CBSE Textbook: Whopping Walter Hudson | Communicative English for Class 10 PDF Download

 Page 1


UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
Section C
 "Whopping Walter Hudson" 
C 1  You probably know the meanings of the words workaholic and alcoholic. 
What do you think a foodaholic is?  Walter Hudson was one.  How much do 
you weigh?  Walter Hudson weighed more, much more.  This is his obituary. 
1. WALTER HUDSON, who has died at Hempstead, New York, age 46, was once 
listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the heaviest man on earth.
2. About 183 cm tall and 274 around, with cherubic features set off by pigtails 
braided in the Cherokee style, he long devoted himself to the pleasures of the 
table.  Four years ago, Hudson-then tipping the industrial scales at his top weight 
of 540 kg - gained worldwide notoriety (as "Whopping Walter") when he became 
stuck in his bedroom door.  He was wedged there for some four hours.  It took 
eight firemen to free him.
3. Walter Hudson was born at Brooklyn in 1945 and, as he recalled, "began gorging 
at the age of six."  At 15, he was so obese his legs collapsed underneath him and he 
was confined to bed.
22
Page 2


UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
Section C
 "Whopping Walter Hudson" 
C 1  You probably know the meanings of the words workaholic and alcoholic. 
What do you think a foodaholic is?  Walter Hudson was one.  How much do 
you weigh?  Walter Hudson weighed more, much more.  This is his obituary. 
1. WALTER HUDSON, who has died at Hempstead, New York, age 46, was once 
listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the heaviest man on earth.
2. About 183 cm tall and 274 around, with cherubic features set off by pigtails 
braided in the Cherokee style, he long devoted himself to the pleasures of the 
table.  Four years ago, Hudson-then tipping the industrial scales at his top weight 
of 540 kg - gained worldwide notoriety (as "Whopping Walter") when he became 
stuck in his bedroom door.  He was wedged there for some four hours.  It took 
eight firemen to free him.
3. Walter Hudson was born at Brooklyn in 1945 and, as he recalled, "began gorging 
at the age of six."  At 15, he was so obese his legs collapsed underneath him and he 
was confined to bed.
22
UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
23
4. Indeed, except for the time when his family moved to Hempstead in 1970 and he 
was transported by motor-car (his then 266kg broke the seat), he remained inside.  
"I'm just a foodaholic," he once confessed, "I have no excuse."
5. Hudson's eating habits were fuelled by food brought in by members of his family. 
He would generally start his day with a breakfast of two pounds of bacon, 32 
sausages, a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, jam and coffee.
6. For lunch, Hudson favoured four enormous bowls of rice, four double cheese-
burgers, eight boxes of fried potatoes, six pies, and six large bottles of coca-cola.  
For dinner he would eat six roasted corns, half-a-dozen yams and another six or 
seven baked potatoes, ending with a whole apple pie.  Between these main meals, 
he would eat a chicken or two, followed by noodles, string beans, six large bottles 
of soda, not to mention colossal sandwiches, and copious amounts of ice-cream. 
 "All  I cared about," he recalled, "was food, FOOD!"
7. When not eating and sleeping, he would watch television, listen to tapes and read 
the Bible-he had a particular penchant for the psalms and was apt to recite Psalm 
121.  "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills…”
8. Hudson, though, was advised against sitting up for longer than five minutes 
because of the risk of being smothered by flab.  The only exercise he engaged in 
was when he attended to his ablutions; it took him an hour to negotiate the six 
yards to the bathroom from his bedroom.  Then in 1987, he found himself wedged 
in the door-way. "The day I got stuck in that door," he recalled, "that when the Lord 
got me the help I needed." The help to which he referred was offered by Dick 
Gregory, a comedian who masterminded the Slim Safe Diet Scheme.
9. "We think what might have happened," said Gregory about his new client, "is that 
in 27 years of lying around he might, because of the reading of his Bible, have 
taken on the same characteristics as Buddhist monks - slowed down the 
biological processes.  But we don't know."
10. Gregory placed Hudson on a 1,200 calorie-a-day diet of raw fruit and orange juice.  
For exercise, he was advised to lie in bed waving his arms about like a conductor. 
