TEST NAME: The Plague: A Historical Perspective TEST ID: 1154871 GRADE: 10 Tenth Grade SUBJECT: English Language and Literature TEST CATEGORY: My Classroom
The Plague: A Historical Perspective
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Read the passage 'The Plague: A Historical Perspective' and answer the question below:
The Plague: A Historical Perspective The Plague: A Historical Perspective
The Plague: A Historical Perspective Movies and television shows that focus on a mysterious illness are scarily popular today. The plots are similar: a mysterious and uncontrollable illness is afflicting the population, usually in a large urban area. Scientists unravel the mystery and rescue the populace from dire consequences. Fortunately, such occurrences are fictional. Or are they? Most students have heard the term “the black death,” also known as “the plague.” The words send chills down the spines of almost anyone who hears it, even epidemiologists and doctors. Beyond the purely scientific community, horrific images of affected European towns and villages infest the minds of students who studied the event in world history courses. In the early Middle Ages, people had limited knowledge about effective ways to prevent or cure disease or arrest its proliferation. They had little understanding of epidemics. If they had, perhaps the events from 660 years ago would have proceeded differently. At that time, between 1348 and 1350, a quarter of the population of Europe died from bubonic plague, commonly called “black death” because of the symptomatic dark splotches that blossomed on the skin of victims. The contagion dispersed intermittently yet rapidly across the European continent. Investigators pinpoint the inception of the epidemic to the winter of 1348 in port cities in Italy. The scourge spread northward through Italy and by summer had begun ravaging Switzerland, Hungary, Austria, and was bursting out in France and Spain. The contagion had traversed the English Channel to England by December, and for the next two years advanced across the entire European continent, infecting Norway and Sweden in winter 1350. Medical sleuths studying the epidemic noticed a pattern in its dispersal. The disease proliferated quickly in the spring and summer; it decelerated noticeably in the winter. The scientific detectives reasoned that the advancement of whatever was causing the disease was impeded by cold weather. Investigators noted that in addition to the episodic spread, there was a geographic pattern. Using these patterns discovered by historical investigators, modern epidemiologists sought to identify the infecting agent. The researchers
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sought a source that was waterborne and affected by temperatures. They quickly concluded that disease was not spread by water itself because the water in locales struck by the illness differed between saltwater and freshwater. The perpetrator must be something carried by water but not in the water. As researchers scrutinized the dispersal map, they realized the disease moved on land as well as water. Putting these factors together, the scientists theorized the plague was carried by rats that came ashore from ships docking in ports. Further, they speculated that fleas on the rats were dispersing the disease through bites to people. Further research indicated that the pandemic had begun in China in the early 1300s. It marched westward on caravans and ships from China, one of the busiest trading nations in the world. Chinese silk and other goods were hauled throughout Asia and the Middle East on caravans and ships. At each stop rats scurried from hiding places and dispersed throughout the city. The cities along the Silk Road were ravaged by the plague, where crowding and unsanitary conditions promoted its spread. Medical historians theorize that the plague was introduced to Europe when rats abandoning trading vessels in Italian ports carried infected fleas onto the land. The rest is history. Aided by advanced technology, scientists later solved the mystery that eluded medieval physicians: bubonic plague is caused by bacteria. The microbe is carried by rodents and usually transferred by bites from fleas infesting the rodent or by direct contact with a contaminated animal. Unfortunately, in the mid1300s doctors knew little about the causes of disease or effective treatments. The epidemic cut a swath across the continent, spreading fear and death. As people became ill, timetested treatments were applied. Swollen lymph nodes – a symptom of the illness – were lanced and covered with a poultice, a paste made from herbs and roots. These pseudoscientific remedies proved unsuccessful, so to impede the spread of the plague officials surrounded communities and blocked entry and exit. Despite these measures, disease continued to spread. Turn the calendar to today. Bubonic plague still exists. In the United States, 10 to 15 scattered cases are diagnosed each year. Worldwide, there are reports of 1,000 to 3,000 cases annually. However, the term “plague” is not feared now as it was in the 1300s. The setting is very different. Epidemiologists have the latest scientific implements to battle illness. In the Middle Ages, information traveled excruciatingly slowly, sometimes arriving after the illness. Today, data crosses communications networks almost instantaneously. For example, when Ebola, a dangerous viral infection comparable to bubonic plague, erupted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire) in the 1990s scientists received quick notification and dispatched researchers and physicians to the beleaguered area. As with bubonic plague, epidemiologists hypothesized that the first incident involved contact with a sick animal.
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(Primates – monkeys, gorillas, and chimpanzees – appear to carry the virus.) Health officials in Zaire discovered the first patient worked in a forest surrounding the afflicted area. They quickly quarantined the wild primate population in the region and ministered to the infected people. Through quick diagnoses and action, doctors were able to contain the victimization by Ebola to 315 people. Bubonic plague continues to appear annually in Central Africa, providing scientists with opportunities to study it, test equipment and remedies, and devise additional protections. Researchers continue to seek medicinal treatments or a cure for the illness. Public health officials distribute recommendations for safeguards when providing medical care to infected patients. Improved knowledge, equipment, sanitation, and education help protect the world’s population from horrifying medical events such as the bubonic plague and similar pandemics. "The Plague: A Historical Perspective" property of Pearson 1.
In “The Plague: A Historical Perspective,” the word epidemiologists is used in the first and fifth paragraphs, and the word epidemics is used in the second, third, and fourth paragraphs. Write one paragraph explaining the meanings of these two words and how they are related to each other. Use details from the passage to support your answer.
Read the passage 'The Plague: A Historical Perspective' and answer the question below: 2.
Read the sentence below from “The Plague: A Historical Perspective.” The contagion dispersed intermittently yet rapidly across the European continent. What does dispersed mean as it is used in the sentence above? A.
contaminated
B.
mutated
C.
scattered
D.
vanished
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Read the passage 'The Plague: A Historical Perspective' and answer the question below: 3.
Read this sentence from “The Plague: A Historical Perspective.” At that time, between 1348 and 1350, a quarter of the population of Europe died from bubonic plague, commonly called “black death” because of the symptomatic dark splotches that blossomed on the skin of victims. In this sentence, the word blossomed is a euphemism for which word? A.
dissolved
B.
erupted
C.
escaped
D.
tickled
Read the passage 'The Plague: A Historical Perspective' and answer the question below: 4.
Read the sentence from “The Plague: A Historical Perspective.” In the early Middle Ages, people had limited knowledge about effective ways to prevent or cure disease or arrest its proliferation. What is the meaning of the phrase arrest its proliferation? A.
determine its cause
B.
stop its rapid growth
C.
learn its composition
D.
treat its external symptoms
Read the passage 'The Plague: A Historical Perspective' and answer the question below:
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5.
Read the sentence from “The Plague: A Historical Perspective.” The microbe is carried by rodents and usually transferred by bites from fleas infesting the rodent or by direct contact with a contaminated animal. Which word using the Greek prefix micro has the same meaning and part of speech as the word microbe in the sentence above? A.
microbial
B.
microbic
C.
microorganism
D.
microscope
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