B2 – Upper Intermediate
The COVID-19 cases may have declined significantly in the two years since the pandemic began, but our experiences are still fresh in our minds. We didn’t see that coming and were totally unprepared for it.
There have been a number of outbreaks in recent decades, thus future outbreaks of infectious diseases are regrettably unavoidable. If we are ready for them, we may be able to prevent them from spreading and becoming pandemics.
Read this article to learn how to prepare for the next pandemic.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03362-8
Vocabulary Questions:
- What does “inevitable” mean? “Finally, governments must abandon the idea that spread of a respiratory pathogen is inevitable.” Use this word in a sentence.
- Based on the context of the sentence, “This necessitates the participation of the private sector alongside governments, given its role in vaccine research, production, and distribution.”, what does the word ‘necessitate’ mean?
- Explain the meaning of the word “emerge” in your own words. “It is crucial that we quickly obtain and share the genetic sequences of viruses as they emerge.” Use it in a sentence.
Discussion Questions:
- Do you think the five ways to prepare for the pandemic in the article are effective? Why or why not?
- How else can we prepare for the pandemic?
- In your opinion, do you think doing these things would actually prepare us for the next pandemic?
- Are you physically, mentally, and financially prepared for future pandemics? How so?
- How does your national government prepare for pandemics?
3 replies on “Prepare for the Next Pandemic”
Discussion Questions:
1. Do you think the five ways to prepare for the pandemic in the article are effective?
I think the five ways to prepare for the pandemic could be effective, in fact, are proposals well-built, well-made, and with a good structure based on the recent experience through the last pandemic. Therefore I could say that the five ways could prevent and help us in different areas in the case would come up new pandemics.
2. How else can we prepare for the pandemic?
A part from the five ways that the article proposes, I think that government should focus on tools and resources for hospitals, for people who work in the hospitals such as nurses, doctors, and whoever who work there. Because the experience shows us, that one of the most important problems that we have lived during the last pandemic was the insufficient tools resources and materials for people who work in hospitals and who are in charge of saving lives.
3. In your opinion, do you think doing these things would actually prepare us for the next pandemic?
The whole of these things are absolutely good ways to prepare us for the next pandemic in different areas such as economic, health and social, but for me, the problem is focused on the difficulty to prevent how will be the aspects, the terms, and the variants of the new hypothetic pandemics.
4. Are you physically, mentally, and financially prepared for future pandemics? How so?
I think we are more prepared than three years ago when the last pandemic hasn’t come out yet. This is evidence that governments in the main countries have worked in different aspects to be able to more prepare physically, mentally, and financially for future pandemics. But, I think it’s not enough in case we would face to pandemic again. I think we should carry on working and training in all of those aspects, and invest money and technology for the present and future.
5. How does your national government prepare for pandemics?
I will be totally sincere about that, I don’t know exactly how are the policies and actions that the national government of Spain has been doing nowadays because neither government say publicly to the population, but as I said before I think that the previous experience acquired through the last pandemic have been enough for the Spanish Government to be aware of dangers and treats of the hypothetic new pandemic and all of these things are enough to have the government with the “five senses” in connection and working in new methods and preventions for possible breakouts or new pandemics.
Good going with your writing practice.
See how this sentence can be revised:
Happy writing!
Vocabulary Questions:
1. What does “inevitable” mean? Use this word in a sentence.
Certain to happen or unable to be avoided or prevented. Sure to happen, impossible to avoid or evade.
Example: Eventually the inevitable happened and he had a heart attack
2. Based on the context of the sentence, “This necessitates the participation of the private sector alongside governments, given its role in vaccine research, production, and distribution,” what does the underlined word mean?
In that context the necessitates word means require, I mean that “governments require, necessitates, the participation of the private sector”
3. Explain the meaning of the word “emerge” in your own words. Use it in a sentence.
The meaning of the word “emerge” could be: “to appear by coming out of something or out from behind something
Example: She emerged triumphant from the court after all the charges against her were dropped because of a lack of evidence.