Changing our Understanding of Health: reading answers and analysis
Western ideas of health moved from a purely medical 'absence of disease', to the WHO's holistic definition in 1946, to the 1970s focus on individual lifestyles (which helped mainly the wealthy), and then to the socio-ecological view, where social, economic and environmental conditions all shape health. The 1986 Ottawa Charter still guides health promotion.
Questions 14-27 · 14 marks · 3 question blocks
Where the answers sit
The headings (14-18) take one paragraph each, B to F. The short answers (19-22) jump between C, D and E. YES / NO / NOT GIVEN (23-27) runs from B to F.
Questions 14-18
Each paragraph is one era or idea: B is health defined in medical terms, C the holistic WHO view, D the healthy-lifestyles approach, E the socio-ecological view, and F the Ottawa Charter. The conference heading is a trap for E, whose topic is the view the conference endorsed.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | viii | — |
| 15 | ii | — |
| 16 | iv | — |
| 17 | ix | — |
| 18 | vii | — |
Questions 19-22
Scan for dates and groups: the WHO definition's year, who benefited from the lifestyle approach, the three contexts in the socio-ecological view, and the decade that focused on lifestyle risks. The key accepts shorter and fuller forms.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | 1946 | — |
| 20 | the wealthy | wealthy / wealthy members / the wealthy members / wealthy members of society / the wealthy members of society |
| 21 | social, economic, environmental | social economic environmental / social, economic and environmental / social economic and environmental |
| 22 | 1970s | the 1970s |
Questions 23-27
Health programmes were part of the 1970s approach (YES). The socio-ecological view says health is much more than lifestyle and medical care (NO), and the Charter is still the 'backbone' of health action (NO). Doctors' role in living standards and new countries signing the Charter are never mentioned.
| Question | Answer | Also accepted |
|---|---|---|
| 23 | NOT GIVEN | — |
| 24 | YES | — |
| 25 | NO | — |
| 26 | NO | — |
| 27 | NOT GIVEN | — |
The questions most people get wrong
NO. The socio-ecological view says creating health is 'about much more than' lifestyles and medical care, so they aren't the critical factors.
1970s. The 1980s and 1990s saw a swing away from lifestyle risks, which were the focus of the decade before.
ix. E describes and names the socio-ecological view. The Ottawa conference is mentioned there as an endorsement, and heading i is a trap.
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Cambridge IELTS 2, Test 1, 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.