During the Second World War Reading Answers

Mar 21, 2024

During the second world war Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. During the second world war Reading Answers have a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. This topic has 7 questions in which you have to choose the correct keyword from given options. In the rest 6 questions you have to choose the correct option.

Candidates should read the IELTS Reading passage thoroughly to recognize synonyms, identify keywords, and answer the questions below. IELTS Reading practice papers, which feature topics such as During the second world war Reading Answers. Candidates can use IELTS reading practice questions and answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

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Section 1

Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions

During the Second World War

When penicillin became widely available during the Second World War, it was a medical miracle, rapidly vanquishing the biggest wartime killer - infected wounds. Discovered initially by a French medical student, Ernest Duchesne, in 1896, and then rediscovered by Scottish physician Alexander Fleming in 1928, Penicillium crippled many types of disease-causing bacteria. But just four years after drug companies began mass-producing penicillin in 1943, microbes began appearing that could resist it.
"There was complacency in the 1980s. The perception was that we had licked the bacterial infection problem. Drug companies weren't working on new agents. They were concentrating on other areas, such as viral infections," says Michael Blum, M.D., medical officer in the Food and Drug Administration's division of anti-infective drug products. "In the meantime, resistance increased to a number of commonly used antibiotics, possibly related to overuse. In the 1990s, we've come to a point for certain infections that we don't have agents available."
The increased prevalence of antibiotic resistance is an outcome of evolution. Any population of organisms, bacteria included, naturally includes variants with unusual traits - in this case, the ability to withstand an antibiotic's attack on a microbe. When a person takes an antibiotic, the drug kills the defenceless bacteria, leaving behind - or "selecting," in biological terms - those that can resist it. These renegade bacteria then multiply, increasing their numbers a million fold in a day, becoming the predominant microorganism. "Whenever antibiotics are used, there is selective pressure for resistance to occur. More and more organisms develop resistance to more and more drugs," says Joe Cranston, Ph.D., director of the department of drug policy and standards at the American Medical Association in Chicago.
Disease-causing microbes thwart antibiotics by interfering with their mechanism of action. For example, penicillin kills bacteria by attaching to their cell walls, then destroying a key part of the wall. The wall falls apart, and the bacterium dies. Resistant microbes, however, either alter their cell walls resistinclin die bent ways ducteria mes that distate se the antibist. rug resistent tube resis rises this eatin. Bacteria i aire eras commation where one bacterium may take up DNA from another bacterium. Most frightening, however, is resistance acquired from a small circle of DNA called a plasmid, which can flit from one type of bacterium to another. A single plasmid can provide a slew of different resistances.
Many of us have come to take antibiotics for granted. A child develops a sore throat or an ear infection, and soon a bottle of pink medicine makes everything better. Linda McCaig, a scientist at the CDC, comments that "many consumers have an expectation that when they're ill, antibiotics are the answer. Most of the time the illness is viral, and antibiotics are not the answer. This large burden of antibiotics is certainly selecting resistant bacteria. McCaig and Peter Killeen, a fellow scientist at the CDC, tracked antibiotic use in treating common illnesses. The report cites nearly 6 million antibiotic prescriptions for sinusitis alone in 1985, and nearly 13 million in 1992. Ironically, advances in modern medicine have made more people predisposed to infection. McCaig notes that "there are a number of immunocompromised patients who wouldn't have survived in earlier times. Radical procedures produce patients who are in difficult shape in the hospital, and there is routine use of antibiotics to prevent infection in these patients."
There are measures we can take to slow the inevitable resistance. Barbara Murray, M.D., of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston writes that "simple improvements in public health measures can go a long way towards preventing infection". Such approaches include more frequent hand washing by health-care workers, quick identification and isolation of patients with drug-resistant infections, and improving sewage systems and water purity. Drug manufacturers are also once again becoming interested in developing new antibiotics. The FDA is doing all it can to speed development and availability of new antibiotic drugs. "We can't identify new agents - that's the job of the pharmaceutical industry. But once they have identified a promising new drug, what we can do is to meet with the company very early and help design the development plan and clinical trials," says Blum. In addition, drugs in development can be used for patients with multi-drug-resistant infections on an emergency compassionate use basis for people with AIDS or cancer, for example." Blum adds.
Appropriate prescribing is important. This means that physicians use a narrow spectrum antibiotics — those that target only a few bacterial types - whenever possible, so that resistances can be restricted. "There has been a shift to using costlier, broader spectrum agents. This prescribing trend heightens the resistance problem because more diverse bacteria are being exposed to antibiotics," writes Killeen. So, while awaiting the next wonder drug, we must appreciate, and use correctly, the ones that we already have. Another problem with antibiotic use is that patients often stop taking the drug too soon, because symptoms improve. However, this merely encourages resistant microbes to proliferate. The infection returns a few weeks later, and this time a different drug must be used to treat it. The conclusion: resistance can be slowed if patients take medications correctly.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 14 - 20

Match the views (14 - 20) with the people listed below.

Write the appropriate letters.

Antibiotics are sometimes used to only prevent

Answer: LM
Supporting statement:“........This large burden of antibiotics is certainly selecting resistant bacteria. McCaig and Peter Killeen, a fellow scientist at the CDC, tracked antibiotic use in treating common illnesses...........”
Keywords: antibiotic, common
Keyword Location: para E, line 5
Explanation: Linda McCaig (LM) mentions how antibiotics are sometimes misused or overused, leading to the selection of resistant bacteria.

