When we are ill, we call the doctor, and he examines us and diagnoses
the illness. When we have a headache, a stomachache, a sore throat, a
cold or a pain in some part of the body, we call the doctor.He takes our
temperature and our pulse. He examines our heart, our lungs, our
stomach or the part where we have a pain and tells us what is the matter
with us. He says: "You have a slight temperature”, or "You have the
flu”, or "You have heart disease”. The doctor prescribes medicine, and
gives us a prescription, which we take to the chemist, who makes the
medicine. The doctor says: "Take the medicine twice a day or three times
a day, before or aftermeals”. If you follow the doctor’s orders, you
get better; if you disobey the doctor you may get worse or even die. If
we have a temperature, we must stay in bed and take the medicine
prescribed. If we cannot get better at home, we must go to hospital. If
we are too ill to walk there, we go in the ambulance. When we have a
toothache, we go to the dentist. The dentist examines our teeth. He
says: "That tooth has a cavity. I must put in a filling”. If the tooth
is too bad, the dentist extracts it.
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