6C 6 Read the article and compare the points with your answers from 5. health and lifestyle
Two thousand years ago, life expectancy was between 20 and 30 years. Now it is between two and three times this figure. We also know that people live about 20 years longer today than 50 years ago.
However, experts say that young people these days are actually less healthy than their parents were at the same age. Young people today have more money, and can afford to live healthy lives, but a lot of people eat processed food full of salt, sugar and fat. This has caused a big increase in obesity and heart problems. In the past, people ate less and also ate less processed food – food was fresher and more natural.
Nowadays, many people spend a lot of time sitting down at their desks using a computer, whereas in the past people worked in more physical jobs that kept them active and fit. Work-related stress is more common now, possibly because we all spend so much time staring at a computer screen. And at the same time the pace of city life gets faster and people work longer hours. Smartphones and computers mean that work never stops. Life was slower and people had more free time 50 years ago. When you finished work at 5 p.m. you went home and relaxed. You didn’t sit on a subway train checking emails, texts and Facebook updates on your smartphone.
English for the 21st Century • Unit 6 97 Trends in