11. Hudson soon lost some four inches off his knees, and within three months had 
shed 178 kg.  It began to look as if he might fulfil such ambitions as visiting his 
Page 3


UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
Section C
 "Whopping Walter Hudson" 
C 1  You probably know the meanings of the words workaholic and alcoholic. 
What do you think a foodaholic is?  Walter Hudson was one.  How much do 
you weigh?  Walter Hudson weighed more, much more.  This is his obituary. 
1. WALTER HUDSON, who has died at Hempstead, New York, age 46, was once 
listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the heaviest man on earth.
2. About 183 cm tall and 274 around, with cherubic features set off by pigtails 
braided in the Cherokee style, he long devoted himself to the pleasures of the 
table.  Four years ago, Hudson-then tipping the industrial scales at his top weight 
of 540 kg - gained worldwide notoriety (as "Whopping Walter") when he became 
stuck in his bedroom door.  He was wedged there for some four hours.  It took 
eight firemen to free him.
3. Walter Hudson was born at Brooklyn in 1945 and, as he recalled, "began gorging 
at the age of six."  At 15, he was so obese his legs collapsed underneath him and he 
was confined to bed.
22
UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
23
4. Indeed, except for the time when his family moved to Hempstead in 1970 and he 
was transported by motor-car (his then 266kg broke the seat), he remained inside.  
"I'm just a foodaholic," he once confessed, "I have no excuse."
5. Hudson's eating habits were fuelled by food brought in by members of his family. 
He would generally start his day with a breakfast of two pounds of bacon, 32 
sausages, a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, jam and coffee.
6. For lunch, Hudson favoured four enormous bowls of rice, four double cheese-
burgers, eight boxes of fried potatoes, six pies, and six large bottles of coca-cola.  
For dinner he would eat six roasted corns, half-a-dozen yams and another six or 
seven baked potatoes, ending with a whole apple pie.  Between these main meals, 
he would eat a chicken or two, followed by noodles, string beans, six large bottles 
of soda, not to mention colossal sandwiches, and copious amounts of ice-cream. 
 "All  I cared about," he recalled, "was food, FOOD!"
7. When not eating and sleeping, he would watch television, listen to tapes and read 
the Bible-he had a particular penchant for the psalms and was apt to recite Psalm 
121.  "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills…”
8. Hudson, though, was advised against sitting up for longer than five minutes 
because of the risk of being smothered by flab.  The only exercise he engaged in 
was when he attended to his ablutions; it took him an hour to negotiate the six 
yards to the bathroom from his bedroom.  Then in 1987, he found himself wedged 
in the door-way. "The day I got stuck in that door," he recalled, "that when the Lord 
got me the help I needed." The help to which he referred was offered by Dick 
Gregory, a comedian who masterminded the Slim Safe Diet Scheme.
9. "We think what might have happened," said Gregory about his new client, "is that 
in 27 years of lying around he might, because of the reading of his Bible, have 
taken on the same characteristics as Buddhist monks - slowed down the 
biological processes.  But we don't know."
10. Gregory placed Hudson on a 1,200 calorie-a-day diet of raw fruit and orange juice.  
For exercise, he was advised to lie in bed waving his arms about like a conductor. 
11. Hudson soon lost some four inches off his knees, and within three months had 
shed 178 kg.  It began to look as if he might fulfil such ambitions as visiting his 
UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
mother's grave, riding on the New York subway, driving into the country-and even 
flying to a clinic in the Bahamas, from which he envisaged emerging as a sylph of 
13 stones.
12. But it was not to be.  At the time of his death, of an apparent heart attack, Hudson 
reportedly weighed 508 kg.  Rescue workers had to cut a large hole in the wall of 
his bedroom to remove the body.  He was unmarried.
C 2  Copy and complete the following table, using information from the boxes 
below.  (Draw a X if there is no information to put in certain boxes.)
