At the beginning of January, many people make New Year resolutions. That means that they decide to change something about their lives. Here are some examples of New Year resolutions:

　　to lose weight

　　to start learning a foreign language

　　to phone my parents at least once a week

　　to cycle to work every day instead of using the car

　　Unfortunately, most people make the same resolutions every year. In other words, they do not succeed. They do not keep their resolutions.

　　Kevin and Joanne have both made New Year resolutions this year. Kevin has said that he is going to give up smoking. He does not smoke very much – only when he goes to the pub to have a drink with his friend George. In fact, he will have to keep his resolution to give up smoking, or he will have to stop going to the pub, because in July this year a new law will come into effect in England which bans smoking in pubs, cafes, restaurants and other public buildings.

　　Do you know the colloquial English expression “to be hooked on something”? It means to be addicted to something. A hook is a small piece of bent metal which we use to catch fish. Think of a fish, with a hook caught in its mouth. It wriggles and struggles, but it cannot get free. That is what “being hooked” means! So, smokers are hooked on cigarettes or tobacco. Some people are hooked on chocolate; other people are hooked on their favourite TV programme.

　　Our government is running an advertising campaign on television at present, to try to persuade people to stop smoking. It shows smokers with a hook in their mouths, like the hook in the mouth of a fish. The smokers are dragged along by a line attached to the hook. These advertisements make Kevin feel very uncomfortable. He is determined to give up smoking. Let’s hope he succeeds.

　　There is a grammar and vocabulary note for this podcast. If you are listening on iTunes or your iPod, you will need to go to the podcast website to see it.