Questions 6--10
Most sore throats are caused by an infection which treatment with antibioticscannot cure. But with simple remedies the patient normally gets better in 4 or 5 days.Sore throats are common. Most of the time the soreness is worse in the morningand improves as the day progresses.
Like colds, the vast majority of sore throats are caused by viral infections. Thismeans most sore throats will NOT respond to antibiotics. Many people have a mildsore throat at the beginning of every cold. When the nose or sinuses become infected,drainage can run down the back of the throat and irritate it, especially at night. Or, thethroat itself can be infected.
With a sore throat, sometimes the tonsils or surrounding parts of the throat areinflamed. Either way, removing the tonsils to try to prevent future sore throats is notrecommended for most children.
Tonsillitis, however, usually starts with a sore throat which causes pain onswallowing. With children—and some adults—there may be a fever and the patient isobviously not feeling well. It may be possible to see white spots on the back of thethroat. The neck may also swell, both of which are the normal response to infection.Sometimes a sore throat may occur with the common cold, and with influenzathere may be dryness of the throat, pain on coughing and loss of voice.
TREATMENT:
Asp irin: To help relieve the pain on swallowing and (if there is one) the fever. Useaspirin tablets dissolved in water so that the patient can gargle before swallowing.Repeat the treatment every 4 hours.
Drink: Encourage the patient to drink plenty.
Food: Food should not be forced on a patient who does not want to eat.
Steam: If there is pain in the throat on coughing, breathing in steam may help.
CHILDREN:
Young children, who may not be able to gargle, should be given aspirin dissolvedin water every 4 hours in the right dose for their age.
At one year: A single junior aspirin.
At five years: Half an adult aspirin.
At eight years: One whole adult aspirin.
WHEN TO SEE THE DOCTOR:
If the sore throat it still getting worse after 2 days.
If the patient complains of earache.
It the patient s fever increases.
If the patient or parent is very worried.
6. According to the passage, it would appear that most sore throats _____.
(A) require an immediate visit to a doctor
(B) respond quickly to treatment with an antibiotic
(C) rarely turn out to be serious illnesses
(D) result in tonsillitis even when treated
7. One of the signs of tonsillitis can often be _____.
(A) difficulty in swallowing food and liquid
(B) pain in the chest when the patient coughs
(C) white spots appearing on the neck
(D) earache during the first four or five days
8. In order to treat a sore throat one should _____.
(A) prevent the patient from eating too much
(B) give the patient up to 4 aspirin tablets every hour
(C) make sure the patient takes in plenty of liquid
(D) make the patient gargle with soft drink
9. You should call the doctor in if _____.
(A) the infection spreads to another member of the family
(B) swelling occurs in the region of the ears
(C) the patient s voice is lost after two days
(D) the patient s condition continues to worsen
10. As used in the passage, the word “gargle” means _____.
(A) to wash one s mouth and throat with a liquid in motion by breathing through it
(B) to eat something with a continuous and often audible action of one sjaws
(C) to bite and work in the mouth with one s teeth, especially to make it easier toswallow something
(D) to cause or allow something, especially food or drink, to pass down one s sore throat