 Year   what happened weight
family moved to Hampstead 
New York; broke the motor-
car seat
"began gorging"
540
died
1987/ 
1988
1991
266 kg
362 kg
1945
1970
became stuck in bedroom 
door for four hours; eight 
firemen had to free him.
born in Brooklyn
went on a diet; lost 178 
kg in three months.
very obese; legs collapsed 
and he was confined to 
bed
508kg
1960
24
Page 4


UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
Section C
 "Whopping Walter Hudson" 
C 1  You probably know the meanings of the words workaholic and alcoholic. 
What do you think a foodaholic is?  Walter Hudson was one.  How much do 
you weigh?  Walter Hudson weighed more, much more.  This is his obituary. 
1. WALTER HUDSON, who has died at Hempstead, New York, age 46, was once 
listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the heaviest man on earth.
2. About 183 cm tall and 274 around, with cherubic features set off by pigtails 
braided in the Cherokee style, he long devoted himself to the pleasures of the 
table.  Four years ago, Hudson-then tipping the industrial scales at his top weight 
of 540 kg - gained worldwide notoriety (as "Whopping Walter") when he became 
stuck in his bedroom door.  He was wedged there for some four hours.  It took 
eight firemen to free him.
3. Walter Hudson was born at Brooklyn in 1945 and, as he recalled, "began gorging 
at the age of six."  At 15, he was so obese his legs collapsed underneath him and he 
was confined to bed.
22
UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
23
4. Indeed, except for the time when his family moved to Hempstead in 1970 and he 
was transported by motor-car (his then 266kg broke the seat), he remained inside.  
"I'm just a foodaholic," he once confessed, "I have no excuse."
5. Hudson's eating habits were fuelled by food brought in by members of his family. 
He would generally start his day with a breakfast of two pounds of bacon, 32 
sausages, a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, jam and coffee.
6. For lunch, Hudson favoured four enormous bowls of rice, four double cheese-
burgers, eight boxes of fried potatoes, six pies, and six large bottles of coca-cola.  
For dinner he would eat six roasted corns, half-a-dozen yams and another six or 
seven baked potatoes, ending with a whole apple pie.  Between these main meals, 
he would eat a chicken or two, followed by noodles, string beans, six large bottles 
of soda, not to mention colossal sandwiches, and copious amounts of ice-cream. 
 "All  I cared about," he recalled, "was food, FOOD!"
7. When not eating and sleeping, he would watch television, listen to tapes and read 
the Bible-he had a particular penchant for the psalms and was apt to recite Psalm 
121.  "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills…”
8. Hudson, though, was advised against sitting up for longer than five minutes 
because of the risk of being smothered by flab.  The only exercise he engaged in 
was when he attended to his ablutions; it took him an hour to negotiate the six 
yards to the bathroom from his bedroom.  Then in 1987, he found himself wedged 
in the door-way. "The day I got stuck in that door," he recalled, "that when the Lord 
got me the help I needed." The help to which he referred was offered by Dick 
Gregory, a comedian who masterminded the Slim Safe Diet Scheme.
9. "We think what might have happened," said Gregory about his new client, "is that 
in 27 years of lying around he might, because of the reading of his Bible, have 
taken on the same characteristics as Buddhist monks - slowed down the 
biological processes.  But we don't know."
10. Gregory placed Hudson on a 1,200 calorie-a-day diet of raw fruit and orange juice.  
For exercise, he was advised to lie in bed waving his arms about like a conductor. 
11. Hudson soon lost some four inches off his knees, and within three months had 
shed 178 kg.  It began to look as if he might fulfil such ambitions as visiting his 
UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
mother's grave, riding on the New York subway, driving into the country-and even 
flying to a clinic in the Bahamas, from which he envisaged emerging as a sylph of 
13 stones.
12. But it was not to be.  At the time of his death, of an apparent heart attack, Hudson 
reportedly weighed 508 kg.  Rescue workers had to cut a large hole in the wall of 
his bedroom to remove the body.  He was unmarried.
C 2  Copy and complete the following table, using information from the boxes 
below.  (Draw a X if there is no information to put in certain boxes.)
 Year   what happened weight
family moved to Hampstead 
New York; broke the motor-
car seat
"began gorging"
540
died
1987/ 
1988
1991
266 kg
362 kg
1945
1970
became stuck in bedroom 
door for four hours; eight 
firemen had to free him.
born in Brooklyn
went on a diet; lost 178 
kg in three months.
very obese; legs collapsed 
and he was confined to 
bed
508kg
1960
24
UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
25
C 3.  Find words in the passage from the paragraphs indicated within brackets and 
complete the following sentences.  Use only one word, in its appropriate 
form, in each blank.
