The Potential to Sniff Out Disease Reading Answers

The Potential to Sniff Out Disease Reading Answers consists of 12 questions and forms part of the evaluation framework for the IELTS General Reading test. Candidates have a time limit of 20 minutes to complete The Potential to Sniff Out Disease Reading Answers. This portion of the IELTS reading evaluation includes various types of questions, including Do the following statements agree with the information given, write no more than two words, and write the correct letter.

The Potential to Sniff Out Disease Reading Answers provides a thorough examination of how the Dogs’ exceptional sense of smell enables them to detect diseases like cancer by identifying specific odors in bodily fluids. Scientists hope this ability will inspire electronic devices that can diagnose illnesses early and accurately through scent analysis. For further practice with similar reading evaluations, candidates can check the IELTS Reading Practice Test section.

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The Potential to Sniff Out Disease Reading Answers

The fact that diseases have a smell comes as no surprise — but finding someone or something that can detect them at an early stage could hold huge potential for medicine.

Breath, bodily odours and urine are all amazingly revealing about general health. Even the humble cold can give off an odour, thanks to the thick bacteria-ridden mucus in the back of the throat. The signals are not apparent to everyone — but some super-smellers are very sensitive to the odours. Joy Milne, for example, noticed her husband’s smell had changed shortly before he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Humans can detect nearly 10,000 different smells. Formed by chemicals in the air, they are absorbed by little hairs, made of extremely sensitive nerve fibres, in the nose’s olfactory receptors. And the human sense of smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than the sense of taste. But dogs, as the old joke might have it, smell even better. Their ability to detect four times as many odours as humans makes them a potential early warning system for a range of diseases. Research suggesting dogs could sniff out cancers, for example, was first published about 10 years ago. And there have been many tales of dogs repeatedly sniffing an area of their owner’s body, only for it to turn out to be hiding a tumour.

What they are smelling are the “volatile molecules” given off by cells when they become cancerous. Some studies suggest dogs can be 93% accurate. Others suggest they can detect very small tumours before clinical tests can. And yet more studies have produced mixed results.

Does cancer smell?

At Milton Keynes University Hospital, a small team has recently begun to collect human urine samples to test dogs’ ability to detect the smell of prostate cancer. The patients had symptoms such as difficulty urinating or a change in flow, which could turn out to be prostate, bladder or liver cancer.

Rowena Fletcher, head of research and development at the hospital, says the role of the dogs — which have been trained by Medical Detection Dogs — is to pick out the faint smell of cancer. Further down the line, a clinical test will show if the dogs’ diagnosis is correct. She says the potential for using dogs in this way is far-reaching — even if it is not practical to have a dog in every surgery.

“We hope one day that there could be an electronic machine on every GP’s desk which could test a urine sample for diseases by smelling it,” she says. “But first we need to be patient of what the dogs are smelling.”

And that’s the key. Dogs can’t tell us what their noses are detecting, but scientists believe that different cancers could produce different smells, although some might also be very similar.

Electronic noses

Lab tests to understand what these highly-trained dogs are smelling could then inform the development of ‘electronic noses’ to detect the same molecules. These might then give rise to better diagnostic tests in the future.

The potential for using smell to test for a wide range of diseases is huge, Ms Fletcher says. Bacteria, cancers and chronic diseases could all have their own odour; which may be imperceptible to only the most sensitive humans, but obvious to dogs. It may even be possible in the future to use disease odours as the basis for a national screening programme or to test everyone for cancer in a particular age group.

However, there are fewer than 20 dogs in the UK trained to detect cancer at present. Training more will take more funding and time. On the positive side, all dogs that are trained provided they are keen on searching and hunting. Whatever their breed or size, a well-housetrained friend’s astounding sense of smell could unlock a whole new way of detecting human disease.

QUESTIONS 1-5

DO THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS AGREE WITH THE INFORMATION IN THE IELTS READING TEXT?

IN BOXES 1-5 ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET, WRITE

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1. You can have a specific smell even due to simple cold.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: “Even the humble cold can give off an odour, thanks to the thick bacteria-ridden mucus in the back of the throat.”

Keywords: humble cold, odour, mucus

Keyword Location: Paragraph 1, lines 3–4

Explanation: The passage clearly states that even a simple cold produces a smell due to mucus, confirming the statement as true.

2. Human sense of taste is 10,000 less sensitive than human sense of smell.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: “The human sense of smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than the sense of taste.”

Keywords: smell, 10,000 times, more sensitive, taste

Keyword Location: Paragraph 2, line 3

Explanation: Since the sense of smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than taste, it logically means that the sense of taste is 10,000 times less sensitive than smell.

