Measures to Combat Infectious Disease in Tsarist Russia Reading Answers

Measures to Combat Infectious Disease in Tsarist Russia reading practice tests is provided with answers and explanations. This passage comprises 13 questions divided into three question types - Choose the correct heading, Choose the correct letter and 3 Complete the sentence.

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Table of contents:

• Solution for Measures to Combat Infectious Disease in Tsarist Russia
• Measures to Combat Infectious Disease in Tsarist Russia IELTS Reading Practice Test
• Passage
• Questions
• Answers with Explanations

Solution for Measures to Combat Infectious Disease in Tsarist Russia

The answers to the Measures to Combat Infectious Disease in Tsarist Russia reading answers are shown in the table below. Check your answers against our answer table, then rectify any errors.

Answer Table

1. ii	5. iv	9. A or E in Either Order	13. Fire
2. v	6. viii	10. A or E in Either Order
3. i	7. B or D in Either Order	11. Astrakhan
4. vii	8. B or D in Either Order	12. Houses

Measures to Combat Infectious Disease in Tsarist Russia IELTS Reading Practice Test - Exam Review

Measures to Combat Infectious Disease in Tsarist Russia IELTS reading answers are provided here to assist you in excelling in the reading practice exam to push your reading skills. Paraphrasing can help you understand the ideas more clearly, allowing you to respond to queries more efficiently.

Passage

We've included the Measures to Combat Infectious Disease in Tsarist Russia reading passage. Read the passage and answer the questions carefully. Check out our Measures to Combat Infectious Disease in Tsarist Russia reading answers with locations for more information.    

Measures to Combat Infectious Disease in Tsarist Russia

 

A - Systematic intelligence-gathering about external cases of plague.

In the second half of the seventeenth century, Russian authorities began implementing controls at the borders of their empire to prevent the importation of plague, a highly infectious and dangerous disease. Information on disease outbreak occurring abroad was regularly reported to the tsar’s court through various means, including commercial channels (travelling merchants), military personnel deployed abroad, undercover agents, the network of Imperial Foreign Office embassies and representations abroad, and the customs offices. For instance, the heads of customs offices were instructed to question foreigners entering Russia about possible epidemics of dangerous diseases in their respective countries.

B - Partly successful bans against foreign states affected by plague.

If news of an outbreak came from abroad, relations with the affected country were suspended. For instance, foreign vessels were not allowed to dock in Russian ports if there was credible information about the existence of epidemics in countries from whence they had departed. In addition, all foreigners entering Russia from those countries had to undergo quarantine. In 1665, after receiving news about a plague epidemic in England, Tsar Alexei wrote a letter to King Charles II in which he announced the cessation of Russian trade relations with England and other foreign states. These protective measures appeared to have been effective, as the country did not record any cases of plague during that year and in the next three decades. It was not until 1692 that another plague outbreak was recorded in the Russian province of Astrakhan. This epidemic continued for five months and killed 10,383 people, or about 65 percent of the city’s population. By the end of the seventeenth century, preventative measures had been widely introduced in Russia, including the isolation of persons ill with plague, the imposition of quarantines, and the distribution of explanatory public health notices about plague outbreaks.

C - Outbreaks of plague as a result of military campaigns.

During the eighteenth century, although none of the occurrences was of the same scale as in the past, plague appeared in Russia several times. For instance, from 1703 to 1705, a plague outbreak that had ravaged Istanbul spread to the Podolsk and Kiev provinces in Russia, and then to Poland and Hungary. After defeating the Swedes in the battle of Poltava in 1709, Tsar Peter I (Peter the Great) dispatched part of his army to Poland, where plague had been raging for two years. Despite preventive measures, the disease spread among the Russian troops. In 1710, the plague reached Riga (then part of Sweden, now the capital of Latvia), where it was active until 1711 and claimed 60,000 lives. During this period, the Russians besieged Riga and, after the Swedes had surrendered the city in 1710, the Russian army lost 9.800 soldiers to the plague. Russian military chronicles of the time note that more soldiers died of the disease after the capture of Riga than from enemy fire during the siege of that city.

D - Various measures to limit outbreaks of plague associated with war

Tsar Peter I imposed strict measures to prevent the spread of plague during these conflicts. Soldiers suspected of being infected were isolated and taken to areas far from military camps. In addition, camps were designed to separate divisions, detachments, and smaller units of soldiers. When plague reached Narva (located in present-day Estonia) and threatened to spread to St. Petersburg, the newly built capital of Russia, Tsar Peter I ordered the army to cordon off the entire boundary along the Luga River, including temporarily halting all activity on the river.

In order to prevent the movement of people and goods from Narva to St Petersburg and Novgorod, roadblocks and checkpoints were set up on all roads. The tsar’s orders were rigorously enforced, and those who disobeyed were hung.

E - The general limitations of early Russian anti-plague measures

However, although the Russian authorities applied such methods to contain the spread of the disease and limit the number of victims, all of the measures had a provisional character: they were intended to respond to a specific outbreak, and were not designed as a coherent set of measures to be implemented systematically at the first sign of plague. The advent of such a standard response system came a few years later.

F - The formulation and publication of preventive strategies

The first attempts to organise procedures and carry out proactive steps to control plague date to the aftermath of the 1727- 1728 epidemic in Astrakhan. In response to this, the Russian imperial authorities issued several decrees aimed at controlling the future spread of plague. Among these decrees, the ‘Instructions for Governors and Heads of Townships’ required that all governors immediately inform the Senate - a government body created by Tsar Peter I in 1711 to advise the monarch - if plague cases were detected in their respective provinces.

