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0Fun Facts about the Flu Virus | 短故事＋5个词＋be caused by 来表达“由……引起”＋小练习
Listening Text
P1: Every year, many people catch an illness called the flu. You might have had it before: a high temperature, a sore throat, a bad cough, and a tired body. The flu is caused by a tiny virus called influenza. It is so small that we can only see it with a strong microscope, but this tiny virus can make whole cities feel sick. For many people, the flu is just a bad cold. They stay in bed for a few days, drink hot tea, and then feel better. But for some people, the flu is much more serious. It can damage the lungs and lead to pneumonia. Each year, tens of thousands of people in one country, like the United States, die from the flu, and many more die around the world. The flu is dangerous because it is hard to cure.
P2: Scientists have discovered thousands of different flu viruses. To make their work easier, they put them into groups. For humans, three common groups are called type A, type B, and type C. Type A spreads the fastest. It can move not only from person to person but also from some animals to humans. When a flu virus starts in birds, people often call it bird flu. When it starts in pigs, they call it swine flu. If these viruses change in a certain way, they can travel quickly through human populations.
P3: History gives us some scary examples. A very strong type A flu, later called the Spanish flu, spread across many countries. It made a large part of the world’s people sick and killed millions of them. Scientists think that the virus probably came from birds. In 2009, a new kind of swine flu appeared and spread to many countries in just a few months. Today, scientists are still keeping a very close eye on the flu virus. They collect samples from people and animals and look for new changes in the virus. Every year, they try to make better flu vaccines and medicines. Their goal is simple: to help more people stay healthy when flu season comes.
Words
- virus: a very, very small thing that can make people sick.
- flu: an illness that can give you a high temperature, a sore throat, a bad cough, and a tired body.
- pneumonia: a serious illness of the lungs.
- spread: to move and go to more and more places or people.
- vaccine: medicine that helps your body fight a virus or a disease.
Practice
Q1: Which sentence is correct?
A) The flu causes by a virus.
B) The flu is caused by a virus.
C) The flu is cause by a virus.
Q2: Pneumonia can be ______ by the flu.
Q3: Make one sentence with “be caused by”. Think of a problem, and say what it is caused by.