3. Dogs and cats can sniff out different diseases.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: There is no information in the text about cats detecting diseases, so the statement cannot be confirmed or denied.

4. Doctors believe that different cancers might have the same specific smell.

Answer: TRUE

Supporting statement: “Scientists believe that different cancers could produce different smells, although some might also be very similar.”

Keywords: different cancers, different smells, similar

Keyword Location: Paragraph 5, lines 3–4

Explanation: The line confirms that while cancers may have distinct odours, some could share similar smells, making the statement true.

5. There are more than 20 dogs in the UK trained to detect cancer.

Answer: FALSE

Supporting statement: “There are fewer than 20 dogs in the UK trained to detect cancer at present.”

Keywords: fewer than 20, dogs, UK, detect cancer

Keyword Location: Last paragraph, line 1

Explanation: The passage clearly states there are fewer than 20 dogs, which contradicts “more than 20,” so the statement is false.

QUESTIONS 6-7

CHOOSE THE CORRECT LETTER, A, B, C OR D.

WRITE THE CORRECT LETTER IN BOXES 6-9 ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET.

6. All the studies suggest that dogs:

A. Can be 93% accurate

B. Can detect very small tumours

C. Can't detect tumours at all

D. Different studies have shown different results

Answer: D. Different studies have shown different results

Supporting statement: “Some studies suggest dogs can be 93% accurate. Others suggest they can detect very small tumours… And yet more studies have produced mixed results.”

Keywords: studies, mixed results

Keyword Location: Paragraph 3, lines 3–6

Explanation: The text shows variation in research findings, confirming that different studies have shown different results.

7. What scientists give dogs to detect cancer?

A. Urine samples

B. Bacterias

C. Different odours

D. Nothing

Answer: A. Urine samples

Supporting statement: “A small team has recently begun to collect human urine samples to test dogs’ ability to detect the smell of prostate cancer.”

Keywords: urine samples, detect cancer

Keyword Location: Paragraph 4, line 1

Explanation: Scientists are testing dogs’ cancer-detection abilities using urine samples, making option A correct.

QUESTIONS 8-9

CHOOSE THE CORRECT LETTER, A, B, C OR D.

8. What's an electronic nose?

A. A specific tool for dogs

B. A gadget to diagnose diseases

C. A recovery tool for ill patients

D. An artificial nose

Answer: B. A gadget to diagnose diseases

Supporting statement: “Lab tests… could then inform the development of ‘electronic noses’ to detect the same molecules.”

Keywords: electronic noses, detect molecules, diagnostic tests

Keyword Location: Paragraph 6, lines 1–3

Explanation: The electronic nose is described as a diagnostic tool that mimics dogs’ scent detection to identify diseases.

9. The main objective of this passage is to:

A. Bring awareness to the cancer problem

B. Show us how good dogs are at detecting cancer

C. Show us how important it can be to be able to diagnose a disease by an odour

D. Tell us about new technologies

Answer: C. Show us how important it can be to be able to diagnose a disease by an odour

Supporting statement: The entire passage discusses how smell detection (by humans, dogs, or machines) could revolutionize disease diagnosis.

Keywords: diagnose disease, smell, importance

Keyword Location: Whole passage context

Explanation: The passage’s main focus is on the potential of odour-based diagnosis, not just dogs or cancer awareness.

QUESTIONS 10-12

WRITE NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS FROM THE PASSAGE FOR EACH ANSWER.

Write your answers in boxes 10-12 on your answer sheet.

10. Scientists hope that one day an ……………………………… will be on every desk.

Answer: electronic machine

Supporting statement: “We hope one day that there could be an electronic machine on every GP’s desk which could test a urine sample…”

Keywords: electronic machine, GP’s desk

Keyword Location: Paragraph 5, line 2

Explanation: Scientists hope such a device will help test urine samples for diseases in every doctor’s office.

11. Electronic nose would help to detect the …………………

Answer: same molecules

Supporting statement: “Lab tests… could then inform the development of ‘electronic noses’ to detect the same molecules.”

Keywords: electronic noses, detect, same molecules

Keyword Location: Paragraph 6, line 2

Explanation: The electronic nose is designed to detect the same molecules that trained dogs can smell.

12. Dogs can …………………… a new way of diagnosing diseases.

Answer: unlock

Supporting statement: “A well-housetrained friend’s astounding sense of smell could unlock a whole new way of detecting human disease.”

Keywords: dogs, unlock, new way, detecting disease

Keyword Location: Last paragraph, line 4

Explanation: The passage ends by stating dogs’ exceptional sense of smell could unlock new diagnostic possibilities.

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