1.  Some people are so_______________ to their work that they have no time for their 
family. (para-2)
2.  Harshad's corrupt practices soon gained him___________________ in the city. 
(para-2)
3.  When a person is dehydrated, he should be given ____________________ amounts of 
fluid. (para-6)
4.  He visited various vintage car rallies because he had a _____________________ for 
old cars. (para-7)
5.  If you over-eat and do not exercise, you will become__________________.(para-9)
6.  The driver had to _________________  the winding road to the mountain top with 
caution.  (para-8)
7.  The new literacy programme _______________ a 20% increase in the literacy rate 
over the next two years.  (para-11)
C 4.  Arrange the following words associated with eating on a scale ranging from 
'peck' to 'gorge'.  You may add more words to the list given below:
 peck    gorge
eat   
 words: gobble, nibble, bite, hog, feast, gormandize……………      
b.  Form a similar scale for words that describe a person's build:
 
 skinny     obese
Page 5


UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
Section C
 "Whopping Walter Hudson" 
C 1  You probably know the meanings of the words workaholic and alcoholic. 
What do you think a foodaholic is?  Walter Hudson was one.  How much do 
you weigh?  Walter Hudson weighed more, much more.  This is his obituary. 
1. WALTER HUDSON, who has died at Hempstead, New York, age 46, was once 
listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the heaviest man on earth.
2. About 183 cm tall and 274 around, with cherubic features set off by pigtails 
braided in the Cherokee style, he long devoted himself to the pleasures of the 
table.  Four years ago, Hudson-then tipping the industrial scales at his top weight 
of 540 kg - gained worldwide notoriety (as "Whopping Walter") when he became 
stuck in his bedroom door.  He was wedged there for some four hours.  It took 
eight firemen to free him.
3. Walter Hudson was born at Brooklyn in 1945 and, as he recalled, "began gorging 
at the age of six."  At 15, he was so obese his legs collapsed underneath him and he 
was confined to bed.
22
UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
23
4. Indeed, except for the time when his family moved to Hempstead in 1970 and he 
was transported by motor-car (his then 266kg broke the seat), he remained inside.  
"I'm just a foodaholic," he once confessed, "I have no excuse."
5. Hudson's eating habits were fuelled by food brought in by members of his family. 
He would generally start his day with a breakfast of two pounds of bacon, 32 
sausages, a dozen eggs, a loaf of bread, jam and coffee.
6. For lunch, Hudson favoured four enormous bowls of rice, four double cheese-
burgers, eight boxes of fried potatoes, six pies, and six large bottles of coca-cola.  
For dinner he would eat six roasted corns, half-a-dozen yams and another six or 
seven baked potatoes, ending with a whole apple pie.  Between these main meals, 
he would eat a chicken or two, followed by noodles, string beans, six large bottles 
of soda, not to mention colossal sandwiches, and copious amounts of ice-cream. 
 "All  I cared about," he recalled, "was food, FOOD!"
7. When not eating and sleeping, he would watch television, listen to tapes and read 
the Bible-he had a particular penchant for the psalms and was apt to recite Psalm 
121.  "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills…”
8. Hudson, though, was advised against sitting up for longer than five minutes 
because of the risk of being smothered by flab.  The only exercise he engaged in 
was when he attended to his ablutions; it took him an hour to negotiate the six 
yards to the bathroom from his bedroom.  Then in 1987, he found himself wedged 
in the door-way. "The day I got stuck in that door," he recalled, "that when the Lord 
got me the help I needed." The help to which he referred was offered by Dick 
Gregory, a comedian who masterminded the Slim Safe Diet Scheme.
9. "We think what might have happened," said Gregory about his new client, "is that 
in 27 years of lying around he might, because of the reading of his Bible, have 
taken on the same characteristics as Buddhist monks - slowed down the 
biological processes.  But we don't know."
