Video exercise. TEDxSMU “Why COVID-19 is hitting us now - and how to prepare for the next outbreak”

Watch the video and answer the questions below. Some are multiple-choice and others are open questions for which you need to write an answer. Do your answers on paper.

Questions

1. Which of the following does the speaker currently do?

A. She is a doctor.

B. She studies contagious diseases on a local level.

C. She is writing a book about global health threats.

D. She studies the effects of epidemics.

2. How do coronaviruses attack cells?

3. What is a zoonotic virus?

4. Which of the following sentences is false?

A. Global warming will encourage viruses and bacteria to spread.

B. Cats are one of animals most prone to infecting people.

C. People living near previously remote animal populations will encourage diseases to spread.

D. There will be be more future epidemics because of how people manage the environment.

5. According to the speaker, what is the main medical reason that people have not contained the outbreak?

6. What is the best way for us to make disease outbreaks less serious?

A. Stop people from travelling as much as possible.

B. Establish a more effective quarantine system.

C. Improve medical care all over the world so these diseases can be stopped at source.

D. All of the above.

7. What is the main disadvantage of “just-in-time-ordering” of health supplies?

A. Not enough stock is built up for use in times of crisis.

B. You have to order it plenty of time in advance because it usually comes from China.

C. They should be domestically produced for strategic questions of national security.

8. Which of the following statements does not accurately reflect the speaker’s advice?

A. Consider stopping yourself from using certain mobile apps when outside your home.

B. Keep your hands and your mobile phone constantly as clean as possible.

C. Face masks are poor for your personal hygiene unless you are infected with coronavirus or work in the health sector.

D. Some drastic options (panic, authoritarianism etc.) can actually be helpful in preparing us for a pandemic because they stem from fear, which has evolved in order to protect us.