Read the text and answer the questions Young at heart and in body! Today people are living a lot longer than they used to and their lives are much healthier, too. Older people used to say that they were ‘young at heart’ when they looked old but felt young. Now, people want to look as young as they feel and they are prepared to spend a lot of money on surgery. If an operation can give people a younger face or body then they will have it and not worry about the dangers or the cost. People have always looked for eternal youth and maybe they have now found it. As well as trying to look younger, people can have a lot of other operations. They can become bigger or smaller. They can have a different nose or more hair. They can even become taller or shorter! In fact doctors can probably change any part of the body that you are unhappy with – for the right money! The number of people who have these operations is continuing to go up. Last year in the UK there was an increase of 22%! And it is not only women who want a perfect body. More and more men are choosing to have surgery, too. The most popular operations for men include changing their nose or ears, and fat reduction. It is also worrying that many young people are having surgery. It is becoming so popular and cheap that some eighteen-year-olds are getting operations as presents for their birthdays! However, these operations can be dangerous and they can also cause a lot of pain. Sometimes the operations go wrong and the person may look worse than before. There are some terrible stories and there have been some frightening programmes on television. Although there are problems, people continue to take the risks. In the past, only the rich and famous had enough money to pay for these operations but today the prices are much lower. Many more people today have the opportunity to look younger or to look like their favourite celebrity. Although it costs money and is dangerous, millions of men and women still have surgery because they want a perfect body. Match five of the highlighted words / phrases to the definitions. Example: cutting a person’s body to take out or repair a part surgery
1 continuing for ever
2 making something less or smaller 3 a chance to do something
4 very bad
5 possibilities that something bad may happen