GAPFILL no.3


Complete each blank with one word. Use as many different parts of speech (pronouns, quantifiers,
modal verbs, prepositions etc) as possible & use as few nouns and main verbs as possible!


How does the urinary system work?

Your body takes nutrients from food and uses __________ to maintain all bodily functions including
energy and self-repair. After your body has taken what it needs from the food, waste products
__________ left behind in the blood and in the bowel. The urinary system works with the lungs,
skin, and intestines—all of __________ also excrete wastes—to keep the chemicals and water in your
body balanced. Adults eliminate about a quart and a half of urine each day. The amount depends
__________ many factors, especially the amounts of fluid and food a person consumes and how
__________ fluid is lost through sweat and breathing. Certain types of medications __________ also
affect the amount of urine eliminated.

The urinary system removes a type of waste called urea from your blood. Urea is produced __________
foods containing protein, such as meat, poultry, and certain vegetables, are broken __________ in
the body. Urea is carried in the bloodstream to the kidneys.

The kidneys are bean-shaped organs about the __________ of your fists. They are near the middle of
the back, __________ below the rib cage. The kidneys remove urea from the blood through tiny
filtering units called nephrons. Each nephron consists of a ball formed of small blood capillaries,
called a glomerulus, and a small tube called a renal tubule. Urea, __________ with water and other
waste substances, forms the urine as it passes __________ the nephrons and down the renal tubules
of the kidney.

From the kidneys, urine travels down two thin tubes called ureters to the bladder. The ureters are
__________ 8 to 10 inches long. Muscles in the ureter walls constantly tighten and relax to force
urine downward away from the kidneys. __________ urine is allowed to stand still, or back up, a
kidney infection can develop. Small amounts of urine are emptied into the bladder from the ureters
about every 10 __________ 15 seconds.

The bladder is a hollow muscular organ shaped __________ a balloon. It sits in your pelvis and is
held in place by ligaments attached to __________ organs and the pelvic bones. The bladder stores
urine __________ you are ready to go to the bathroom __________ empty it. It swells into a round
shape when it is full and gets smaller when empty. If the urinary system is healthy, the bladder
can hold __________ to 16 ounces (2 cups) of urine comfortably __________ 2 to 5 hours.

Circular muscles called sphincters help keep urine from leaking. __________ sphincter muscles close
tightly like a rubber band around the opening of the bladder into the urethra, the tube __________
allows urine to pass outside the body.

Nerves in the bladder tell you when it is time to urinate, or empty your bladder. As the bladder
first fills with urine, you may notice a feeling that you need to urinate. The sensation to urinate
becomes stronger as the bladder continues to fill and reaches __________ limit. __________ that
point, nerves from the bladder send a message to the brain that the bladder is full, and __________
urge to empty your bladder intensifies.

When you urinate, the brain signals the bladder muscles to tighten, squeezing urine __________of
the bladder. At the same time, the brain signals the sphincter muscles to relax. __________ these
muscles relax, urine exits the bladder through the urethra. When all the signals occur in the
correct order, normal urination occurs.

http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/yoururinary/