Spark Study Buddy (Challenger): It’s called ‘chroming’, and it’s a risky social media trend
The story on this page has some tougher vocabulary words and questions to improve your understanding and English grammar.
A dangerous update to an old trend is making the rounds on social media. Photo: ShutterstockContent provided by British Council
[1] An emergency medicine professor has sounded the alarm concerning a rising social media trend called chroming. It’s a fresh term for a familiar practice among teens, and it comes with serious health risks.
[2] Dr Anthony Pizon is the chief of medical toxicology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre in the US. He said that “chroming” is the new version of “huffing.” From permanent markers to paint thinners, the fumes of household items are inhaled to get “high.” And TikTok has made it more popular.
[3] Children are getting high. And the symptoms typically are what you would see with, say, alcohol intoxication. The children are [drunk and have a slow, unsteady walk],” he said. The toxicology expert explained that it is not “super common” for people to end up in hospitals because of chroming. However, the substance abuse trend is seen with children and adults alike on a “regular basis.”
[4] “Sometimes people will take this to extremes and put the [chemical] in a bag and put the bag over their head, and they can obviously suffocate to death,” he said. “Some of the compounds that they inhale can cause cardiac arrest, which would be most severe. And then there’s lots of other side effects that you can see from this. You can see kidney damage, seizures, lung injuries, and muscle weakness.”
[5] TikTok leads users who search for chroming to the service’s safety centre. There, they can learn more about substance abuse. But that does not stop people from trying it. “You have to be interested in what your children are doing and aware of what they may have access to in their room,” Pizon said. He added that parents should look for empty containers under their child’s bed. He recommends parents dispose of any products – of which there are many – when they’re no longer needed.
Source: Tribune News Service, October 14
Questions
1. What is another term for chroming according to paragraph 2?
A. huffing
B. vaping
C. sniffing
D. chewing
2. In paragraph 3, what are some symptoms of one getting high on chroming?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Find a word in paragraph 4 that means “to breathe something into one’s lungs”.
___________________________________________________
4. Which of the following is not an effect of chroming according to paragraph 4?
A. muscle weakness
B. damage to the kidney
C. cardiac arrest
D. severe diarrhoea
5. Who does the “you” in paragraph 5 refer to?
___________________________________________________
6. Below is a summary of the story. Two of the sentences have a grammar mistake. Find the mistakes and write the corrections. If there is no mistake, put an x. The first one has been done for you. (3 marks)
Example: Chroming is a dangerous trend among teenagers where they inhaling the fumes from household items like markers and paint thinner to get high.
inhale
(i) This practice is similar to huffing and can have serious health consequences, including death.
(ii) Symptoms of chroming are similar to alcohol intoxication and can lead to various healthy issues.
(iii) It is important for parents to monitor their childrens’ activities.
Answers
1. A
2. They seem drunk and have a slow, unsteady walk.
3. inhale
4. D
5. parents
6. (i) x; (ii) health; (iii) children’s