Make Your Way 6, Schulbuch mit Audio-CD und CD-ROM

Reading Read the text below, then decide whether the statements (1–12) are true (T), false (F) or not given (NG) in the text. Put a in the correct box. The first one (0) has been done for you. 28 “I didn’t think I was an alcoholic” Debbie Sanderson is a 35-year-old beauty therapist from Manchester. Until recently, she was drinking the equivalent of 6 bottles of wine every weekend. After losing her job, and realis- ing that her husband was about to leave her, taking their 3-year-old daughter with him, she finally admitted to herself that her drinking was out of control. “I started drinking when I was a teenager,” Debbie explained. “When I had a drink, I felt like a different person, really funny and confident. I enjoyed being that person. If you had told me then that I would end up as a recovering alco- holic in my early thirties, I would never have believed you. My parents always compared me unfavourably with my clever older sister, Caroline, so I never felt good enough for them. School was difficult because we were always moving – my father’s job took us all over the country. As soon as I began to settle somewhere, it was time to move on again. I found that drinking made me feel less shy and made it easier for me to get people to like me. When I left school, I began working as a model. I moved to Paris and signed up with an agency there. Suddenly, I found myself being invited to hundreds of parties, and I could drink as much as I liked. Everyone else was doing it – I didn’t feel as if I was doing anything wrong. But the drinking did affect my work. Instead of going home early and getting my beauty sleep before photo shoots, I would stay out drinking until 4 am and then turn up at the shoot the next morning looking absolutely terrible. Soon I wasn’t getting enough work to make ends meet, and I moved back in with my parents. My behaviour was terrible at that time. I was aggressive and unpleasant when I was drunk and very irresponsible. I put myself in lots of very dangerous situations, and I think I am lucky to be alive today. I got sacked from several jobs, I lost my licence for drink-driving and constantly embarrassed myself with my behaviour. It still amazes me that my parents did not kick me out of the house but continued to support me. They did persuade me to join AA 1 briefly, but I only went to a few sessions and then returned to my old ways. Around this time I met Andy, who is now my husband. For a few years, with his help, I got my drinking under control. I got pregnant and had a lovely baby girl. But by the time she was 2, I had returned to my old ways. Andy stayed at home to baby-sit, and I went out drinking with my friends. The crunch came when I was sacked from yet another job for being unreliable and drunk at my desk. I went home and drank solidly for 2 days. Andy thought I was going to die and called the hospital, who arranged for me to go on their rehabilitation programme. I arrived there later that day, with a bottle of vodka still in my handbag. I was finally able to admit that I was an alcoholic and that I had a serious problem. Doing that meant I could get started on the road to recovery. I stayed there for a month and then attended AA meetings for another year. I am now a changed person. I have no desire to drink at the moment because I know what it can do to me. I have now retrained as a beauty therapist, and my plan is to open my own business next year. I feel like I have been given a second chance at life, and I’m determined not to mess up this time!” 1 Alcoholics Anonymous – an organisation set up to help alcoholics stop drinking 27 1 Extensive unit 1: The pursuit of happiness Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eige tum des Verlags öbv