The Promise of America: Different Genres' Approaches to the Same Topic

Question 1

Read this excerpt from "Herd about the Flu.”The flu shot helps prevent huge numbers of infections. Even when it doesn’t fully prevent infection in every person, the shot makes any flu infection less serious. On a global scale, the vaccine can reduce the number of infections only if most people in the community take it. That’s because vaccines need to reach enough people to achieve a "herd immunity,” the level of immunity needed to prevent the virus from spreading. If too few people get the vaccine, the people who receive it may not be well protected against infection.So the next time you are at the drugstore, and you see No Flu Shots Available, think about the reasons behind it. Drug makers are scared to make too many flu shots because they could lose too much money. They then make fewer flu shots and the effect of the flu shots becomes weaker because not enough people take it. People become more reluctant to take the flu shot since they don’t think it will fully work. The demand goes down further and the flu companies make even fewer shots the next year.This could continue until the community changes its mind and we all get the flu shot. "That is a community responsibility," says the president of Merck, one of the two remaining flu vaccine manufacturers.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

As fewer people get the flu shot, it becomes less effective, but as more people get it, the flu shot becomes more effective.

Question 2

An old photo of men playing football without pads or helmets.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

football uniforms have changed.

Question 3

Read this excerpt from “Herd about the Flu .”We can’t easily predict what people will do. Some people oppose taking any vaccine. Others don’t get around to it. Finally, some people may not take it because they know it doesn’t always work. Unlike vaccines against measles, polio, or smallpox, today’s flu shot doesn’t give full immunity, or resistance, to the flu.What is the point of a flu shot if it doesn’t work, and why doesn’t it always work? The flu is complex and strains change quickly. People need to be vaccinated with a new batch of vaccine every year. Vaccines must be produced long before the actual flu virus, or the strain of virus, starts to work its way through the community. Some years, scientists do a better job of predicting which strains will be common that year. Sometimes, even if the scientists predict the right strains, the vaccine may not create a strong immune response.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

The reader could verify the credibility of the information.

Question 4

Read this excerpt from "Mad Cow, Furious Farmer.”The disease was first detected in England in 1986, though some scientists think the very first cases started at least ten years before. Cows usually eat only grass and other plants, but farmers had been feeding them a meat and bone mixture that made the cows plumper. But somehow, at least one batch of the mixture had become contaminated with what was then an unknown killer: a prion.By 1993, British farmers were reporting up to one thousand new cases of BSE a week. Governments all around the world reacted by increasing testing for the disease and not allowing any cows to be eaten if they were at risk of having the disease. As sheep can also get a prion disease called scrapie, they were tested as well. Farmers were angry that they were losing their livestock, and nobody knew how to protect cows and people from the disease.Consumers were also in a panic when they learned about BSE, and for a very good reason: prions are infectious. If you eat a prion from a "mad cow” or sheep, you are at risk for developing a human version of BSE. The public felt betrayed that their governments had underreacted to the problem or covered it up.Eventually, in 1997, governments began to ban farmers from feeding their livestock high-risk meat and bone mixtures. With that ban, the epidemic quickly peaked, and by 2010 had largely disappeared. Over the years, half a million cows and two hundred people had been killed by prions.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

Mad cow disease ended because of government bans on feeding cows certain foods, but people were angry that governments did not act sooner.

Question 5

Read this excerpt from "Heads Up on Sports Safety.”The dangers to your head depend on the sport, but some general principles guide helmet design. First, the helmet needs to be as cool and lightweight and comfortable as possible. Second, the helmet needs to be hard enough and fit well enough to protect the skull and brain. For some athletes, like hockey goalies or baseball catchers, the helmet also needs to protect the face from fast pucks or balls. Third, it must not prevent the wearer from seeing or hearing. Fourth, it cannot cause more injuries than it prevents.It turns out that the way to address many of these concerns is to use hard but flexible, light, strong materials on the outside and soft materials on the inside. Scientists create new plastics all the time, but sometimes the best designs come from using old materials in new ways. One recent design makes the shell of helmets out of Kevlar, the same kind of light plastic used in bulletproof vests.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

Helmets must not prevent seeing or hearing.

Question 6

Read this excerpt from "Mad Cow, Furious Farmer” and consider the resource provided at the end of the passage.Eventually, in 1997, governments began to ban farmers from feeding their livestock high-risk meat and bone mixtures. With that ban, the epidemic quickly peaked, and by 2010 had largely disappeared. Over the years, half a million cows and two hundred people had been killed by prions.In the end, the BSE epidemic was a watershed moment, or turning point, in public health. Citizens were enraged at their governments for having kept prions a secret. Governments, who had lost the public trust, struggled to find the best way to communicate health risks without creating unnecessary panic. Ainsworth, Claire, and Damian Carrington. "BSE disaster: the history.” 25 October, 2000. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn91-bse-disaster-the-history.html#.UdS7vW3Ty7A.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

to illustrate people’s ideas about the disease when it was still a danger

Question 7

Read this excerpt from “Heads Up on Sports Safety.”Before modern helmets, in 1904, the Chicago Tribune reported 18 football deaths and 159 serious injuries—in that one year alone. Because the game was lawless and lacking in safety equipment, football was a brutal, deadly sport.

Revolt · Accepted Answer

It is an additional resource that provides historical facts.

Question 8

A writer can use numbering to

Revolt · Accepted Answer

sort information chronologically.

Question 9

A supporting text

Revolt · Accepted Answer

may be set in a different font.

Question 10

Which is a problem-solution signal word?

Revolt · Accepted Answer

resolve

The Promise of America: Different Genres' Approaches to the Same Topic Answers

More from this Course

TRY EDGENUITY HACKS