PRACTICE 8: PUNCTUATION

 

Mum-of-three, 45, found dead two hours after GP told her he would ‘call back tomorrow’

She revealed she was feeling "stressed" and "unwell" and "thinking about killing herself".

But the medic failed to refer Clare to the mental health team as she had been drinking - despite the mum-of-three saying she would hang herself.

Just two hours later, she was discovered dead by her son's girlfriend at her home in Caernarfon, North Wales.

An inquest into her death heard how Clare had a "poor history of mental health", which had "worsened" during the lockdown.

Her daughter Kimberley said: "Mam begged the doctor to do something but she was told to wait until the next day.

EDITING PRACTICE:

1  People are more likely to live long enough to get old in wealthy countries

than in poor countries. In rich countries, people have nutritious food, modern

medical care, good sanitation, and clean drinking water, but poor countries lack

these things. As a result, the mortality rate, especially infant mortality, is very high.

Citizens of Ethiopia and Yemen, which are two of the world’s poorest countries,

have an average life expectancy of 35-39 years. Citizens of Japan, Hong Kong,

‘Singapore, Australia Iceland, and Sweden, in contrast, have an average life span

of more than 80 years. Japan has the highest; Yemen has the lowest. One

exception is Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s wealthiest nations. Having an

average life expectancy of 45-49 years, Saudi Arabians live about as long as

Bangladeshis and Cambodians. Surprisingly, the United States is not among the

highest-rated nations, having an average life expectancy of only 77 years.

2  Compared to other mammals, humans have a relatively long life span.

 The average life span of elephants is 70 years; of dogs, 18 years, of cats,

14 years, and of horses, 20 years. The life spans of other species are as follows:

eagles, parrots, and owls, 60 years; parakeets, 12 years; guppies,5 years; and box

tortoises, 100 years. Some plants, such as trees, live much longer than animals.

 Redwood trees, for example, live more than 3,000 years, and bristlecone pine

trees can live over 4,000 years.

The life expectancy of people who live in industrialized societies is

increasing rapidly; in fact, it has doubled in the past hundred years. “When

comparing males and females, one finds that women generally live longer than

men. "The oldest person in the world, until recently, was a French woman: Jeanne

Calment. At her death, Madame Calment was both blind and deaf but had not

lost her sharp wit, for which she had become quite famous. Asked what kind of

future she expected, she replied, "A very short one.” Bragging about her smooth

skin, she said " I've only had one wrinkle in my life, and I'm sitting on it.”