10. Gregory placed Hudson on a 1,200 calorie-a-day diet of raw fruit and orange juice.  
For exercise, he was advised to lie in bed waving his arms about like a conductor. 
11. Hudson soon lost some four inches off his knees, and within three months had 
shed 178 kg.  It began to look as if he might fulfil such ambitions as visiting his 
UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
mother's grave, riding on the New York subway, driving into the country-and even 
flying to a clinic in the Bahamas, from which he envisaged emerging as a sylph of 
13 stones.
12. But it was not to be.  At the time of his death, of an apparent heart attack, Hudson 
reportedly weighed 508 kg.  Rescue workers had to cut a large hole in the wall of 
his bedroom to remove the body.  He was unmarried.
C 2  Copy and complete the following table, using information from the boxes 
below.  (Draw a X if there is no information to put in certain boxes.)
 Year   what happened weight
family moved to Hampstead 
New York; broke the motor-
car seat
"began gorging"
540
died
1987/ 
1988
1991
266 kg
362 kg
1945
1970
became stuck in bedroom 
door for four hours; eight 
firemen had to free him.
born in Brooklyn
went on a diet; lost 178 
kg in three months.
very obese; legs collapsed 
and he was confined to 
bed
508kg
1960
24
UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
25
C 3.  Find words in the passage from the paragraphs indicated within brackets and 
complete the following sentences.  Use only one word, in its appropriate 
form, in each blank.
1.  Some people are so_______________ to their work that they have no time for their 
family. (para-2)
2.  Harshad's corrupt practices soon gained him___________________ in the city. 
(para-2)
3.  When a person is dehydrated, he should be given ____________________ amounts of 
fluid. (para-6)
4.  He visited various vintage car rallies because he had a _____________________ for 
old cars. (para-7)
5.  If you over-eat and do not exercise, you will become__________________.(para-9)
6.  The driver had to _________________  the winding road to the mountain top with 
caution.  (para-8)
7.  The new literacy programme _______________ a 20% increase in the literacy rate 
over the next two years.  (para-11)
C 4.  Arrange the following words associated with eating on a scale ranging from 
'peck' to 'gorge'.  You may add more words to the list given below:
 peck    gorge
eat   
 words: gobble, nibble, bite, hog, feast, gormandize……………      
b.  Form a similar scale for words that describe a person's build:
 
 skinny     obese
UNIT-1
MAIN COURSE BOOK
HEALTH AND MEDICINE
C 5.  Have a class discussion…….. 
1. What do you think life was really like for Walter Hudson?  Was he happy?  Did he 
have many friends?  Think of the things that you do every day: what things could 
Walter not do?  Also, what about clothes, chairs, a bed, washing himself……
2. Why do you think he did not go on a serious diet when he was much younger, so 
that he could have lived a fuller life?
3. What advice would you have given Walter on his diet?
4. Where do you think he got the money from to eat so much food?
5. Who do you think bought and cooked all the food he ate?  Were they also to blame 
for Walter's obesity?
C 6.  The following is an entry in Walter's diary:
Wednesday, 26 April 1986                                                             7:30 pm.
I  woke up at 10 am. I have put on 7 kg in the last three days. I watched TV all 
morning. All my clothes are now too small, so I phoned mother. She came at 3 
p.m. with a tailor. He looked shocked and frightened when he saw me! He 
measured me for some new shirts and trousers.  For evening dinner I had 10 
baked potatoes, 2 kg rice, six meat pies, 12 bananas, and four large cokes. 
Then I had problems getting through the bedroom door - I had to breathe in 
and squeeze my stomach through with my fingers. I need to go to bed now and 
read the Bible before I go to sleep at 8 p.m.
 Write the next day's entry in Walter's diary.  Make up information, in order to 
make your entry interesting. 
C 7.  Writing a Message. 
 Sometimes information is received over the telephone, public address system or in 
person by someone and then passed on to a third person. A message is a short, 
informal piece of writing conveying the information to a person unable to receive 
the information at hand.
 How to write a message?
\ Since a message is received at a particular time and conveys important 
information that the receiver must act upon, a message must have a date and time.
\ The name of person for whom message is intended must be clearly mentioned.
26