Session 44
September 16, 2026 · Intermediate
- Diet, sugar & weight
- dialysis and the health system
- society's three pillars & staying cautious
1 Corrections
How you said it, the natural version, and why. These are your own sentences.
How you said it
The prices of gas are not affordable.
The natural version
Gas isn't affordable (or: gas prices are too high).
A *thing* is affordable or not; a *price* is high or reasonable, not "affordable."
How you said it
I let go of everything and started to eat freely.
The natural version
I let myself go and started eating whatever I wanted.
let yourself go = stop taking care of your health. "Let go of everything" means release/give things up — a different meaning.
How you said it
Our government doesn't pay attention to make these things affordable.
The natural version
Our government doesn't do enough to make these things affordable.
"pay attention to" + verb doesn't work. Use do enough to / make an effort to + base verb.
How you said it
You must take your precautions.
The natural version
You must take precautions.
take precautions is a fixed phrase — no "your" in the middle.
How you said it
Health is in the bottom of the list.
The natural version
Health is at the bottom of the list.
We say at the top / at the bottom of a list.
How you said it
We suck the blood to the machine.
The natural version
We draw the blood into the machine.
In medical English we draw blood (not "suck"), and blood goes into a machine.
1b Already right
These needed no correction at all.
The machine which filters the blood returns it to the patient.
Nice — correct relative clause (which) describing the machine.
2 Grammar tips
at the top / at the bottom of
Use at for a position on a list or in a place.
Health is at the bottom of the list.
Relative pronouns: who / which
who for people, which for things — both add a describing clause.
the patient who ignores his symptoms; the machine which filters the blood.
by chance vs on purpose
by chance = by accident, not planned; on purpose = deliberately.
I met him by chance at the hospital.
take + noun (fixed phrases)
Some nouns go with take: take precautions, take your time — but make a decision.
You must take precautions (no "your").
make + something + adjective
make + object + adjective = cause it to become that way.
It made me anxious; they don't make the drugs available; we must make them affordable.
get used to + noun / -ing
get used to = become familiar with something new.
If people get used to bad service, they stop complaining.
3 New words and phrases
4 Pronunciation
- ·refinedTwo syllables; stress on FYND.
5 Practice sentences
01For twenty years I kept my weight between 74 and 76 kilos, but then I let myself go.
02Too much refined sugar made me anxious, so I lowered my sugar intake.
03I calculated it — I consume about 25 kilos of sugar every year.
04Walking every day helps me clear my mind after work.
05The machine draws the blood, filters it, and returns it to the patient.
06A patient who doesn't pay attention to early symptoms often waits too long.
07Some medicines aren't available here, and the ones we have aren't affordable.
08Health, education, and law are the three pillars of any country.
09If people get used to bad service, they stop complaining.
10You must take precautions and handle everything with caution.
11A strong motive keeps you going when the work is hard.
12Don't brush off a warning sign — pay attention to it early.
6 Model sentences
Read these out loud three times.
I kept my weight steady for twenty years, then I let myself go and started eating whatever I wanted.
Refined sugar is made in factories, and too much of it can make you anxious.
The dialysis machine draws the blood, filters it, and returns it to the patient.
A patient who ignores his early symptoms may pay a high price later.
When medicine isn't available or affordable, ordinary people suffer the most.
Health, education, and law are the three pillars — but sometimes they sit at the bottom of the list.
You must take precautions and handle risky things with caution.
On a hard first day, remember: fake it till you make it.
7 Mini-dialogue
- A
You look well — have you changed your diet?
- B
Yes. I let myself go for a while, but I've cut my sugar intake.
- A
How much were you eating?
- B
I calculated it — about 25 kilos a year! Mostly refined sugar.
- A
That's a lot. Did it affect you?
- B
It made me anxious. Now I walk every day to clear my mind.
- A
Smart. Prevention is better than cure.
- B
Exactly — you have to take precautions before the symptoms start.
Read A, say B's line yourself, then check.
8 Homework
- Writing: Describe a healthy change you made, in 6 sentences, using diet, intake, consume, and cut down.
- make + adjective: Write 4 sentences with "make + something + adjective" — e.g. "It made me anxious," "make the drugs available."
- Relative clauses: Write 3 sentences using who (for people) and which (for things) — e.g. "the machine which…," "a patient who…".
- Vocabulary: Use pillar, affordable, precaution, and motive in four sentences about your country's health system.
- Speaking: Say these words out loud three times each and record yourself — euthanasia, electrolytes, affordable, precaution, convoy.
- Idioms: Write what "brush it off" and "fake it till you make it" mean, and use each in a sentence.
9 Self-check
This session mixed my two worlds — my own health (diet, sugar, and weight) and my work (the dialysis machine that draws, filters, and returns the blood). I can now describe both clearly.
I need to watch small phrases: it's "take precautions" (not "take your precautions"), "at the bottom of the list" (not "in the bottom"), and we "draw" blood, not "suck" it.
I enjoyed the bigger topics — the three pillars (health, education, law), what makes medicine affordable, and hard questions like euthanasia. I'd like to keep practicing this discussion vocabulary.