Is Global Warming harmful to Health? IELTS Reading Answers

Oct 8, 2024

Is Global Warming harmful to Health? Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. Is Global Warming harmful to Health? Reading Answers has a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. In the questions set there are questions where you have to fill in the blanks with correct answers. In the next part, you have to choose the correct option from the given choices. Also you have to fill blanks in the image.

The IELTS exam is a crucial step for many individuals seeking to study, work, or live in English-speaking countries. One of the most challenging sections of the test is the IELTS Reading section, which assesses a candidate's ability to understand and interpret a variety of texts. To excel in this section, it is essential to practice regularly with high-quality materials, such as IELTS reading practice questions.

Section 1

IS GLOBAL WARMING HARMFUL TO HEALTH?

Today, few scientists doubt the atmosphere is warming. Most also agree that the rate of heating is accelerating and that the consequences of this temperature change could become increasingly disruptive. Even high school students can recite some projected outcomes: the oceans will warm, and glaciers will melt, causing sea levels to rise and salt water to inundate low-lying coasts. Yet less familiar effects could be equally detrimental. Notably, computer models indicate that global warming, and other climate alterations it induces, will expand the incidence and distribution of many serious medical disorders. Intensifying Heating of the atmosphere can influence health through several routes. Most directly, it can generate more, stronger and hotter heat waves, which will become especially treacherous if the evenings fail to bring cooling relief. Global warming can also threaten human well-being profoundly, if somewhat less directly, by revising weather patterns - particularly by increasing the frequency and intensity of floods and droughts and by causing rapid swings in the weather. Aside from causing death by drowning or starvation, these disasters promote by various means the emergence, resurgence and spread of infectious disease. That prospect is deeply troubling because infectious illness may kill fewer people in one fell swoop than a raging flood or an extended drought, but once it takes root in a community, it often defies eradication and can invade other areas.

Mosquitoes Rule in the Heat: Diseases relayed by mosquitoes - such as malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever and several kinds of encephalitis - are among those eliciting the greatest concern as the world warms. Mosquito-borne disorders are projected to become increasingly prevalent because their insect carriers, or "vectors", are very sensitive to meteorological conditions. Cold can be a friend to humans, because it limits

mosquitoes to seasons and regions where temperatures stay above certain minimums. Winter freezing kills many eggs, larvae and adults outright. Excessive heat kills insects as effectively as cold does. Nevertheless, within their survivable range of temperatures, mosquitoes proliferate faster and bite more as the air becomes warmer. At the same time, greater heat speeds the rate at which the pathogens inside them reproduce and

mature. As whole areas heat up, then, mosquitoes could expand into formerly forbidden territories, bringing illness with them. Further, warmer nighttime and winter temperatures may enable them to cause more disease for longer periods in the areas they already inhabit.

The extra heat is not alone in encouraging a rise in mosquito-borne infection. Intensifying floods and droughts resulting from global warming can each trigger outbreaks by creating breeding grounds for insects whose desiccated eggs remain viable and hatch in still water. As floods recede, they leave puddles. In times of drought, streams can become stagnant pools, and people may put out containers to catch water; these pools and pots, too, can become incubators for new mosquitoes. And the insects can gain another boost if climate change or other processes (such as alterations of habitats by humans) reduce the populations of predators that normally keep mosquitoes in check.

Opportunities like Sequential Extremes: The increased climate variability accompanying warming will probably be more important than the rising heat itself in fuelling unwelcome outbreaks of certain vector-borne illnesses. For instance, warm winters followed by hot, dry summers (a pattern that could become all too familiar as the atmosphere heats up) favor the transmission of St Louis encephalitis and other infections that cycleamong birds, urban mosquitoes and humans. This sequence seems to have abetted the surprise emergence of the West Nile virus in New York City in 2000. No one knows how this virus found its way into the US. But one reasonable explanation for its persistence and amplification here centers On the weather's effects on Culex pipiens mosquitoes, which accounted for the bulk of transmission. These urban dwellers typically lay their eggs in damp basements, gutters, sewers and polluted pools of water. The interaction between the weather, the mosquitoes and the virus probably went something like this: the mild winter of 1998-99 enabled many of the mosquitoes to survive into the spring, which arrived early.

