Form 1 Lesson 2 -Reading Comprehension (SUBMISSION NOT

REQUIRED)
Name/Group Name: _________________________

Topic: History of Viral Diseases (VIRUSES)_

Fill in the first two columns of the table BEFORE READING THE PASSAGE.
Fill in the third column WHILE READING THE PASSAGE.
Fill in the last two columns AFTER READING THE PASSAGE.

BEFORE DURING AFTER

READING READING READING
What I What I What I How I will What
think I WANT to LEARNED USE what MORE I
KNOW know I learned need to
learn
Brainstorm What do What did you
everything you think learn that you
you know you will found
about The learn about especially
History of this topic interesting or
Viral from the you didn’t
Diseases text you know before?
will be
reading?

1
 Way Back When

The recorded history of viral diseases goes back to before anyone knew
what a virus was. Early writings called hieroglyphs show that Ancient
Egyptians knew about polio. The Persian scholar Rhazes also wrote the
first descriptions of smallpox and measles—in the tenth century!

But no one knew what was causing all these illnesses until the end of the
nineteenth century. In 1884, French microbiologist Charles
Chamberland invented a porcelain filter with pores small enough to catch
bacteria. Eight years later, Russian biologist Dimitri Ivanovsky used this
filter to experiment on tobacco leaves infected with a
mysterious disease. He used the filter to remove all of
the bacteria from the infected leaves. But when he
exposed other plants to the bacteria-free leaves, they
still got sick! Ivanovsky reasoned that something
smaller than bacteria must have been causing the
condition.

That “something” was what we now refer to as a virus. The term was
coined by Dutch microbiologist Martinus Beijerinck. He conducted
experiments similar to Ivanovsky’s in 1898. As a result, Ivanovsky and
Beijerinck are often considered joint discoverers of viruses.

It wasn’t until the invention of powerful electron microscopes in 1931

that scientists were able to get an up-close look at an actual virus. Instead
of using visible light, these microscopes illuminate objects using beams
of electrons—negatively charged particles that make up atoms. The
devices can magnify objects so that they appear millions of times larger!

2
Viruses were finally revealed in all their glory. Those first images were like
a glimpse into an alien world. Before then, scientists had no idea how
viruses invade cells—and that knowledge has proven crucial to stopping
their spread.

Quick tip:

• Google and listen to the pronunciation of the words you have never
seen before. Repeat the word aloud three times.
• Look up their meaning.