The Conquest of Malaria in Italy Reading Answers

Feb 7, 2023

The Conquest of Malaria in Italy Reading Answers is an academic reading topic discussing in detail about the malaria disease in Italy. The given IELTS topic has originated from the book named “101 Ielts Reading Past Papers with Answers”. The topic named The Conquest of Malaria in Italy Reading Answers has a total of 13 wide range of questions. The topic consists of three sorts of questions, such as, complete the summary, True/False/Not Given, and choose the correct paragraph. The candidates should thoroughly read the IELTS reading passage to recognize the synonyms and identify the keywords and answer the questions below. IELTS reading practice papers can be taken into consideration by the candidates in order to score a good score in the reading section in which similar topics like The Conquest of Malaria in Italy Reading Answers has been included.

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Section 1

Read the passage to answer the following questions

The Conquest of Malaria in Italy Reading Answers

Mal-aria. Bad air. Even the world is Italian, and this horrible disease marked the life of those in the peninsula for thousands of years. Yet by 1962, Italy was officially declared malaria-free, and it has remained so ever since. Frank Snowden's study of this success story takes us to areas historians have rarely visited before.

Everybody now knows that malaria is carried by mosquitoes. But in the 19th century, most expects believed that the disease was produced by "miasma" or "poisoning of the air". Others made a link between swamps, water and malaria, but did not make the future leap towards insects. The consequences of these theories were that little was done to combat the disease before the end of the century. Things became so bad that 11m ltalians (from a total population of 25m) were "permanently at risk". In malarial zones the life expectancy of land workers was a terrifying 22.5 years. Those who escaped death were weakened or suffered from splenomegaly -a "painful enlargement of the spleen" and "a lifeless stare". The economic impact of the disease was immense. Epidemics were blamed on southern Italians, given the widespread belief that malaria was hereditary. In the 1880s, such theories began to collapse as the dreaded mosquito was identified as the real culprit.
A complicated approach was adopted, which made use of quinine -a drug obtained from tree bark which had long been used to combat fever, but was now seen as a crucial part of the war on malaria. Italy introduced a quinine law and a quinine tax in 1904, and the drug was administered to large numbers of rural workers. Despite its often terrible side-effects (the headaches produced were known as the "quinine-buzz") the drug was successful in limiting the spread of the disease, and inbreaking cycles of infection. In addition, Italy set up rural health centers and invested heavily in education programmes. Malaria, as Snowden shows, was not just a medical problem, but a social and regional issue, and could only be defeated through multilayered strategies. Politics was itself transformed by the anti-malarial campaigns. It was originally decided to give quinine to all those in certain regions -even healthy people; peasants were often suspicious of medicine being forced upon them. Doctors were sometimes met with hostility and refusal, and many were dubbed poisoners.
Despite these problems, the strategy was hugely successful. Deaths from malaria fell by some 80% in the first decade of the 20th century and some areas escaped altogether from the scourge of the disease. War, from 1915-18, delayed the campaign. Funds were diverted to the battlefields and the fight against malaria became a military issue, laying the way for the fascist approach to the problem. Mussolini's policies in the 20s and 30s subjected to a serious cross-examination by Snowden. He shows how much of the regimes claims to have "eradicated" malaria through massive land reclamation, forced population removals and authoritarian clean-ups were pure propaganda. Mass draining was instituted -often at a great cost as Mussolini waged war not one the disease itself, but on the mosquitoes that carried it. The cleansing of ltaly was also ethnic, as "carefully selected" Italians were chosen to inhabit the gleaming new towns of the former marshlands around Rome. The "successes under fascism were extremely vulnerable, based as they were on a topdown concept of eradication. As war swept through the drained lands in the 40s, the disease returned with a vengeance.
In the most shocking part of the book, Snowden describes -passionately, but with the skill of a great historian -how the retreating Nazi armies in Italy in 1934- 44 deliberately caused a massive malaria epidemic in Lazio. It was "the only known example of biological warfare in 20th century Europe". Shamefully, the Italian malaria expert Alberto Missiroli had a role to play in the disaster: he did not distribute quinine, despite being well aware of the epidemic to come. Snowden claims that Missiroli was already preparing a new strategy -with the support of the US Rockefeller Foundation- using a new pesticide, DDT. Missiroli allowed the epidemic to spread, in order to create the ideal conditions for a massive, a lucrative, human experiment. Fifty-five thousand cases of malaria were recorded in the province of Littoria alone in 1944. It is estimated that more than a third of those affected area contracted the disease. Thousands, nobody knows how many, died. With the war over, the US government and the Rockefeller Foundation were free to experiment. DDT was sprayed from the air and 3m italians had their bodies covered with the chemical. The effects were dramatic, and nobody really cared about the toxic effects of the chemical.
By 1962, malaria was more or less gone from the whole peninsula. The last cases were noted in a poor region of Sicily. One of the final victims to die of the disease in Italy was the popular cyclist, Fausto Coppi. He had contracted malaria in Africa in 1960, and the failure of doctors in the north of Italy to spot the disease was a sign of the times. A few decades earlier, they would have immediately noticed the tell-tale signs, it was later claimed that a small dose of quinine would have saved his life. As there are still more than 1m deaths every year from malaria worldwide, Snowden's book also has contemporary relevance. This is a disease that affects every level of the societies where it is rampant. It also provides us with "a message of hope for a world struggling with the great present-day medical emergency.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 14-18