Furthermore, the decree required that governors ensure the physical examination of all persons suspected of carrying the disease and their subsequent isolation. In addition, it was ordered that sites where plague victims were found had to be encircled by checkpoints and isolated for the duration of the outbreak. These checkpoints were to remain operational for at least six weeks.

The houses of infected persons were to be burned along with all of the personal property they contained, including farm animals and cattle. The governors were instructed to inform the neighbouring provinces and cities about every plague case occurring on their territories. Finally, letters brought by couriers were heated above a fire before being copied.

G

The implementation by the authorities of these combined measures demonstrates their intuitive understanding of the importance of the timely isolation of infected people to limit the spread of plague.

Questions

Questions 1-6

Reading Passage has SEVEN sections, A-G.
Choose the correct heading for sections A-F from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-viii.

List of Headings

i    Outbreaks of plague as a result of military campaigns.
ii         Systematic intelligence-gathering about external cases of plague.
iii    Early forms of treatment for plague victims.
iv    The general limitations of early Russian anti-plague measures.
v         Partly successful bans against foreign states affected by plague.
vi    Hostile reactions from foreign states to Russian anti-plague measures.
vii       Various measures to limit outbreaks of plague associated with war.
viii      The formulation and publication of preventive strategies.

1. Section A
2. Section B
3. Section C
4. Section D
5. Section E
6. Section F

Questions 7-8
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters.

Which TWO measures did Russia take in the seventeenth century to avoid plague outbreaks?

A  Cooperation with foreign leaders.
B  Spying.
C  Military campaigns.
D  Restrictions on access to its ports.
E  Expulsion of foreigners.

Questions 9-10

Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters.

Which TWO statements are made about Russia in the early eighteenth century?

A  Plague outbreaks were consistently smaller than before.
B  Military casualties at Riga exceeded the number of plague victims.
C  The design of military camps allowed plague to spread quickly.
D  The tsar’s plan to protect St Petersburg from plague was not strictly implemented.
E  Anti-plague measures were generally reactive rather than strategic.

Questions 11-13

Complete the sentences below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

11. An outbreak of plague in __________ prompted the publication of a coherent preventative strategy.
12. Provincial governors were ordered to burn the __________ and possessions of plague victims.
13. Correspondence was held over a __________ prior to copying it.

Answers for Measures to Combat Infectious Disease in Tsarist Russia  With Explanations

Measures to Combat Infectious Disease in Tsarist Russia reading answers with explanations is given below. Refer to the following answers with an explanation section in order to correct your errors.

(Note: The text in italics mentions the location and referring lines written in the reading passage.)

1. Answer: ii

Explanation: Located in the 2nd line of Section A, “Information on disease outbreak occurring abroad was regularly reported to the tsar’s court through various means”.

2. Answer: v

Explanation: Located in the first line of Section B, “If news of an outbreak came from abroad, relations with the affected country were suspended”.

3. Answer: i

Explanation: Located in the 3rd and 4th lines of Section C, “After defeating the Swedes in the battle of Poltava in 1709, Tsar Peter I (Peter the Great) dispatched part of his army to Poland, where plague had been raging for two years. Despite preventive measures, the disease spread among the Russian troops”.

4. Answer: vii

Explanation: Located in the 1st line of 1st Paragraph of Section D, “Tsar Peter I imposed strict measures to prevent the spread of plague during these conflicts”.

5. Answer: iv

Explanation: Located in the first line of Section E, “However, although the Russian authorities applied such methods to contain the spread of the disease and limit the number of victims, all of the measures had a provisional character:”.

6. Answer: viii

Explanation: Located in the 2nd line of Section F, “In response to this, the Russian imperial authorities issued several decrees aimed at controlling the future spread of plague”.

7. Answer: B or D

Explanation: Located in the 2nd line of Section A, “Information on disease outbreak occurring abroad was regularly reported to the tsar’s court through various means, including commercial channels (traveling merchants), military personnel deployed abroad, undercover agents, the network of Imperial Foreign Office embassies and representations abroad, and the customs offices”.

OR

Explanation: Located in the 2nd line of Section B, “For instance, foreign vessels were not allowed to dock in Russian ports if there was credible information about the existence of epidemics in countries from whence they had departed”.

8. Answer: B or D

Explanation: Located in the 2nd line of Section A, “Information on disease outbreak occurring abroad was regularly reported to the tsar’s court through various means, including commercial channels (traveling merchants), military personnel deployed abroad, undercover agents, the network of Imperial Foreign Office embassies and representations abroad, and the customs offices”.

OR

Explanation: Located in the 2nd line of Section B, “For instance, foreign vessels were not allowed to dock in Russian ports if there was credible information about the existence of epidemics in countries from whence they had departed”.

9. Answer: A or E

Explanation: Located in 1st line of Section C, “During the eighteenth century, although none of the occurrences was of the same scale as in the past, plague appeared in Russia several times”.

10. Answer: A or E

Explanation: located in the 1st line of Section E, “all of the measures had a provisional character: they were intended to respond to a specific outbreak, and were not designed as a coherent set of measures to be implemented systematically at the first sign of plague”.

11. Answer: Astrakhan

Explanation: Located in the 1st line of 1st paragraph of Section F, “The first attempts to organise procedures and carry out proactive steps to control plague date to the aftermath of the 1727- 1728 epidemic in Astrakhan”.

12. Answer: Houses

Explanation: Located in the 1st line of the 3rd paragraph of Section F, “The houses of infected persons were to be burned along with all of the personal property they contained, including farm animals and cattle”.

13. Answer: Fire

Explanation: Located in the last line of the 3rd paragraph of Section F, “Finally, letters brought by couriers were heated above a fire before being copied”.

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