IMac ejects CDs & Software Discs, only reads DVDs

Hello. I am not very good at working with computers, so sorry if I forget to add things. I was given a used one of these:
Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac8,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
It automatically ejects CDs, software discs, etc. The only type of disk it reads are DVDs, and at times, it still ejects them. How can I repair this? I do not have applecare since this is a second hand computer. Would it be very expensive to replace the optical drive? Do I need a new one? Can I run an external dvd/cd drive to just avoid this? Is the drive just dirty?
Please help.

Thanks to a very helpful Apple Genius Bar expert, I have just saved over £100. After reading this forum I tried everything suggested to get my superdrive to accept my DVDs and to get my iDVD to produce a slideshow. After two weeks of frustration I took the whole iMac to the shopping mall. The genius reached into the counter draw and held a can of compressed air.After a minute of squirting the air into the dvd slot all my prayers had been answered. He told me that cleaning the drive like this work on about a third of all his clients. I have now bought a can of compressed air from Amazon for £4 and have it ready for the next problem the arises. (I have tried the same technique on the unruly kids, but it does not seem to work on them!)

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DVD-Write:          -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies:          CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media:
Type:          DVD-R
ID:          SONY16D1
Blank:          Yes
Erasable:          No
Overwritable:          Yes
Appendable:          Yes
Write Speeds:          2x, 4x, 6x, 8x
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Internal...
http://eshop.macsales.com/static_pages/Framework.cfm?page=superdrive/sdl_powerma c_g5.html
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http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/optical-drives/

IMac ejects CDs & Software Discs, only reads DVDs

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