Pennsylvania Reports Third Measles-Related Death in Less Than Three Weeks

Study the questions and tasks

Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.

Practice level

C1. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.

Question formats

Single choice

How to approach this practice

Read the passage for its main idea, then return to the relevant sentence or paragraph for each question. Base answers on the passage.

1. Question 1 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What is the article’s principal purpose?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. To explain the medical causes of measles-related deaths
   2. To assess Pennsylvania’s complete public-health response
   3. To distinguish established facts from unsupported interpretations
   4. To compare vaccination policies across several regions
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To distinguish established facts from unsupported interpretations

   It separates confirmed facts from unsupported interpretations in a developing health story.

   At this stage, the announcement should be read as a narrowly defined update.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why does the article emphasize the three-week period?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. It indicates that all deaths occurred simultaneously
   2. It highlights an unusually compressed sequence of reported deaths
   3. It proves that the deaths resulted from one transmission chain
   4. It establishes when the woman first contracted measles
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   It highlights an unusually compressed sequence of reported deaths

   The short interval makes the deaths appear temporally concentrated.

   The timing is a central feature of the development.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does “It” refer to in the final paragraph?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The public-health response
   2. The confirmed development
   3. The chronology of illness
   4. The vaccination status
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The confirmed development

   The pronoun refers to the confirmed development described immediately beforehand.

   It records the reported outcome and two identifying details—age and vaccination status—while leaving the chronology of illness and relationship to other deaths unresolved.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What relationship does the article establish between vaccination status and causation?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Vaccination status definitively caused the death
   2. Vaccination status was unrelated to the reported case
   3. Vaccination status was reported, but its significance remains unexplained
   4. Vaccination status confirmed a transmission link
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Vaccination status was reported, but its significance remains unexplained

   It reports vaccination status without explaining why vaccination was absent or assigning causation.

   It also does not explain why the woman had not received a measles vaccination.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What organizational pattern primarily shapes the article?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Chronological narrative followed by personal testimony
   2. Confirmed update followed by qualifications and evidentiary limits
   3. Statistical comparison followed by policy recommendations
   4. Medical explanation followed by historical background
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Confirmed update followed by qualifications and evidentiary limits

   The article moves from confirmed details toward explicit limitations and reporting needs.

   Further interpretation would require additional reporting, including independently supported information about the illness, the reported deaths, and any public-health response.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What conclusion does the article explicitly reject?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. That Pennsylvania reported a third death
   2. That the woman was forty years old
   3. That broader public-health conditions can already be inferred
   4. That a local coroner supplied vaccination information
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   That broader public-health conditions can already be inferred

   It says the available information cannot support broader public-health conclusions.

   Consequently, the information available does not support conclusions about the broader public-health situation in Pennsylvania or elsewhere.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why is the article’s final assessment qualified as “narrow but significant”?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. It contains extensive medical evidence but little public interest
   2. It records an important event without establishing its wider meaning
   3. It proves a large outbreak despite missing infection figures
   4. It describes a minor event supported by comprehensive context
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   It records an important event without establishing its wider meaning

   The report confirms a specific event while withholding broader epidemiological context.

   The confirmed development remains narrow but significant: Pennsylvania has announced a third measles-related death in less than three weeks.

What to review next

Find the words that support each answer. For a mistake, compare the question with the evidence and identify the detail or inference you missed.

A focused practice result shows how you did on these tasks. Use several activities across skills to decide what to study next; one practice score does not certify an overall CEFR level.

Before you practise: a worked example

Look for evidence in the text. Separate what the writer says from what you already know about the topic.

The library normally closes at six, but on Fridays it stays open until eight. When does it close on Friday?

The answer is eight. But introduces an exception to the normal closing time, so the first time mentioned is not the answer.

This teaching example is separate from the scored questions. After your test, compare any mistakes with the explanation and revisit the topic before trying again.