READING COMPREHENSION: SICK BUILDING SYNDROME

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Read the article and choose the best answer A, B, C or D for each question.
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SICK BUILDING SYNDROME

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) is reported by almost all westernised countries, and is associated with but not confined to air-conditioned office buildings. The phenomenon is defined by its symptoms rather than its cause, since, despite considerable international research, the cause remains unknown. Sufferers experience a range of minor ailments such as headache, dry throat, stuffy nose and irritated eyes, and typically find relief on leaving their workplace. 

Research to date has confirmed that the condition is genuine, although there has been and still is great scepticism, possibly because it had tended to be people in lower-grade jobs, and women more than men, who have complained of it. The condescending attitude among doubters that these people 'imagine' symptoms for which there is no identifiable cause, ignores the fact that it is often they who work under the meanest conditions, with the cheapest furniture, with least space and least personal control over their immediate environment. 

Press reports have tended further to obscure the issue by confusing sick building syndrome with outbreaks of sickness within buildings such as legionnaires' disease, caused by bacteria, and with such unrelated phenomena as fumes from furniture and carpeting. 

These problems are real enough, but they are not SBS. Some interesting correlations have, however, shown up during investigations. For instance, a recent Danish study into SBS, comparing rate of incidence between civic buildings, uncovered a distinct parallel between the surface volume of soft furnishing (rather unpleasantly termed 'fleece') and reports of SBS. As yet the reason is unclear, but an assumption has been made that dust and other fine debris easily harboured within a fibrous surface are to blame, possibly because such material fosters micro-organisms. 

A view that static electricity generated by soft furnishings contributes to the syndrome is not supported by research so far, but in Denmark and Italy they are sufficiently persuaded by it to have made efforts to reduce 'fleeceage'. 

There are other hypotheses. Sheena Wilson, co-author of the Office Environment Survey, published last year by consultants to the building industry, Building Use Studies, believes stress-related factors may also be at work, and that SBS is likely to be multi-causal.

'Badly planned offices often reflect a poor general standard of management which runs through the company, unsettling employees. Standards of maintenance and cleanliness may be poor in such a firm, with little attention paid to adequate lighting, space, comfort and so on.' 

The effect, she argues, is not only physical. A lack of any proper system of building management communicates itself to the workers. They sense and see the chaos, the absence of care, and feel that their needs are disregarded. 

Wilson recommends various remedies, including overhaul and maintenance of ventilation systems, attention to lighting (with furnishings chosen to enhance available natural light), and regular, thorough cleaning routines. 

1 Those studying SBS 
A now know why it happens but are only looking at the symptoms.
B know what the symptoms are but have not determined the reasons for it.
C know it is due to air-conditioning but have not established why.
D have not found out why it only occurs in the western hemisphere.
2 According to the writer, scepticism about SBS is 
A commonsense.
B insane.
C scientifically-based.
D arrogant.
3 Research has shown that “fumes from furniture and carpeting”
A may exist where there is SBS.
B are an invention of the media.
C can lead to legionnaires' disease.
D are caused by micro- organisms.
4 In Denmark and Italy 
A nobody believes that soft furnishings are to blame.
B moves to reduce soft furnishing are foreseen.
C static electricity is regarded as the cause.
D there have already been moves to reduce soft furnishing.
5 Sheena Wilson says that SBS could be due to 
A unscrupulous employers who refuse to improve working conditions.
B unpleasant conditions and the resulting staff alienation.
C workers feeling that the company does not care about them.
D dark, dirty, cramped, uncomfortable and poorly-ventilated offices.

KEY
1. B 2. D 3. A 4. D 5. B