Replacing the Carrot with a Stick

While workers mostly like to see an employer offer smoking cessation classes and weight loss programs, too few are signing up or showing signs of improvement. So now more employers are trying a different strategy - they're replacing the carrot with a stick and raising costs for workers who can't seem to lower their cholesterol or tackle obesity. They're also coming down hard on smokers. (Health care and compulsory wellness programs, business, pair crossword, opinion essays and discussion.) Advanced

Smoking in the Movies
Young children may be influenced to start smoking through exposure to movie characters who smoke, researchers suggest.(Hollywood,children, movie stars as role models, smoking, marketing, predicting, choose the best answer, crossword, verb + to + infinitive or verb + -ing, 'what would you do?' quiz about lying, expressing opinions.) Intermediate

International Treaty Against Smoking
More than 190 countries approved the first international treaty against smoking, including an advertising ban, aimed at kicking a habit that kills nearly 5 million people a year. (Antismoking, WHO, complete the headline, scanning, reading carefully, summarizing, relative clauses, information exchange, debate, complete the drawing.) Upper-Intermediate

Drug trends changing
More girls than boys are becoming first-time users of alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana, reversing previous trends. (Drugs and alcohol use, young people peer pressure, discussion, reading for factual information, giving an opinion, problem solving, should and modal verbs, giving advice). Intermediate

Extra Jail for Smoker
For a 73-year-old Canadian man, 20 months in a smoke-free jail looked just too long, so instead he took 24 months in a prison where he can smoke cigarettes. (Smoking issues, discussion, understanding the main idea, comprehension, choose the best answer, regular and irregular simple past tense verbs, nouns - nationalities and languages.) Pre-Intermediate