Why read this: This story gives students one clear idea. Some people cannot stop thinking about food. New medicines stop these thoughts. The story uses simple words and short sentences. Students will know about Ozempic from the news. They can read this story and feel proud. They learn about a real health topic in easy English.
What to notice: Notice how the story names the feeling: doctors call it food noise. Notice the two real people in the story, Lena and Oprah. Both of them say the same thing. They thought food noise was normal. Then the medicine stopped it. Notice the last big point: the medicine only works when people keep taking it.
Skills practised: Students practise reading short sentences for facts. They find names of people and medicines. They answer simple "what" and "who" questions. They list things from the story in their own words. The open questions help them describe a feeling and list facts. The story uses the same key words again and again, which helps students remember new words.
"The Day the Food Noise Stopped"
"New medicines make loud food thoughts go away. But the thoughts come back if people stop the medicine."
Tap any green word in the article to see its meaning.
Some people think about food all day longlong: For a great amount of time — 长时间, and they cannot stop. These loudloud: Making a lot of noise. — 大声的；嘈杂的 thoughts in their head never go away. Doctors call this feeling food noise: loud thoughts about food that a person cannot stop — 脑海里挥之不去的关于食物的念头. For a long time, no one had a name for it.
New medicines for weight loss: new medicines that help people eat less and lose weight — 帮助减轻体重的新型药物 have changed this. The most famous one is a drugdrug: A substance used as medicine or taken illegally to affect the mind or body. — 药物；毒品 called Ozempic. People take a small shotshot: The firing of a gun; an attempt to do something; a photograph; an injection. — 射击；尝试；照片；注射 one time each week. The medicinemedicine: A substance which specifically promotes healing when ingested or consumed in some way — 药物 helps them eat less and lose weight slowlyslowly: At a low speed; not quickly. — 慢慢地；缓慢地.
But the medicines do something else that surprisedsurprised: Feeling or showing surprise because something unexpected has happened. — 感到惊讶的；出乎意料的 everyone. They make the food noise go away inside the head. People who take them feel quiet and calmcalm: (of a person) Peaceful, quiet, especially free from anger and anxiety — 平静的 inside. Many say this is the biggest surprisesurprise: Something that happens unexpectedly or that you did not expect. — 惊喜；意外 of the medicine.
Lena Smith Parker is one of these people. She is 53 years old and liveslive: To have permanent residence somewhere, to inhabit, to reside — 居住 in the United States. For many years, she tried hard to lose weight. Voicesvoice: The sounds you make when you speak or sing. — 声音；嗓音 in her head told her to eat all day long. Then she joined a science test for a new medicine, and the voices stopped right away. "My brainbrain: The control center of the central nervous system of an animal located in the skull which is responsible for perception, cognition, attention, memory, emotion, and action — 大脑 is emptyempty: Having nothing or nobody inside it. — 空的；空洞的," she said with surprise.
Oprah Winfrey says the same thing about her own life. She thoughtthought: An idea or opinion that comes into your mind. — 想法；念头 everyone in the world had food noise. She thought it was just a normalnormal: According to norms or rules or to a regular pattern — 正常的 part of life. Now she takes one of the new weight medicines, and the food noise in her head is gone.
But there is one big problem with these medicines. They only work while a person keeps taking them. If a person stops, the food noise comes back fast. Lena stopped the medicine one time after a study ended. She gainedgain: To obtain or secure something desired; to increase in amount or value. — 获得；增加 back about 18 kiloskilo: The unit of weight such that a one-kilogram mass is also a one-kilogram weight — 公斤 very quickly. Now she takes a different medicine made by another company.
Doctors are still learning how these new medicines work. They want to understand food noise much better, so they can help more people in the future.
Some people think about food all day longlong: For a great amount of time — 长时间, and they cannot stop. These loudloud: Making a lot of noise. — 大声的；嘈杂的 thoughts in their head never go away. Doctors call this feeling food noise: loud thoughts about food that a person cannot stop — 脑海里挥之不去的关于食物的念头. For a long time, no one had a name for it.
New medicines for weight loss: new medicines that help people eat less and lose weight — 帮助减轻体重的新型药物 have changed this. The most famous one is a drugdrug: A substance used as medicine or taken illegally to affect the mind or body. — 药物；毒品 called Ozempic. People take a small shotshot: The firing of a gun; an attempt to do something; a photograph; an injection. — 射击；尝试；照片；注射 one time each week. The medicinemedicine: A substance which specifically promotes healing when ingested or consumed in some way — 药物 helps them eat less and lose weight slowlyslowly: At a low speed; not quickly. — 慢慢地；缓慢地.
But the medicines do something else that surprisedsurprised: Feeling or showing surprise because something unexpected has happened. — 感到惊讶的；出乎意料的 everyone. They make the food noise go away inside the head. People who take them feel quiet and calmcalm: (of a person) Peaceful, quiet, especially free from anger and anxiety — 平静的 inside. Many say this is the biggest surprisesurprise: Something that happens unexpectedly or that you did not expect. — 惊喜；意外 of the medicine.
Lena Smith Parker is one of these people. She is 53 years old and liveslive: To have permanent residence somewhere, to inhabit, to reside — 居住 in the United States. For many years, she tried hard to lose weight. Voicesvoice: The sounds you make when you speak or sing. — 声音；嗓音 in her head told her to eat all day long. Then she joined a science test for a new medicine, and the voices stopped right away. "My brainbrain: The control center of the central nervous system of an animal located in the skull which is responsible for perception, cognition, attention, memory, emotion, and action — 大脑 is emptyempty: Having nothing or nobody inside it. — 空的；空洞的," she said with surprise.
Oprah Winfrey says the same thing about her own life. She thoughtthought: An idea or opinion that comes into your mind. — 想法；念头 everyone in the world had food noise. She thought it was just a normalnormal: According to norms or rules or to a regular pattern — 正常的 part of life. Now she takes one of the new weight medicines, and the food noise in her head is gone.
But there is one big problem with these medicines. They only work while a person keeps taking them. If a person stops, the food noise comes back fast. Lena stopped the medicine one time after a study ended. She gainedgain: To obtain or secure something desired; to increase in amount or value. — 获得；增加 back about 18 kiloskilo: The unit of weight such that a one-kilogram mass is also a one-kilogram weight — 公斤 very quickly. Now she takes a different medicine made by another company.
Doctors are still learning how these new medicines work. They want to understand food noise much better, so they can help more people in the future.
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
What do doctors call the loud thoughts about food?
- 02
What is the name of the most famous new medicine in the article?
- 03
What happens if a person stops taking the medicine?
- 04
Describe what food noise feels like for the people in the article.
Suggested length: ~50 words
- 05
List two things the new medicines do for the people who take them.
Suggested length: ~50 words
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
What do doctors call the loud thoughts about food?
- 02
What is the name of the most famous new medicine in the article?
- 03
What happens if a person stops taking the medicine?
- 04
Describe what food noise feels like for the people in the article.
Suggested length: ~50 words
- 05
List two things the new medicines do for the people who take them.
Suggested length: ~50 words