Drought in spring and summer concentrated nourishing organic matter in their breeding areas and simultaneously killed off mosquito predators, such as lacewings and ladybugs, that would otherwise have helped limit mosquito populations. Drought would also have led birds to congregate more, as they shared fewer and smaller watering holes, many of which were shared, naturally, by mosquitoes. Once mosquitoes acquired the virus, the July heat wave that accompanied the drought would speed up the viral maturation inside the insects. Consequently, as infected mosquitoes sought blood meals, they could spread the virus to birds at a rapid rate. As bird after bird became infected so did more mosquitoes, which ultimately fanned out to infect human beings. Torrential rains towards the end of August provided new puddles for the breeding of C. pipiens and other mosquitoes, unleashing an added crop of potential virus carriers.

Solutions: The health toll taken by global warming will depend to a large extent on the steps taken to prepare for the dangers. The ideal defensive strategy would have multiple components, including improved surveillance systems to spot the emergence or resurgence of infectious diseases; predicting when environmental conditions could become conducive to disease outbreaks; and limiting human activities that contribute to the heating or that exacerbate its effects.

Questions 27-30

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each.

Scientists base their predictions about global warming on evidence from 27....... Two

Answer: COMPUTER MODELS

Supporting statement: “.........Notably, computer models indicate that global warming, and other climate alterations it induces, will expand the incidence and distribution of many serious medical disorders.......”

Keywords: alterations, disorders

Keyword Location: para 1, Line 5

Explanation: Scientists rely on computer models to predict the effects of global warming. These models simulate the earth's climate system and are used to estimate future changes in temperature, weather patterns, and their impact on health.

weather conditions which are likely to become more common as an indirect result of global warming are 28............... and ……...... Once infectious disease has become Answer: FOODS, DROUGHTS

Supporting statement: “........Global warming can also threaten human well-being profoundly, if somewhat less directly, by revising weather patterns - particularly by increasing the frequency and intensity of floods and droughts........”

Keywords: directly, intensity

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 4

Explanation: As the passage explains, global warming will lead to changes in weather patterns, increasing the frequency of floods and droughts. These extreme weather conditions are less direct but significant outcomes of climate change, leading to severe health issues

established in an area, its 29........ can prove extremely difficult. Mosquitoes can be

Answer: ERADICATION

Supporting statement: “........but once it takes root in a community, it often defies eradication and can invade other areas........”

Keywords: root, invade

Keyword Location: para 2, Line 11

Explanation: The passage highlights that once an infectious disease takes hold in a region, it becomes very difficult to eradicate. This means that diseases can spread easily from one area to another, making it harder for health authorities to completely eliminate them

effectively destroyed by 30...... and very high temperatures.

Answer: WINTER FREEZING

Supporting statement: “.........Winter freezing kills many eggs, larvae and adults outright.......”

Keywords: freezing, larvae

Keyword Location: para 3, Line 5

Explanation: Mosquitoes, particularly those that carry diseases like malaria and dengue, are highly sensitive to temperature changes. The passage indicates that freezing temperatures in winter kill mosquito eggs, larvae, and adult mosquitoes.

Questions 31-33

Do the following statements agree with information given in Reading Passage 3? Write:

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information

31. Mosquito eggs are capable of surviving dry conditions

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: “.......Intensifying floods and droughts resulting from global warming can each trigger outbreaks by creating breeding grounds for insects whose desiccated eggs remain viable and hatch in still water.........”

Keywords: trigger, viable

Keyword Location: para 4, Line 3

Explanation: The passage explains that even in dry conditions, mosquito eggs can remain viable (alive), waiting for water to appear before hatching. This adaptability allows mosquitoes to survive in drought conditions and contribute to disease outbreaks once favorable breeding conditions arise.

