Health Care and Epidemics

Listening, Reading and Vocabulary

Warm Up Questions

1. When you are sick, do you take medicine?

2. How can people prevent diseases?

3. Have you ever been in a place that was having an epidemic?

4. What did people do about it?

disease (n)• a sickness, a health problem,

a medical condition

Bad living conditions can cause diseases.

treatment (n)• a remedy or procedure for curing

disease

Acupuncture is an alternative treatment for pains.

epidemic (n)• a disease that spreads quickly

and extensively among a group of people in the same area

In the 1940’s, there was a polio epidemic and many children were disabled by the disease.

prevent (v)• to stop something from happening

The lack of motivation prevented Jane to go to college.

antibiotics (n)• a substance that kills bacteria

and cure infections, used as a medication

Peter took antibiotics for an ear infection.

useless (adj.)•worthless, not useful

David crashed his car. Now it is useless.

viruses (n)• a very small living thing that causes diseases

Children often catch the cold virus at school.

cruel (adj.) • mean, causing pain on

purpose to people or animals

Keeping animals in cages is cruel.

fire (v)• dismiss someone from work

Mr. Wilson fired Tina because she was constantly late for work.

services (n)• Public services like hospitals,

schools and transportation that are provided to the public to use

Every city offers some free communityservices to senior citizens.

plague (n)• A dangerous disease, infection or

epidemic that spreads fast and easily and kills many people.

A cholera plague had killed many prisoners of war.

effort (n)• an attempt to do something that

involves a lot of work or determination

Frank made an effort to get along with his mother in-law, but he wasn’t successful.

spread (v)• to extend over a large area

The fire spreaded to the mountains and foothills.

tuberculosis (n)• a contagious disease that affects

the lungs

Tuberculosis has declined since the introduction of antibiotic treatment in the 1950's.

sneeze (v)• to expel air through the nose and mouth

suddenly, forcefully and involuntarily

When people have a cold or allergies, they sneeze constantly.

cough (v) (n)• to push air noisily from the lungs

through the mouth

Jimmy has a cold. He has been coughing all day. He has a terrible cough.

pick up (v)• to lift something

Children pick up shells at the beach.

mosquito (n)• a small fly that feeds on the blood and transmits diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, and dengue

In tropical areas, there are a lot of mosquito.

tick (n)• A small insect without wings that lives on the skin of some

animals.

Tony removed a few ticks from his dog.

influenza (n)• A contiguous disease spread by

viruses and it can sometimes be fatal.

Doctors advise people to rest in bed if the have the influenza.

fever (n)• high body temperature,

higher than 98.6 F

Wear light clothes if you have a fever.

pregnant (adj.)• carrying a child in the womb

Kathy is six months pregnant.

contagious (adj.)• to transmit a disease from one

person to another

A common cold is a contagious disease.

relieve (v)• to end or lessen pain, hunger, or

tension

Aspirins relieve headaches.

vaccination (n)• medication given by injection to

prevent a disease

A nurse gave Mr. Wilson a vaccination against the flu.

inject (v)• to put fluid into the body with a

needle

The doctor injected antibiotics to his patient.

boiling (adj.)• extremely hot

The boiling milk spilled all over the stove.

miserable (adj.)• very unpleasant or bad, poor

quality

People who live with chronic pain have miserable lives.

institutions (n)• An organization that helps

people in the area of health, education or work.

Bob cannot pay for a private nurse, so he lives in a state institutions.

supervise (v)• to watch over the activity of

others and make sure that they perform it correctly

Julia is a head nurse. She supervises other nurses.

meanwhile (adv.)• meantime, during the period of

time between two events

I’ll see you tomorrow; meanwhile, have a nice evening.

Pronunciation• disease• treatment• epidemic• prevent• antibiotic• useless• viruses• cruel• fire• services• plague• effort• spread• tuberculosis• sneeze• cough

• pick up• mosquito• tick• influenza• fever• pregnant• contiguous• relieve• vaccination • inject• boiling• miserable• institutions• supervise• meanwhile

Verb Noun Adjective Adverb

(im)politeness (im)polite (im)politely

cruelty cruel cruelly

relieve relief relievedvolunteer volunteer involuntary involuntarily

inject injectionpregnancy pregnant

contagion contagious contagiously

lengthen length long

reason reason (un)reasonable (un)reasonably