I contain multitudes: reading answers and analysis
Wendy Moore reviews Ed Yong's book on microbes. We carry more microbial cells than human ones, 'bad' microbes are just microbes in the wrong place, and only a few species cause disease. Obsessive hygiene, antibiotics and poor diets upset the balance, and the future may use microbes against dengue fever or build them into hospital walls.
Questions 14-26 · 13 marks · 3 question blocks
Where the answers sit
The multiple choice (14-16) covers the first, second and fifth paragraphs. The summary (17-20) covers the sixth and seventh. YES / NO / NOT GIVEN (21-26) covers the last two paragraphs.
Questions 14-16
The first paragraph says microbes were here before animal life and 'will outlive us'. The second is impressed by 39 trillion microbial cells against 30 trillion human ones. The fifth tells how van Leeuwenhoek first saw them, which is how a discovery was made.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | D | — |
| 15 | C | — |
| 16 | A | — |
Questions 17-20
Fewer than a hundred species bring disease (illness), and the relationship is symbiotic (partnership). The growing problem is low-fibre diets (poor nutrition) and our obsession with hygiene (cleanliness).
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | G | — |
| 18 | B | — |
| 19 | H | — |
| 20 | E | — |
Questions 21-26
Antibacterial products can kill the helpful microbes (YES), and exposing children to a dog's bacteria may help them (NO to 'as few as possible'). The squid study is among the 'less appealing' cases (YES). Microbe-coated walls are only imagined for the future (NO). Whether the book has too many case studies, or how well dengue control has gone, is never judged.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | YES | — |
| 22 | NO | — |
| 23 | NOT GIVEN | — |
| 24 | YES | — |
| 25 | NOT GIVEN | — |
| 26 | NO | — |
The questions most people get wrong
NOT GIVEN. Mosquitoes are being loaded with a bacterium to block dengue, but the review never says how successful this has been.
NO. Buildings with useful microbes in their walls are described as something we 'could' do in the future.
H (nutrition). 'Unhealthy, low-fibre diets' becomes 'poor nutrition'. 'Cleanliness' goes in the last gap, for hygiene.
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Cambridge IELTS 16, Test 2, Reading Passage 2. The passage name belongs to Cambridge University Press. No passage text or question wording is reproduced on this page. The answers are published for self-marking, and the analysis is our own.