Choosing the correct antibiotic for particular infections is

Answer: PK
Supporting statement:“........The report cites nearly 6 million antibiotic prescriptions for sinusitis alone in 1985, and nearly 13 million in 1992. Ironically, advances in modern medicine have made more people predisposed to infection. ...........”
Keywords: advances, medicine
Keyword Location: para E, line 7
Explanation: Peter Killeen (PK) focuses the importance of choosing the correct antibiotic for specific infections to prevent antibiotic resistance.

Today there are some bacterial infections for which we have no effective

Answer: MB
Supporting statement:“........"In the meantime, resistance increased to a number of commonly used antibiotics, possibly related to overuse. In the 1990s, we've come to a point for certain infections that we don't have agents available."...........”
Keywords: antibiotics, infections
Keyword Location: para B, line 5
Explanation: Michael Blum mentions that there are some bacterial infections for which we have no effective treatments.

Untested drugs can be used on terminal patients as a last

Answer: MB
Supporting statement:“........... In addition, drugs in development can be used for patients with multi-drug-resistant infections on an emergency compassionate use basis for people with AIDS or cancer, for example." Blum adds. .........”
Keywords: patients, cancer
Keyword Location: para F, line 12
Explanation: Michael Blum also mentions how untested drugs can be used on terminal patients as a last resort.

Resistance develops every time an antibiotic is

Answer: JC
Supporting statement:“......... "Whenever antibiotics are used, there is selective pressure for resistance to occur. More and more organisms develop resistance to more and more drugs," says Joe Cranston, Ph.D., director of the department of
drug policy and ..........”
Keywords: resistance, department
Keyword Location: para C, line 8
Explanation: Joe Cranston explains how resistance develops every time an antibiotic is used, contributing to the problem of antibiotic resistance.

Merely washing hands can have a positive

Answer: BM
Supporting statement:“.........There are measures we can take to slow the inevitable resistance. Barbara Murray, M.D., of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston writes that "simple improvements in public health measures can go a long way towards preventing infection"..........”
Keywords: simple, infection
Keyword Location: para F, line 3
Explanation: Barbara Murray suggests that simple improvements in public health measures, such as frequent handwashing and improved sanitation, can have a positive impact on preventing infections.

Antibiotics are often impotently used against

Answer: LM
Supporting statement:“........comments that "many consumers have an expectation that when they're ill, antibiotics are the answer. Most of the time the illness is viral, and antibiotics are not the answer............”
Keywords: antibiotics, answer
Keyword Location: para E, line 3
Explanation: Linda McCaig also mentions how antibiotics are often misused against viral illnesses, contributing to the problem of antibiotic resistance.

PK - Peter Killeen
JC - Joe Cranston
Auto-play
LM - Linda McCaig
MB - Michael Blum
BM - Barbara Murray

Questions 21 - 26

Reading Passage 2 has 6 paragraphs (A - F). Which paragraphs concentrate on the following information?
Write the appropriate letters (A - F).

How antibiotic resistance

Answer: D
Supporting statement:“..........Disease-causing microbes thwart antibiotics by interfering with their mechanism of action. For example, penicillin kills bacteria by attaching to their cell walls, then destroying a key part of the wall. .........”
Keywords: attaching ,walls
Keyword Location: para D, line 1
Explanation: Para D mentions how disease-causing microbes thwart antibiotics by interfering with their mechanism of action.

The survival of the fittest

Answer: C
Supporting statement:“.........in this case, the ability to withstand an antibiotic's attack on a microbe. When a person takes an antibiotic, the drug kills the defenceless bacteria, leaving behind - or "selecting," in biological terms - those that can
resist it...........”
Keywords: microbe, behind
Keyword Location: para C, line 3
Explanation: Para C mentions how antibiotic resistance is an outcome of evolution, with bacteria developing resistance to antibiotics.

Factors to consider in solving the Pulliupior antibiotic

Answer: F
Supporting statement:“......... Drug manufacturers are also once again becoming interested in developing new antibiotics. The FDA is doing all it can to speed development and availability of new antibiotic drugs.........”
Keywords: development, antibiotic
Keyword Location: para F, line 5
Explanation: Para F mentions measures to slow antibiotic resistance, including improvements in public health measures and drug development efforts.

The impact of the discovery of the first

Answer: A
Supporting statement:“..........Discovered initially by a French medical student, Ernest Duchesne, in 1896, and then rediscovered by Scottish physician Alexander Fleming in 1928, Penicillium crippled many types of disease-causing bacteria.........”
Keywords: physician, crippled
Keyword Location: para A, line 3
Explanation: Para A mentions the impact of the discovery of penicillin during World War II, highlighting its role in treating infected wounds.

The misuse and overuse of

Answer: E
Supporting statement:“......... Most of the time the illness is viral, and antibiotics are not the answer. This large burden of antibiotics is certainly selecting resistant bacteria. McCaig and Peter Killeen, a fellow scientist at the CDC, tracked ..........”
Keywords: burden, scientist
Keyword Location: para E, line 5
Explanation: Para E mentions the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, contributing to antibiotic resistance.

The cessation of research into combating bacterial

Answer: B
Supporting statement:“.........They were concentrating on other areas, such as viral infections," says Michael Blum, M.D., medical officer in the Food and Drug Administration's division of anti-infective drug products. "In the meantime, resistance
increased to a number of commonly used ..........”
Keywords: division, drug
Keyword Location: para B, line 3
Explanation: Para B mentions the cessation of research into combating bacterial infections during the 1980s, leading to complacency and contributing to antibiotic resistance.