UNIT 2 READING 3 “The Great Fever"

“The Great Fever"

This passage describes a deadly disease called yellow fever. This disease turns

people’s eyes and skin a yellow color. Many people die from the disease.
Scientists in the late 1800s did not know what caused the disease or how it
spread. In the late 1890s, American soldiers in Cuba were getting yellow fever.
Dr. Carlos Finlay, a doctor in Cuba, believed that mosquitoes spread the disease.
Army doctors went to Cuba and learned about Finlay’s research. After some
dangerous experiments, they discovered that mosquitoes did spread yellow
fever.

A vaccine was developed, and this has prevented serious outbreaks in the
United States.

Key Words:

• disease: an illness with specific symptoms

• experiment: a scientific test to try out a theory or see the effect of something

 • fever: a higher-than-normal body temperatura

• hypothesis: an unproven explanation

• mosquitoes: small flying insects; the females bite and suck blook from people or animals

• virus: a tiny living thing that grows in living cells and causes some illnesses


Academic Words:

objective = something that you are working

hard to achieve

➡ The scientist’s objective was to find the causes of the illness.

 

theory = an idea that explains how something Works or why something happens

➡ He had to prove his theory—that a germ can cause disease.

 

  

transmit = send or pass something from one

person to another

➡ Some sick patients may transmit their illnesses to others nearby.

 

volunteers = people who offer to do something

without expecting to be paid ➡

The volunteers work at the hospital. They deliver flowers, cleanrooms, and spend time with patients.