How Do Our Lungs Work?

We breathe by drawing air into our lungs (inhaling) and letting it out
again (exhaling).

Every time we breathe, a fresh supply of air makes contact with the
lung with tissue which contains blood. In the lung, blood and air exchange
some of the gases they contain.

The lungs fill both sides of the chest. The lung tissue is like a sponge in
some ways. The spaces, or air sacs, are pockets where the air is received.
The gases which are needed are taken in, and the unwanted gases are
forced out. The air sacs are separated from each other by very thin walls
filled with very fine blood vessels calles capillaries. Only a few cells
separate the blood from the air, so gases can easily through these thin
walls.

The lungs are elastic, which means they can strech. When we breathe
in, the chest gets bigger and the lungs expand with it. Then airrushes in
through the nose, mouth and throat to the air sacs of the lungs. When we
breathe out, the space inside the chest becomes smaller. The lungs partly
close and the air is forced out again.

How much air can the lungs hold? The lungs of an adult man can
probably hold about seven pints of air; those of woman, about five pints.

The lungs are never empty, even when you try hard to force the air out.
The amount of air remaining after exhaling with great force is called
“residual air”. When we inhale we mix fresh air with this residual air.

Breathing goes on regularly even when we don’t think about it, or

when we are asleep. But we can stop breathing for a short time if we want
to, as when we hold our breath when we are under water.

1. When we breath in, ……..

a the unwanted gases are forced out

b air rushes in to the air sacs of the lungs

c the nose, mouth and throat close

d the air sacs are separated from each other

2. The lungs partly close when …..

a blood and air exchange gases

b the air is received

c the chest becomes bigger

d we breath out

3. The lungs of an adult woman can hold about ….

a seven pints of air

b five pints of air

c three pints of blood

d twelve pints of air and blood

4. The lungs are never empty because …..

a an amount of air remains in the lungs after exhaling

b we cannot force all the air out

c fresh air mixes with the remaining air

d we never stop breathing in

5. We can stop breathing when…..

a the lungs are full of air

b the air is forced out

c we are asleep

d we are under water

6. Capillaries are …….

a fine blood vessels in the walls between the air sacs

 b cells which separate the blood from the air

c gases which are taken into the air sacs

d lung tissues which are similar to a sponge

7. “….so gases can pass easily through these thin walls”. The
underlined phrase refers to ……

a the cells in the air sacs

b the blood vessels in the lungs

c the walls which separate the sacs

d the lung tissues

8. “When we breathe in, the chest gets bigger and the lungs
expand with it.”

The underlined word means……

a partly close

b become larger

c are elastic

d become smaller