Develop your skills for matching paragraph information for IELTS reading with this reading exercise. Skim read the passage to get the gist of the article. Then spend time reading the questions before you try and locate the answers. The more time you spend analysing the meaning and vocabulary in the questions, the easier it will be. This is a similar level to the academic reading paper.
Reading Passage: Ebola
The questions are listed at the end of the passage. However, because this is a long passage, I have also put the questions at various points in the passage as well ( Q’s).
About Ebola
A) The Ebola virus causes an acute, serious illness which is often fatal if untreated. Ebola virus disease (EVD) first appeared in 1976 in 2 simultaneous outbreaks, one in Nzara, Sudan, and the other in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter occurred in a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name.
B) The current outbreak in west Africa, (first cases notified in March 2014), is the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since the Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976. There have been more cases and deaths in this outbreak than all others combined. It has also spread between countries starting in Guinea then spreading across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia, by air (1 traveller only) to Nigeria, and by land (1 traveller) to Senegal. The most severely affected countries, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have very weak health systems, lacking human and infrastructural resources, having only recently emerged from long periods of conflict and instability. On August 8, the WHO Director-General declared this outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Qs
- Information about possible medicine.
- How medical staff can contract the disease through interaction with infected people.
- How it came to be called Ebola.
- Information about precautionary procedures.
- The way Ebola crossed the species barrier.
- A description of Ebola.
C) It is thought that fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are natural Ebola virus hosts. Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest. Ebola then spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids. Health-care workers have frequently been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed EVD. This has occurred through close contact with patients when infection control precautions are not strictly practised.
D) Supportive care-rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids- and treatment of specific symptoms, improves survival. There is as yet no proven treatment available for EVD. However, a range of potential treatments including blood products, immune therapies and drug therapies are currently being evaluated. No licensed vaccines are available yet, but 2 potential vaccines are undergoing human safety testing. Qs
- Information about possible medicine.
- How medical staff can contract the disease through interaction with infected people.
- How it came to be called Ebola.
- Information about precautionary procedures.
- The way Ebola crossed the species barrier.
- A description of Ebola.
E) Health-care workers caring for patients with suspected or confirmed Ebola virus should apply extra infection control measures to prevent contact with the patient’s blood and body fluids and contaminated surfaces or materials such as clothing and bedding. When in close contact (within 1 metre) of patients with EBV, health-care workers should wear face protection (a face shield or a medical mask and goggles), a clean, non-sterile long-sleeved gown, and gloves (sterile gloves for some procedures).
Questions 1-6
Which paragraphs contain the following information?
- Information about possible medicine.
- How medical staff can contract the disease through interaction with infected people.
- How it came to be called Ebola.
- Information about precautionary procedures.
- The way Ebola crossed the species barrier.
- A description of Ebola.
Answers
Click below to reveal answers and vocabulary.
Answers- D
- C
- A
- E
- C
- A
Passage taken from WHO
- acute = critical, serious
- outbreaks = bursts, epidemics
- emerged from periods of conflict = come out of a time war or instability
- fruit bat
- secretion = discharge, emission
- contaminated = polluted
- rehydration = the process of restoring lost water
- proven = confirmed, sure, certain
- sterile = germ-free, hygienic, sanitary
Recommended
- Read More about Ebola: Doctors without borders
- All Matching Paragraph Practice for IELTS Reading
Main IELTS Pages
Develop your IELTS skills with tips, model answers, lessons, free videos and more.