32. Animals which feed on mosquitoes may be adversely affected by global warming

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: “.........if climate change or other processes (such as alterations of habitats by humans) reduce the populations of predators that normally keep mosquitoes in check........”

Keywords: populations, check

Keyword Location: para 4, Line 8

Explanation: The passage indicates that predators, such as lacewings and ladybugs, which naturally keep mosquito populations in check, may be negatively impacted by global warming or habitat destruction.

33. Mosquitoes are becoming increasingly resistant to standard drugs

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: The passage does not mention the development of resistance in mosquitoes to standard drugs.

Questions 34-35

Do the following statements agree with information given in Reading Passage 3? Write:

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information

34. Higher temperatures are likely to be the most important factor in encouraging diseases carried by mosquitoes.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: “.......The increased climate variability accompanying warming will probably be more important than the rising heat itself in fueling unwelcome outbreaks of certain vector-borne illnesses.........”

Keywords: vector, illnesses

Keyword Location: para 5, Line 1

Explanation: The passage argues that increased climate variability (changes in weather patterns, such as alternating between hot and cold periods) is more important than just the rising temperatures in spreading mosquito-borne diseases.

35. The mosquitoes which transmit West Nile disease breed in rural area.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: “........These urban dwellers typically lay their eggs in damp basements, gutters, sewers and polluted pools of water.........”

Keywords: gutters, sewers

Keyword Location: para 5, Line 7

Explanation: The passage explicitly states that the mosquitoes responsible for transmitting the West Nile virus breed in urban environments, such as basements, gutters, and sewers, not in rural areas. This statement contradicts the idea that they primarily breed in rural areas.

Questions 36-40

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each.

WEATHER AND WEST NILE VIRUS

Q.36

Answer: ORGANIC MATTER

Supporting statement: “......Drought in spring and summer concentrated nourishing organic matter in their breeding areas..........”

Keywords: spring, breeding

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 3

Explanation: The passage explains that during droughts, organic matter is concentrated in mosquito breeding areas. This organic matter provides nourishment, enabling mosquitoes to breed and thrive in these environments, leading to the spread of diseases like West Nile virus.

Q.37

Answer: MOSQUITO PREDATORS

Supporting statement: “........Drought in spring and summer... simultaneously killed off mosquito predators, such as lacewings and ladybugs........”

Keywords: predators, lacewings

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 3

Explanation: The drought killed mosquito predators such as lacewings and ladybugs, which naturally control mosquito populations. With fewer predators, mosquito populations can grow, leading to increased transmission of diseases.

Q.38

Answer: BIRDS

Supporting statement: “........Consequently, as infected mosquitoes sought blood meals, they could spread the virus to birds at a rapid rate........”

Keywords: spread, birds

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 6

Explanation: The passage mentions that mosquitoes spread the West Nile virus to birds, which play a significant role in the transmission cycle of the virus. As more birds become infected, the virus can further spread to humans through mosquito bites.

Q.39

Answer: JULY HEAT WAVE

Supporting statement: “.......the July heat wave that accompanied the drought would speed up the viral maturation inside the insects.........”

Keywords: heat, maturation

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 7

Explanation: The text refers to a heat wave in July that accelerated the development of the West Nile virus inside mosquitoes. This quickened the spread of the virus, contributing to the outbreak during that period.

Q.40

Answer: PUDDLES / BREEDING AREAS

Supporting statement: “.......Torrential rains towards the end of August provided new puddles for the breeding of C. pipiens and other mosquitoes.........”

Keywords: breeding, mosquitoes

Keyword Location: para 6, Line 10

Explanation: The passage states that heavy rainfall in August created puddles, which served as breeding grounds for mosquitoes. These puddles enabled mosquito populations to grow, increasing the potential for disease transmission.

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