B2IELTS-style · Band 5.5–6.5Reading18 min

IELTS Reading: Malaria and Mosquito Control

Malaria and mosquito control

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IELTS Academic Reading • B2 Level • 18 Mins

🦟 Malaria and Mosquito Control

An interactive reading module about what the World Health Organization says on how malaria spreads, the 2024 estimates and the main ways to prevent it.

📋 How to use this lesson

👩‍🏫 Teacher Instruction

Use this activity for an 18-minute focused reading task in class.
Have students work through the text and verify their answers using the detailed evidence key provided for each question.

🧑‍🎓 Student Instruction

Read paragraphs A–D thoroughly before attempting to answer any of the questions.
Pay particular attention to the writer's cautious tone and hedged expressions in paragraph D.

CAMBRIDGE IELTS STYLE PASSAGE

Malaria and How the World Fights It

Paragraphs A – D

Paragraph A

The World Health Organization, or WHO, says that a parasite causes malaria and that the disease mostly spreads to people through the bites of some infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that Anopheles mosquitoes pass malaria from one person to another. WHO says that malaria does not spread from person to person.

Paragraph B

WHO says that there were an estimated 282 million cases of malaria and 610,000 deaths in 80 countries in 2024. It says that the WHO African Region had 95 percent of the cases and 95 percent of the deaths. So the disease is not spread evenly: almost all of the cases and deaths are in one part of the world.

Paragraph C

WHO says that the two core tools against malaria are nets that carry insecticide and spraying of insecticide inside houses. It also says that it has recommended a malaria vaccine for children since October 2021, in places where the disease spreads at a moderate or high level, and that it recommended a second vaccine in October 2023.

Paragraph D

I think the figures show where the disease does the most harm, but they are estimates, so I would not treat each number as exact. It seems that WHO lists nets, spraying and vaccines side by side, so these pages do not say which tool should get the most money.

Scientific diagram showing female Anopheles mosquito vector and protective bed nets in clean clinical style with bold li

Figure 1: How malaria spreads and how people fight it.

💡 Pattern Demonstration

"As far as villages are concerned, a net over the bed can save a life."

This phrase turns to one group of people before giving the main point.

📝 IELTS Practice Questions (1–10)

Questions 1–3: Yes / No / Not Given

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
Choose YES if the statement agrees, NO if the statement contradicts, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

1. Malaria spreads directly from one infected human to another person.

____ Yes ____ No ____ Not Given

2. The vast majority of malaria cases and deaths in 2024 occurred in the WHO African Region.

____ Yes ____ No ____ Not Given

3. The malaria vaccine recommended in October 2023 offers higher protection than the one recommended in October 2021.

____ Yes ____ No ____ Not Given

Questions 4–5: Multiple Choice

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

4. What is the writer's attitude towards the 2024 malaria statistics presented by WHO?

____ a. They represent exact statistical counts gathered from every medical center. ____ b. They exaggerate the true severity of malaria cases across the African region. ____ c. They give a rough picture, so no single number should be treated as exact. ____ d. They prove that preventive vaccines have failed to reach 80 countries.

5. According to Paragraph C and D, how does WHO represent the primary tools for controlling malaria?

____ a. As competing methods where one tool should receive all the main funding. ____ b. As equal options without stating which should receive priority funding. ____ c. As outdated measures that must soon be replaced entirely by new vaccines. ____ d. As tools that are only effective when used simultaneously in moderate regions.