I can understand an article about medicinal properties plants.

Part III. Reading

Exercise 7: Before reading the text answer some questions:

1. Why do you think people prefer drugs with plant extracts to synthetic drugs?

2. What plants possessing medicinal properties do you know?

3. Do you often use medicinal plants in treating various diseases? What are your “favourites”?

THE HEALING POWER OF PLANTS
ACTIVE VOCABULARY OF THE TEXT
immemorial	[ˌɪmɪ'mɔːrɪəl]	давний, незапамятный
site of action	[saɪt əv 'ækʃ(ə)n]	место приложения действия
inflammation	[ˌɪnflə'meɪʃ(ə)n]	воспаление
suppress	[sə'pres]	пресекать, сдерживать
alleviate	[ə'liːvɪeɪt]	облегчать
interfere	[ˌɪntə'fɪə]	вмешиваться
putrefaction	[ˌpjuːtrɪ'fækʃ(ə)n]	гниение, разложение
contaminated	[kən'tæmɪneɪtɪd]	зараженный, загрязненный
analgesic	[ˌænəl'ʤiːzɪk]	болеутоляющий
topical agent	['tɔpɪk(ə)l 'eɪʤ(ə)nt]	местнодействующее средство
indigestion	[ˌɪndɪ'ʤesʧ(ə)n]	нарушение пищеварения
expectorant	[ɪk'spekt(ə)r(ə)nt]	отхаркивающее средство
mucous	['mjuːkəs]	слизистая

Exercise 8: Before reading the text explain some words: chemical drugs, natural remedy, immune system herbs, pain relief herbs, shortness of breath, chest tightness.

Exercise 9: Read the text:

The healing power of plants

Since time immemorial man has known about the medicinal properties of plants and widely used them for all practical purposes. At present the attention to medicinal plants as natural sources of drugs has greatly increased.

D ifferent parts of the plant may be used for medicinal purposes: roots and rhizomes, fruits and seeds, flowers and inflorescences, stems and leaves. All these parts are collected in a certain period of time.

We can distinguish several main groups of medicinal plants, according their sites of actions, though many plants have various healing properties.

Anti-inflammatory herbs are used widely as herbal medicines for the treatment of inflammation. Inflammation, as the name suggests, is a condition where a certain part of the body is inflamed due to some infection. Using natural remedies or natural herbs is the best way to treat inflammation instead of using chemical drugs to suppress the symptoms. So, since inflammation is basically a symptom of the body getting to work at healing or treating itself, the best remedy that can be used is to naturally alleviate inflammation to improve circulation to the affected area in the best possible way. A mild soothing oil or ointment is not enough to work on severe inflammation. The most helpful anti-inflammatory herbs are: oak, St. John's Wort, cow lily, black alder, garden sage, Echinacea, pipsissewa, lavender and many other.

Natural antibacterial herbs kill and block the development of bacteria in human body. The extracts of antibacterial plants or antibacterial essential oils work by interfering with the growth condition of bacteria and in turn reducing the chances of infections, sepsis or putrefaction due to bacterial growth in the body. As such, these herbs can also be called immune system herbs as they prevent diseases by strengthening body's capacity to fight off bacteria. There are many herbs with antibacterial effect that are used on a daily basis as spices or condiments for cooking such as turmeric, garlic, ginger, barberries, madder etc. Antibacterial properties of other herbs are made available in the form of such products as herbal tea, anti bacterial soaps and body washes, antibacterial essential oils, tinctures etc.

A nalgesic herbs are the therapeutic herbs with analgesic effect that are commonly known as pain relief herbs or simply the pain herbs. Analgesic herbs are natural pain reliever that reduce or eliminate pain. These pain relief herbs are available in the market in analgesic topical agents like essential oil and analgesic cream- that can be directly applied at the pain sites- as well as in form of capsules, tea and tinctures for pain relief. There are many pain relief herbs that include cannabis, valerian, turmeric, poppy, willow bark, St. John's wort, angelica, motherwort, black cohosh, wild yam, lavender, cayenne, and rose etc. Essential oils of pine, lavender, peppermint, cinnamon, rose, rosemary, ginger, juniper, and birch are also effective herbal pain relievers.

Antiasthmatic are the natural herbs that cure asthma. Most of the natural herbs for asthma work by maintaining open airways and by supporting lung health. The extract of anti asthmatic herbs work as expectorant that makes it possible for the body to expel contaminated mucous and restricting multiplication of bacteria and viruses. As such, the herbs for asthma help relieve the symptoms of asthma like wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and cough by clearing off the airways and lungs. Among antiasthmatic herbs there are: mint, plantain, horsetail, yarrow, tickseed, licorice, nard, nettle and many other.

Summary: Throughout the ages herbs and plants have contributed many ingredients to help fight disease and illness and many are still used around the world today. There are a variety of plants used for a multitude of different health problems.

Exercise 10: Answer the following questions:

1. How long ago did the mankind learn about the medicinal properties of plants?

2. What parts of plant may be used for medicinal purposes?

3. What are the main groups of medicinal plants?

4. What are the main properties of anti-inflammatory herbs?

5. What herbs kill and block the development of bacteria in the body?

6. What herbs have analgesic effect?

7. How do antiasthmatic herbs help to fight asthma?

Exercise 11: Make your own short report about different properties of medicinal plants.

Exercise 12: You know that many English words are polysemantic. Can you find equivalents to the following words:

A.

condition	умножение
plant	воздушные пути
multiplication	дорога
airway	условие
way	завод

B.

to nip something in the bud	самая лучшая часть чего-либо
to sit on thorns	бельмо на глазу; источник постоянного раздражения
to put down roots	пресечь в корне, подавить в зародыше, перестать что-либо
a thorn in one's side / flesh	пустить корни, поселиться и жить на одном месте.
the flower of something	сидеть как на иголках