APIEVocabulary & Pronunciation: Antibiotics and Public Health
Antibiotics and public health
Answers and an explanation for each question appear once you add this activity to your own library.
Antibiotics and Public Health
Learn 10 useful words for talking about illness, treatment and drug resistance. Read the table, do the exercises and finish by recording your voice.
📋 How to use this lesson
🧑🏫 For the teacher:
Review the word table together for 5 minutes, then give learners 10 minutes for the 16 practice tasks.
Check answers as a class and spend the last 5 minutes listening to and grading student recordings.
🎓 For the learner:
Read the word table and study the simple memory tips before trying any exercises.
Complete the 16 practice questions, then listen to the audio and record your voice in the final section.
Word table: Infection and treatment
Learn the core words doctors and patients use during hospital visits.
| Word | Meaning | Common collocations | Word forms | Example sentence | Memory tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bacteria (plural noun) | Tiny living things that can cause illness. | kill bacteria, harmful bacteria | bacterial (adj) | Antibiotics only kill bacteria, not viruses. | 💡 Picture tiny attacking bugs back-to-back. |
| infection (noun) | A sickness caused by germs entering the body. | fight an infection, chest infection | infect (v), infectious (adj) | Clean the cut carefully to stop an infection. | 💡 Think of germs moving IN to cause an in-fection. |
| dose (noun) | The exact amount of medicine you take at one time. | full dose, daily dose, miss a dose | – | Take one dose in the morning and one at night. | 💡 Sounds like "close" — keep a close eye on the right amount. |
| prescribe (verb) | When a doctor writes an official order for medicine. | prescribe antibiotics, prescribe medicine | prescription (n) | The doctor decided to prescribe penicillin for her throat. | 💡 Scribe means write: the doctor writes it down. |
Word table: Resistance
Learn words used to describe how germs change and survive modern drugs.
| Word | Meaning | Common collocations | Word forms | Example sentence | Memory tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| resistant (adjective) | Not harmed or killed by a drug or chemical. | drug-resistant, resistant to treatment | resist (v), resistance (n) | Some germs are now resistant to our strongest pills. | 💡 Picture a germ wearing a shield that resists attacks. |
| mutation (noun) | A permanent change in the genes of a living thing. | genetic mutation, rapid mutation | mutate (v) | A random mutation helped the bug survive the antibiotic. | 💡 Mute means change: like a TV channel changing suddenly. |
| survive (verb) | To stay alive through an illness or tough situation. | survive the illness, survive treatment | survival (n), survivor (n) | Most patients survive the infection with quick care. | 💡 Vive means life: to keep living through danger. |
Word table: Public health
Learn words used by health officials to protect whole communities.
| Word | Meaning | Common collocations | Word forms | Example sentence | Memory tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| outbreak (noun) | A sudden start of a disease that spreads quickly. | stop the outbreak, disease outbreak | – | Health teams worked day and night to contain the outbreak. | 💡 Disease breaks out into the open community. |
| hygiene (noun) | Keeping yourself and your surroundings clean to stay healthy. | good hygiene, poor hygiene, hand hygiene | hygienic (adj) | Basic hand hygiene is the easiest way to stay safe. | 💡 Say "Hi-Jean": imagine Jean washing her hands with soap! |
| contagious (adjective) | Easily passed from one person to another person. | highly contagious, contagious disease | – | Stay home from school because your cold is contagious. | 💡 Contact: germs spread when people come into contact. |
Practice
Complete the 16 tasks below from easy to hard. Every target word appears at least twice.
A Match the verb to the noun
Choose the verb that naturally goes with each noun phrase.
1. Which verb matches with: the right medicine?
2. Which verb matches with: the urge to stop early?
3. Which verb matches with: a serious operation?
4. Which verb matches with: other patients?
B Fill the gap with the word bank
Choose the correct word from the bank to complete each clinic conversation.
5. Clinic conversation: staying home
Doctor: “Please stay home from work while you have a fever. This throat infection is highly ____ and can pass quickly to your coworkers.”
6. Clinic conversation: lab results
Nurse: “The laboratory blood tests confirmed that your infection was caused by harmful ____ in your bloodstream, so an antibiotic will help.”
7. Clinic conversation: washing hands
Doctor: “Practicing good hand ____ with warm water and soap is the easiest way to prevent family members from getting sick.”
8. Clinic conversation: community notice
Health officer: “The local hospital sent emergency teams to help stop the sudden ____ of stomach flu in the primary school.”
C Choose the word
All three words are real English words, but only one matches the meaning of the sentence.
9. The pharmacist told me never to miss a ________ because the medicine must stay at a steady level in the blood.
10. Medical guidelines say doctors must not ________ a heavy dose of antibiotics for everyday viral colds.
11. This hospital strain of bacteria has become completely ________ to common penicillin treatments.
12. Researchers discovered that a tiny genetic ________ helped the microbe block the chemical completely.
D Word formation
Change the word in brackets into the correct form from the word list.
13. Noun needed:
You will need an official doctor’s ____ before the chemist can give you this medication. (PRESCRIBE)
14. Noun needed:
Overusing pills leads to antibiotic ____ and makes standard cures ineffective. (RESISTANT)
15. Adjective needed:
Frequent hand washing ensures that the hospital room stays completely clean and ____ for new arrivals. (HYGIENE)
16. Noun needed:
Receiving medical care within forty-eight hours significantly increases a patient’s chances of ____. (SURVIVE)
Shadowing
Listen to each clip by clicking the speaker, then record your voice in the box below it. Focus on natural rhythm and clear pronunciation.
🗣️ 1. Collocations
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
____💬 2. Natural everyday sentences
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
____[Bài tập luyện nói]
____🎯 3. Target single words
Tip: Stress the second syllable: bak-TEER-ee-uh.
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Tip: Say two parts clearly: HIGH-jeen.
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Related lessons
Grammar: Time Clauses and Sequence
Antibiotics and public health
Grammar · 12 min
IELTS Reading: Antibiotics and Public Health
Antibiotics and public health
Reading · 18 min
IELTS Speaking: Antibiotics and Public Health
Antibiotics and public health
Speaking · 30 min
Writing Task 1: Antibiotic Resistance
Antibiotics and public health
Writing · 40 min
Vocabulary: Technology and Privacy
Technology
Vocabulary · 12 min
Vocabulary: TV and Streaming Discussions
Technology
Vocabulary · 12 min