Complete the summary below using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the

passage. Write your answer in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

Before the link between malaria and 14………. was established, there were many popular theories circulating among the public, one of which points to 15……….... ,the unclean air. The lack of proper treatment affected the country so badly that rural people in malaria infested places had extremely short 16……….. . The disease spread so quickly, especially in the south if Italy, thus giving rise to the idea that the disease was 17……….. . People believed in these theories until mosquto was found to be the 18………….. in the 1880s.

Question 14:

Answer: insects/mosquitoes
Supporting sentence: Others made a link between swamps, water and malaria, but did not make the future leap towards insects.
Keyword : mosquitoes, link,malaria, insects
Keyword location: paragraph A, lines 2-4
Explanation: Lines 2-4 of paragraph A explains that all the person are aware that mosquitoes transmit malaria. However, in the 19th century, the majority of people thought that "miasma" or "air poisoning" was what caused the sickness. Others connected marshes, water, and malaria, but they did not make the next logical step to include insects.

Question 15:

Answer: “miasma”
Supporting sentence: most expects believed that the disease was produced by "miasma”
Keyword : expects, believed, disease, “miasma”
Keyword location: paragraph A, lines 2-3
Explanation: The second to third lines of paragraph A implies that the transmission of malaria via mosquitoes is common knowledge. However, the majority of people in the 19th century believed that "miasma" or "air poisoning" was what caused the illness. Others connected marshes, water, and malaria, but they did not make the next logical step to include insects.

Question 16:

Answer: life expectancy
Supporting sentence: In malarial zones the life expectancy of land workers was a terrifying 22.5 years.
Keyword : malarial, zones, life expectancy, 22.5 years
Keyword location: paragraph A, lines 6-7
Explanation: Lines 6-7 of paragraph A explains that the life expectancy of agricultural labourers was a dreadful 22.5 years in malarial areas. Those who survived were feeble or had splenomegaly. This is described as "a painful enlargement of the spleen" and "a dead look." The sickness has a huge financial impact.

Question 17:

Answer: hereditary
Supporting sentence: Epidemics were blamed on southern Italians, given the widespread belief that malaria was hereditary.
Keyword : Epidemics, blamed, widespread, hereditary
Keyword location: paragraph A, lines 9-10
Explanation: Lines 9-10 of paragraph A depicts that the sickness had a severe negative economic impact. Given the popular notion that malaria was inherited, epidemics were attributed to southern Italians. Such hypotheses started to fall apart in the 1880s as the dreaded mosquito was revealed to be the true cause.

Question 18:

Answer: culprit/real culprit
Supporting sentence: In the 1880s, such theories began to collapse as the dreaded mosquito was identified as the real culprit.
Keyword : 1880s, theories, mosquito, real culprit
Keyword location: paragraph A, lines 10-11
Explanation: Lines 10-11 of paragraph A depicts that the illness had a disastrously damaging influence on the economy. Epidemiological outbreaks were attributed to southern Italians since it was widely believed that malaria was hereditary. As the dreaded mosquito was discovered to be the real culprit in the 1880s, such theories began to disintegrate.

Questions 19-21

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage? On your answer sheet please write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the writer
FALSE- if the statement contradicts with the writer
NOT GIVEN- if there is no information about this in the passage.

Question 19. The volunteers of the Italian experiments that provided assuring evidence were from all over Italy.

Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation: No justified information has been given in the passage in order to support this sentence. Therefore, the above statement is regarded as an invalid one.

Question 20. It's possible to come out of malarial zones alive.

Answer: TRUE
Supporting sentence: healthy people were introduced into malarial zones but kept free of mosquito bites -and remained well
Keyword : healthy, people, malarial zones, well
Keyword location: paragraph B, lines 10-11
Explanation: The tenth to eleventh lines of paragraph B states about the life expectancy in malarial zone. A remarkable sequence of tests in Italy, where healthy people were put into malarial zones but kept free of mosquito bites. They remained well and this provided the definitive evidence for these new beliefs. The new Italian state possessed the knowledge required to combat the illness. So, the above sentence can be regarded as a TRUE one.

Question 21. The government successfully managed to give all people quinine medication.

Answer: FALSE
Supporting sentence: Shamefully, the Italian malaria expert Alberto Missiroli had a role to play in the disaster: he did not distribute quinine
Keyword : Shamefully, malaria, distribute, quinine
Keyword location: paragraph E, lines 4-5
Explanation: Lines 4-5 of paragraph E implies about Alberto Missiroli. He was an Italian malaria specialist, shamefully contributed to the catastrophe by failing to supply quinine. He was well aware of the impending epidemic. According to Snowden, Missiroli was already planning a new tactic utilising a novel chemical, DDT, with the assistance of the US Rockefeller Foundation. So, it is a FALSE statement.

Question 22-26

Reading Passage has six paragraphs, A-F

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A-F in boxes 22-26 on your answer sheet.

Question 22. A breakthrough in the theory of the cause of malaria

Answer: B
Supporting sentence: Giovanni Battista Grassi, a naturalist, found that a particular type of mosquito was the carrier of malaria.
Keyword : Giovanni, naturalist, mosquito, malaria
Keyword location: paragraph B, lines 3-4
Explanation: Lines 3-4 of paragraph B implies that the cycles of fever were predicted by Italian scientists. It was predicted using the ground-breaking research of French physician Alphonse Laveran, but other significant discoveries were done in Rome. Naturalist Giovanni Battista Grassi discovered that a certain kind of mosquito was the disease's vector.

Question 23. A story for today's readers

Answer: F
Supporting sentence: As there are still more than 1m deaths every year from malaria worldwide, Snowden's book also has contemporary relevance
Keyword : 1m, worldwide, Snowden's book, relevance
Keyword location: paragraph F, lines 6-7
Explanation: Lines 6-7 of paragraph F implies that Snowden's book is still relevant today because malaria still causes more than 1 million deaths annually. Every level of the societies where it is rife are affected by this sickness. It also gives us a message of hope for a world that is coping with the major medical emergency of our time.

Question 24. A description of an expert who didn't do anything to restrict the spread of disease

Answer: E
Supporting sentence: the Italian malaria expert Alberto Missiroli had a role to play in the disaster: he did not distribute quinine
Keyword : Italian, expert, disaster, did not distribute
Keyword location: paragraph E, lines 4-5
Explanation: Lines 4-5 of paragrpah E implies that Alberto Missiroli’s terrible failure to provide quinine. He was an Italian expert in malaria contributed to the disaster. He was aware of the epidemic's approaching arrival. With the help of the US Rockefeller Foundation, Missiroli was allegedly already preparing a new strategy. The strategy that would have involved the use of the revolutionary chemical DDT.

Question 25. A setback in the battle against malaria due to government policies

Answer: D
Supporting sentence: Funds were diverted to the battlefields and the fight against malaria became a military issue
Keyword : Funds, battlefields, malaria, military issue
Keyword location: paragraph D, lines 3-4
Explanation: The war against malaria was turned into a military issue with money going to the front lines, paving the stage for a fascist solution. Snowden conducted a thorough cross-examination of Mussolini's 1920s and 1930s policies. He demonstrates how purely false the regimes' assertions they had eradicated.

Question 26. A description of how malaria affects the human body

Answer: A
Supporting sentence: In malarial zones the life expectancy of land workers was a terrifying 22.5 years.
Keyword : malarial, zones, life, terrifying
Keyword location: paragraph A, lines 6-7
Explanation: The sixth to seventh lines of paragraph A states that the average lifespan of agricultural laborers was a dreadful 22.5 years in malarial areas. Those who survived were feeble or had splenomegaly, which is described as "a painful enlargement of the spleen" and "a dead look."