Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 39 to 43.

      Millions of people in the UK are putting their sight at risk by continuing to smoke, warned specialists. Despite the clear connection, only one in five people recognise that smoking can lead to blindness, a poll for the Association of Optometrists (AOP) finds. Smokers are twice as likely to lose their sight compared with non-smokers, as tobacco smoke can cause and worsen a number of eye conditions.

      Cigarette smoke contains toxic chemicals that can irritate and harm the eyes. Additionally, Smoking can make diabetes-related sight problems worse by damaging blood vessels at the back of the eye. Smokers are also around three times more likely to get age-related macular degeneration - a condition affecting a person's central vision, meaning that they lose their ability to see fine details. Moreover, they are 16 times more likely than non-smokers to develop sudden loss of vision caused by optic neuropathy, where the blood supply to the eye becomes blocked.

      The AOP says stopping or avoiding smoking is one of the best steps you can take to protect your vision, along with having regular sight checks. Aishah Fazlanie, Optometrist and Clinical and Regulatory Adviser for the AOP, said: “People tend to know about the link between smoking and cancer, but many people are not aware of the impact that smoking can have upon the eyes.”

      In the UK, 17% of men and 13% of women - around 7.4 million people - are smokers. More than half (61%) of them say they want to quit. In 2017, around 2.8 million people - 5.5% of the UK - were using e-cigarettes, and the most common reason given for this was to help quit smoking.

(Adapted from bbc.com)

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