The Influenza Pandemic of 1918
The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I, at somewhere between 20 and 40
million people. Known as "Spanish Flu", that outbreak of influenza was a global disaster. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in
recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single year than in four years of the Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351.
In the fall of 1918, the Great War in Europe was winding down and peace was on the horizon. Then, something erupted that seemed as benign as
the common cold. The influenza of that season, however, was far more than a cold. In the two years that this plague ravaged the earth, a fifth of
the world's population was infected. The “Spanish flu” was most deadly for people aged 20 to 40. This pattern of morbidity was unusual for
influenza, which is usually a killer of the elderly and young children.
It infected 28% of all Americans. An estimated 675,000 Americans died of influenza during the pandemic, ten times as many as in the World
War I. Of the U.S. soldiers who died in Europe, half of them fell to the influenza virus and not to the enemy. People were struck with illness on
the street and died rapid deaths. The physicians of the time were helpless against this powerful agent of influenza. A well-known anecdote tells
of four women playing bridge together late into the night. Overnight, three of the women died from influenza.
QUESTIONS
1.- Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text. No
marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE.
a) No plague has been as lethal as the “Spanish Flu”.
b) Common influenza mainly affects middle-aged people.
2.- In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions.
Do not copy from the text.
a) How was the American population affected by the Spanish flu?
b) Did people suffering from “Spanish Flu” take a long time to die? Explain your
answer.
3.- Find the words or phrases in the text that mean:
a) catastrophe (paragraph 1)
b) autumn (paragraph 2)
c) ending (paragraph 2)
d) fatal (paragraph 2)
(Puntuación máxima: 1 punto)
4.- Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the word in brackets
when given.
a) Many more people _____ (kill) by the “Spanish Flu” in a single year _____ those
who died from the Black Death.
b) If doctors of the time _____ (have) effective medicines at their disposal in 1918,
many people _____ (save) their lives.
c) Normally, _____ takes years to find an effective drug against a virus. We still
haven’t one for AIDS _____ three decades of research.
d) Rewrite the following sentence beginning with the words given.
Mrs. Mitchell said to her daughter: “Wear your scarf and gloves in case it snows”.
Mrs. Mitchell told her daughter …….
5.- Write about 100 to 150 words on the following topic.
What do you do to look after yourself when you catch a cold or the flu?
