Facts of life

Every hour 15,000 babies are born. The world’s population increases by 9,300 and the world spends over $ 100 million on weapons. In a lifetime of 65 years the average person watches television for 12 years, and sleeps for almost 22 years.

Your heart beats approximately 75 times in a minute. In that same 60 seconds you breathe in about 18 times and you blink 17 times. You lose between 50 and 100 hairs and more than a litre of sweat daily.

In one hour the world drinks 22,500,000 coca-colas. McDonald’s hamburger shops serve 916,500 customers. People buy enough BIC ballpoint pens to draw a line round the equator 160 times.

In one-year people in Britain drink 73 billion cups of tea. Per head they eat 65 loaves and 157eggs. Each person drinks 216 pints of milk, 50 bottles of wine and 207 pints of beer. But Britain is only twentieth of alcohol drinking countries.

In one hour Volkswagen makes 165 cars at its factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, in the same period of time the Hero Bicycle Company of India produces 591 bikes and the Reynolds Tobacco Company in the United states produces 13,640,872 cigarettes.

Every hour over a 1,000 planes take off or land somewhere in the world, and there are 11 recorded earthquakes.

5. Read the text again. Mark these sentences True (+) or False (-)

1. Every hour about 5,700 people die.

2. You spend about 30% of you life asleep.

3. You blink approximately two million times a year.

4. McDonalds sell 916,500 hamburgers in one hour.

5. There are nineteen countries where people drink more alcohol than Britain.

6. Approximately 500 planes take off every hour.

6. In the text find expressions which mean the same as:

· approximately (four possibilities)

· more than

· every day

· to produce

· to go up

· each person

· a minute

· a bicycle

7. Which of the facts in the text do you think are:

· the most surprising?

· the most interesting?

· the most depressing?

· the most pleasing?

· the least interesting?

· the most useful?