found only two droplets in front of him And there was only a small amount of droplets on his elbow Voice Finally, Adam sneezed into a small cloth Only a few droplets fell in front of him The cloth caught most of the droplets However, some of the droplets went through the cloth and onto Adam’s hand Voice Adam and Jamie discovered the best way to avoid spreading germs while sneezing is to sneeze into your elbow This is also what the World Health Organization recommends This can be important to remember during times when sicknesses quickly spread Voice Experts still not know everything about sneezing But, they know one thing When a person sneezes, you should always say “Bless you!” It is the polite thing to do! Voice The writer of this program was Liz Waid The producer was Michio Ozaki The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight You can find our programs on the internet at http://www.radioenglish.net This program is called ‘Why Do I Sneeze?’ (6) Voice We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program Goodbye - See more at: http://spotlightenglish.com/listen/why-do-isneeze#sthash.U4Ui9ruc.dpuf (7)