Read the passage and answer the following question:
Smoking also paves the way to hard drugs. Tobacco has been used by human beings for more than 400 years. It is smoked, chewed or used as a snuff. Tobacco contains a large number of chemical substances including nicotine, an alkaloid. Nicotine stimulates adrenal gland to release adrenaline and nor-adrenaline into blood circulation, both of which raise blood pressure and increase heart rate. Smoking is associated with increased incidence of cancers of lung, urinary bladder and throat, bronchitis, emphysema, coronary heart disease, gastric ulcer, etc. Tobacco chewing is associated with increased risk of cancer of the oral cavity. Smoking increases carbon monoxide (CO) content in blood and reduces the concentration of haem-bound oxygen. This causes oxygen deficiency in the body. Knowing the dangers of smoking and chewing tobacco, and its addictive nature, the youth and old need to avoid these habits. Any addict requires counselling and medical help to get rid of the habit.
Choose the incorrect statements about the effects of drug/alcohol abuse:
A. The chronic use of drugs and alcohol damages the nervous system and kidney (cirrhosis).
B. Those who take drugs intravenously are much more likely to acquire serious infections like AIDS and Hepatitis B.
C. In males, the side-effects of anabolic steroids include reduction of size of the testicles and increased sperm production.
D. In the adolescent male or female, premature closure of the growth centres of the long bones may result in stunted growth.
E. The use of alcohol during adolescence could lead to heavy drinking in adulthood.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → A and C only
Drugs and alcohol harm the user in many ways, and the harm can last for years. Here we must pick out the two incorrect statements. In each wrong one, a single organ or a single direction of change does not match the book.
Statement A: The chronic use of drugs and alcohol damages the nervous system and kidney (cirrhosis). — False. The chronic use of drugs and alcohol damages the nervous system and the liver. Cirrhosis is a disease of the liver, not of the kidney.
Statement B: Those who take drugs intravenously are much more likely to acquire serious infections like AIDS and Hepatitis B. — True. The viruses of AIDS and Hepatitis B pass from one person to another through the sharing of infected needles and syringes.
Statement C: In males, the side-effects of anabolic steroids include reduction of size of the testicles and increased sperm production. — False. Anabolic steroids reduce the size of the testicles and cause decreased sperm production. Testes that shrink make less sperm, not more.
Statement D: In the adolescent male or female, premature closure of the growth centres of the long bones may result in stunted growth. — True. Anabolic steroids can close the growth centres of the long bones too early in adolescents, so the bones stop growing in length.
Statement E: The use of alcohol during adolescence could lead to heavy drinking in adulthood. — True. Alcohol use in adolescence can have long-term effects, and heavy drinking in adulthood is one of them.
NCERT Extract:
Effects of Drug/Alcohol Abuse – “… Those who take drugs intravenously (direct injection into the vein using a needle and syringe), are much more likely to acquire serious infections like AIDS and Hepatitis B.”
Effects of Drug/Alcohol Abuse – “… The use of alcohol during adolescence may also have long-term effects. It could lead to heavy drinking in adulthood. The chronic use of drugs and alcohol damages nervous system and liver (cirrhosis).”
Effects of Drug/Alcohol Abuse – “… The side-effects of the use of anabolic steroids in females include masculinisation (features like males), increased aggressiveness, mood swings, depression, abnormal menstrual cycles, excessive hair growth on the face and body, enlargement of clitoris, deepening of voice. In males it includes acne, increased aggressiveness, mood swings, depression, reduction of size of the testicles, decreased sperm production, potential for kidney and liver dysfunction, breast enlargement, premature baldness, enlargement of the prostate gland. These effects may be permanent with prolonged use. In the adolescent male or female, severe facial and body acne, and premature closure of the growth centres of the long bones may result in stunted growth.”