The conquest of malaria in Italy
Read The conquest of malaria in Italy and check the IELTS Reading answers. The word ‘malaria’ means ‘bad air’ in Italian, and this terrible disease marked the life of the people of that country for thousands of years. Yet by 1962, Italy was officially declared malaria-free, and it has remained so e…
Passage preview
The word ‘malaria’ means ‘bad air’ in Italian, and this terrible disease marked the life of the people of that country 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 successful endeavour is a remarkable piece of historical work. Original, crystal clear, analytical and passionate, Snowden takes us to areas historians have rarely visited before.
Vocabulary from this passage
9 words worth learning before you sit the test, each with the sentence it appears in.
- an integral part of noun phrase
A part that is necessary to make something complete.
In the passage:
"an integral part of the big picture of modern Italian history": the disease was central, not marginal.
Synonyms: an essential part of, a fundamental part of
Opposites: a minor part of
- contemporary relevance noun phrase
Importance or usefulness to the present day.
In the passage:
Q24 says "the significance ... for today's readers"; the passage says the book "has contemporary relevance" (paragraph H).
Synonyms: significance, importance today
- definitive proof noun phrase
Evidence so strong that no doubt about a claim is left.
In the passage:
"Definitive proof of this theory was obtained": the passage's way to say the experiments settled the question (Q19).
Synonyms: conclusive evidence, firm proof
Opposites: circumstantial evidence
- divert funds verb phrase
To move money away from its planned use to another purpose.
In the passage:
"funds were diverted to the battlefields": the money was moved away from the campaign against malaria.
Synonyms: redirect money, reallocate funding
- rampant adjective
Spreading quickly and widely, with nothing to control it.
In the passage:
"the societies where it is rampant": malaria is widespread and out of control.
Synonyms: widespread, unchecked
Opposites: controlled
- scourge noun
Something that causes great suffering or harm to many people.
In the passage:
"escaped altogether from the scourge of the disease": a formal word for a widespread cause of suffering.
Synonyms: plague, affliction
Opposites: blessing
- spread unchecked verb phrase
To grow or move through an area with nothing stopping it.
In the passage:
Q23 says "not to halt the spread of the disease"; the passage says "allowing the epidemic to spread unchecked".
Synonyms: not halted, spread without control
Opposites: be contained
- subscribe to verb phrase
To agree with an idea, belief or theory.
In the passage:
"most experts subscribed to the theory of 'miasma'": it means believed, not paid for a magazine.
Synonyms: agree with, accept
Opposites: reject
- with a vengeance adverb phrase
With much greater force or strength than before.
In the passage:
"the disease returned with a vengeance": it came back more strongly than before.
Synonyms: with great force, fiercely
Answers with explanations
- 14. ["insects","mosquitoes"]
Look for what the experts failed to connect with malaria. The summary's **failed to make the connection** is the passage's **did not make the further leap towards**, and the thing they did not reach was **insects**. Swamps and water they had already linked.
- 15. miasma
**The most popular belief** matches **most experts subscribed to the theory of**. The summary's **unclean air** is the passage's **poisoning of the air**, and the theory has a name: **miasma**.
- 16. hereditary
Match **people from certain parts of the country … held responsible** with **Epidemics were blamed on people who originated from the hotter parts of Italy**. The summary's **common idea** is the **widespread belief**, so the disease was thought to be **hereditary**.
- 17. life expectancy
**Rural regions** matches **land workers** in malarial zones, and **extremely short** is the passage's **terrifying 22.5 years**. What was so short was their **life expectancy**: two words, copied exactly.
- 18. NOT GIVEN
Look for Grassi's **volunteers**. The passage calls them only **healthy human volunteers** and never says where in Italy they came from. For TRUE or FALSE it would need to give their origin, so the answer is NOT GIVEN.
- 19. TRUE
**Remain healthy despite being in malarial zones** matches **introduced into malarial zones … and remained well**. The passage calls the result **definitive proof**, so the statement agrees with the text: TRUE.
- 20. FALSE
The deciding word is **all**. The plan was to give quinine to **all those in vulnerable regions**, but **peasants** were suspicious and doctors met **stubborn refusal to accept the treatment**. So it was not given to every inhabitant, and the statement is FALSE. The strategy overall still succeeded, but that does not change this.
- 21. E
Look for a **figure**. **Dramatic results** matches **Deaths from malaria fell by some 80%**, and the drug programme is the quinine plan this paragraph describes.
- 22. C
**An important discovery** matches **one of the first breakthroughs**, and **how malaria is spread** is the micro-organisms **carried in the digestive tract of the mosquito**. The paragraph about miasma only says mosquitoes carry it as a known fact; here someone demonstrates it.
- 23. F
**An expert** is the country's **leading malariologist**, Missiroli. **Decision not to halt the spread** matches he **refused to order the distribution of quinine, so allowing the epidemic to spread unchecked**.
- 24. H
**Today's readers** matches **contemporary relevance**. The writer explains the significance with the fact that **more than 1m deaths every year** still occur worldwide.
- 25. B
**False assumptions** are the **miasma** theory and the **belief that malaria was hereditary**: two examples in the same paragraph. They **held back** understanding because the result was that **little was done to combat the disease**.
- 26. D
**Legislation** matches **a quinine law**, brought in in 1904. The paragraph about refusal also mentions quinine, but only the plan to give it, not a law.