Ebola response in Congo struggles amid limited data, budget cuts, and community fear

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

C2. 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 central argument about the Ebola response?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Clinical expertise is largely irrelevant during Ebola outbreaks.
   2. Several interacting pressures are causing the response to fall behind.
   3. Community fear is the sole cause of delayed disease containment.
   4. Funding cuts have already ended the public-health response.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Several interacting pressures are causing the response to fall behind.

   The article argues that several interacting pressures are overwhelming response capacity.

   Together, these pressures leave health workers confronting more than the medical challenge posed by Ebola itself.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why does the article describe the three problems as “interconnected”?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Each problem independently affects only medical treatment.
   2. They arise from one identical administrative decision.
   3. Together they constrain several mutually dependent aspects of response.
   4. They are presented as temporary rather than structural difficulties.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Together they constrain several mutually dependent aspects of response.

   The problems jointly restrict information, resources, and cooperation.

   The effort is being hindered by three interconnected problems: a lack of data, budget cuts, and fear within the community.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does “those functions” refer to in the funding paragraph?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. The functions required to sustain public-health operations
   2. The symptoms caused by Ebola infection
   3. The methods used to collect community opinions
   4. The financial penalties imposed during emergencies
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The functions required to sustain public-health operations

   It refers to the operational capacities previously listed.

   Public-health responses require personnel, equipment, transportation, communication, and sustained coordination.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Why does the article mention “a short, isolated intervention”?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. To suggest that outbreaks can usually be solved quickly
   2. To distinguish sustained emergency work from temporary action
   3. To criticize medical teams for working too slowly
   4. To explain why transportation is unnecessary during outbreaks
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   To distinguish sustained emergency work from temporary action

   The contrast emphasizes that emergencies require continuous attention.

   When budgets are reduced, maintaining those functions becomes more difficult, particularly during an emergency that demands consistent attention rather than a short, isolated intervention.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What relationship does the final paragraph establish?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Clinical expertise compensates fully for social distrust.
   2. Each weakened element increases the response’s difficulty.
   3. Reliable information matters only after funding is restored.
   4. Community relationships matter less than logistical efficiency.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Each weakened element increases the response’s difficulty.

   It presents weakened foundations as making response progressively more difficult.

   Where any of these elements is weakened, the task becomes harder; when all are under strain at once, the response can be outpaced by events.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which statement is supported by the article’s discussion of data?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Data shortages chiefly affect public-relations campaigns.
   2. Incomplete information can impair both decisions and resource allocation.
   3. Authorities can compensate through faster transportation alone.
   4. Disease-spread information is unnecessary once interventions begin.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Incomplete information can impair both decisions and resource allocation.

   Incomplete information makes resource allocation and evaluation less precise.

   When information is incomplete or difficult to obtain, decisions become less precise, and responding teams may struggle to direct limited resources efficiently.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What does the article imply about community fear?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Fear may undermine the cooperation required for containment.
   2. Fear reliably encourages communities to trust unfamiliar teams.
   3. Fear affects only people who have already contracted Ebola.
   4. Fear is primarily a financial rather than social problem.
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Fear may undermine the cooperation required for containment.

   Fear can obstruct cooperation even when cooperation is essential.

   People who are frightened may be reluctant to engage with authorities or unfamiliar medical teams, even when cooperation is important to containing the disease.

8. Question 8 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   How is the article organized overall?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Chronologically, from the outbreak’s origin to its resolution
   2. By presenting obstacles individually before drawing a broader conclusion
   3. As a debate between government officials and health workers
   4. By comparing Congo’s response with responses elsewhere
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   By presenting obstacles individually before drawing a broader conclusion

   It introduces the crisis, examines three pressures, then synthesizes their consequences.

   The situation illustrates why outbreak control depends on more than clinical expertise.

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.