About their problems. They try to find answers for their problems together. For example
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88 VIVE LA DIFFERENCE! There are more than 150 countries in the world. Some of them are very big, with millions of people. Others are smaller than some cities with only a few thousand people. People in different countries have their own customs (i.e. social habits), traditions, languages and beliefs. There are, of course, very obvious differences. A visitor immediately sees what people look like, the different money they use and the different food they eat. However, there are some differences you cannot see immediately. You learn about these when you get to know the people of the country well. One difference between different countries is the way people greet their friends. In France, for example people kiss one another on both cheeks. In Britain, people usually kiss close friends and relatives, and only shake hands with people meet for the first time. There are also a lot of different customs linked with eating. For instance, in many countries people say something to each other before they start eating, such as 'Guten Appetit', but in Britain this is not the custom. In the United States people cut their meat into small pieces before they start to eat and then they eat only with a fork. In Germany, it is impolite to cut poatoes with a knife, and in many cou'ntries people don't eat with knives or forks at all. What people do in their spare time in the evening or at the weekend also be very different. Sport is an example of this Cricket is a popular sport in Britain but not in the rest of Europe: People race camels in Saudi Arabia and watch Sumo wrestling in Japan. All these differences between countries make travel interesting. 89 TORNADOES The great power of tornadoes is almost unbelievable. The speed of this whirling funnel-shaped wind may be more than 800 kilometres per hour. Like a giant vacuum cleaner, it sucks up anything in its path. There are many interesting stories about the strange things that tornadoes have done in the United States. Common wheat straw has been driven several centimetres onto posts and trees. Buildings have been turned completely around on their foundations and have remained intact. People and animals have been carried hundreds of metres, often suffering no physical harm. Feathers have been removed from chickens. Cars, trucks, and even whole freight trains have been carried away. Fortunately, a tornado does not last long, about 20 to 30 minutes on the avenge. Usually, it destroys an area about 26 kilometres long, and the great damage that it does in one place lasts only about 30 seconds. Tornadoes normally occur on hot, humid days but not necessarily in the summer. The biggest and most destructive tornado in the United States struck on March 18, 1925. Roaring along at a speed of 96 kilometres per hour, it swept clean a path 2 kilometres wide across the states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. In its 354-kilometre long journey across these three states, the tornado killed 689 people. More than 200 tornadoes strike in the United States every year. It is not possible to predict when a tornado will strike although the U.S. Weather Bureau gives storm warnings when conditions are right to cause a tornado. The safest place to be if a tornado seems likely is in some underground area such as a cellar or a basement. 90 INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE AND SAFETY People who work together often get the same diseases (illnesses). For example, lung cancer is common among asbestos workers and miners. Many people who work with X-rays get skin cancer. Most coal miners develop black lung disease after years of work in coal mines. These people probably get these diseases because of their work. In addition, accidents on the job may injure or kill workers. For instance, farm machines sometimes injure farm workers. Construction workers sometimes fall from buildings. These injuries can be fatal. People who work with electricity may get electric shocks. Fires sometimes kill fire fighters. Many large companies employ both industrial doctors and safety engineers to protect workers from accidents and illness on the job. They do this in three ways. First, doctors study the workers and their diseases. They know that certain groups of workers often have the same diseases. At the same time, safety engineers study accidents and their causes. Second, doctors and safety engineers work together to change the machines or the job because they want to prevent accidents or illnesses. Third, they educate workers about the dangers of their jobs. They teach the workers about safety on the job. Education is necessary for prevention. There are many causes of accidents and illness at work. Chemicals, noise, and radiation are a few. For example, gases in mines cause accidents and poison miners. Toxic chemicals, such as lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and silica (SiO2), made people sick in the past, and they make people sick today. In additon, there are new chemicals, and some of them are toxic. They harm the skin, the lung and other internal organs such as the heart, liver, or kidney. Industrial noise sometimes causes deafness. Many things in the workplace can cause illness or injury. Industrial physicians and safety engineers often prevent these problems. After they find the causes, they plan and design new machines to prevent accidents in the future. They design different ways to store and transport toxic chemicals. They measure and control gases in the air. They set standards for work in dangerous situations. For example, airport workers must cover their ears near the airplanes outside. Some workers must wear protective clothing, like eye goggles, hard hats, and safety shoes. After careful study, both doctors and safety engineers do many things to decrease the danger of injury and illness on the job. They make the work area a safe place. 129
LEARNING ABOUT COMPUTERS
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