Comprehension Answers By Yukta Sree Saravana Kumar 6A

Comprehension Answers.

Questions on ‘South Korea: “You can’t catch it twice”. 

Part A: Find and explain the facts 

A1. What has new research from South Korean scientists said about COVID-19?
South Korean scientists say that they do not believe that you can catch the new coronavirus more than once and they think that this is unlikely as the cases where people had caught the disease more than once were most likely due to “testing failures”.  
A2. What are ‘immunity passports’?
These are the government-issued documents which means you were less restricted by the lockdown if you have antibodies that can fight off the virus.

Part B: Deduce and infer information 

B1. The World Health Organization is concerned that “the use of (immunity passports) may increase the risks of transmission”. How might that be the case? 
It might be risky because the use of immunity passports may increase the risks of transmission which means when someone with immunity passports go to one place to another, the virus might stay on their things and it might spread to everyone. It might increase the cases around the world. 

Part C:

C1. Explain the use of quotation marks in the headline.
The quotations are used in the headline because it tells everyone that South Korean scientists do not believe that you can catch the new coronavirus more than once
however there is no evidence, so it shows their belief.                  

Questions on ‘The two Rs’. 
Part A: Find and explain the facts 

A1. What is the R number? 
R or the “effective reproduction number”, it’s a way for scientists to monitor a disease’s ability to spread. R number is the average number of people who one infected person will pass the virus on to. It’s vital that R stays below one, because if it rises above that, the virus will spread faster and faster. The closer to zero it is, the slower the virus is spreading.
A2. What is remdesivir?
Remdesivir was originally developed to treat Ebola and works by stopping a virus from multiplying inside the body. In the US, the agency that controls the medicines doctors are allowed to use has issued an emergency approval so that it can be used to treat people with COVID-19.
Part B: Deduce and infer information 
B1. Suggest why President Trump has been “hyping [remdesivir] up” in the US. 
The elections are going take place this year and Trump wants to get re-elected. However, the US has been severely hit by COVID-19 and the current status is not supporting him. As this drug was used to tackle Ebola, he thinks it might decrease the covid-19 cases so he is hoping this will work and will get more people on his side. 
B2. Why might remdesivir not be the answer? 
Remdesivir might not be the answer because a study of 237 adults in Wuhan, China, found it “did not provide significant benefits” over a placebo (a substance given to a patient in a trial that has no physical effect on them). 
Part C:
C1. Define the following phrases and comment on the effect of their use.
a) “what’s all the fuss about?” – It means why the R number and the drug called remdesivir getting so much attention during this time. 
b) “hyping it up” - Donald Trump has been exaggerating the benefits of the drug. He would do this to make more people to come to his side as there is going to be an election and he wants to be re-elected. 
c) “is it all it’s cracked up to be?” – It means whether this drug would live up to its name as it helped with decreasing the spread of Ebola. 

Effect of their use:
This article is a science news, so it contains lots of facts and scientific
information. It contains lots of information about novel coronavirus and this topic itself is unpleasant and scary for young children who read First News's. These phrases makes the article less frightening making it suitable for young children.

﻿By Yukta Sree Saravana Kumar, 6A.