Changes in Air Reading Answers
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Changes in Air Reading Answers is an academic topic in the IELTS Reading section. This has been taken from the book: Cambridge IELTS 3. The IELTS reading section helps candidates increase their reading skills with the help of passages. Candidates need to read the passage and then answer the questions. There are 14 questions in this topic: Changes in Air Reading Answers. The IELTS reading questions are divided into two sections: no more than three words, choose the appropriate option, and yes/no/not given. There are more topics like In search of the Changes in Air Reading Answers available online. Candidates can practice from IELTS Reading practice papers to help them excel in the IE:LTS exam.
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Section 1
Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions
Changes in Air Reading Answers
- A federal ban on ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), to conform with the Clean Air Act, is, ironically, affecting 22.9 million people in the U.S. who suffer from asthma. Generic inhaled albuterol, which is the most commonly prescribed short-acting asthma medication and requires CFCs to propel it into the lungs, will no longer be legally sold after December 31, Physicians and patients are questioning the wisdom of the ban, which will have an insignificant effect on ozone but a measurable impact on wallets: the reformulated brand-name alternatives can be three times as expensive, raising the cost to about $40 per inhaler. The issue is even more disconcerting considering that asthma disproportionately affects the poor and that, according to recent surveys, an estimated 20 percent of asthma patients are uninsured.
- “The decision to make the change was political, not medical or scientific,” says pharmacist Leslie Hendeles of the University of Florida, who co-authored a 2007 paper in the New England Journal of Medicine explaining the withdrawal and transition. In 1987 Congress signed on to the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, an international treaty requiring the phasing out of all nonessential uses of CFCs. At that time, medical inhalers were considered an essential use because no viable alternative propellant existed. In 1989 pharmaceutical companies banded together and eventually, in 1996, reformulated albuterol with hydrofluoroalkane.
- The transition began quietly, but as more patients see their prescriptions change and costs go up, many question why this ban must begin before generics become available. At least one member of the FDA advisory committee, Nicholas J. Gross of the Stritch-Loyola School of Medicine, has publicly regretted the decision, recanting his support and requesting that the ban be pushed back until 2010, when the first patent expfres.
- Gross notes that the decision had nothing to do with the envfronment. Albuterol inhalers contributed less than 0.1 percent of the CFCs released when the treaty was signed. “It’s a symbolic issue,” Gross remarks. Some skeptics instead point to the billions of dollars to be gained by the three companies holding the patents on the available HFA-albuterol inhalers, namely Glaxo-SmithKline, Schering-Plough and Teva. Although the FDA advisory committee recognized that the expenses would go up, Hendeles says, it also believed that the companies would help defray the added costs for individuals. Firms, for instance, had committed to donating a million HFA inhalers to clinics around the country. According to Hendeles, GlaxoSmithKline did not follow through, although Schering-Plough and Teva did. GlaxoSmithKline did not respond to requests for comment.
- The issue now, Hendeles says, is that pharmaceutical-grade CFCs are in short supply, and the public faces the risk of a shortage of albuterol inhalers if the FDA does not continue promoting the production of HFA inhalers. He posits that even costs of generics would go up as CFCs become scarcer. Gross disagrees, saying that the inhaler shortage and the closure of CFC manufacturing plants are a result of the ban.
- The HFA inhalers also have encountered resistance because some asthmatics insist that they do not work as well as the CFC variety. But, Hendeles says, the differences are in the mechanics and maintenance—unlike CFC inhalers, the HFA versions must be primed more diligently and rinsed to accommodate the stickier HFA formulation. They also run out suddenly without the warning with a CFC inhaler, that the device is running low. “Pharmacists may not tell people of these things, and the doctors don’t know,” Hendeles says.
- The main public health issue in this decision may be the side effects of the economics, not the drug chemistry. Multiple studies have shown that raising costs leads to poorer adherence to treatment. One study discovered that patients took 30 percent less antiasthma medication when thefr co-pay doubled. In the case of a chronic disease such as asthma, it is particularly difficult to get people to follow regular treatment plans. “Generally speaking, for any reason you don’t take medication, cost makes it more likely” that you do not, comments Michael Chemew, a health policy expert at Harvard Medical School.
- Such choices to forgo medication could affect more than just the patients themselves. “For example,” Hendeles points out, “in a pregnant mother with untreated asthma, less oxygen is delivered to the fetus, which can lead to congenital problems and premature birth.” And considering that the disease disproportionately strike s the poor, what seemed to be a good, responsible environmental decision might in the end exact an unexpected human toll.
Section 2
Solution and Explanation
Read the Passage to Answer the Following Questions
Questions 1-5:
Use the information in the passage to match the people (listed A-C) with opinions or deeds below. Write the appropriate letters A-C in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
NB you may use any letter more than once
- Nicolas J Gross
- Michael Chernew
- Leslie Hendeles
- Put forward that the increase in the price of drugs would contribute to the patients’ negative decision on the treatment.
Answer: B
Supporting Sentence: “Generally speaking, for any reason you don’t take medication, cost makes it more likely” that you do not, comments Michael Chemew, a health policy expert at Harvard Medical School.
Keywords: cost, Michael Chemew
Keyword Location: Paragraph G, lines 5-7
Explanation: Cost is a significant factor that makes it more likely for individuals not to take medication. According to Michael Chemew, a health policy expert at Harvard Medical School.
- Spoke out a secret that the druggists try to hold back.
Answer: C
Supporting Sentence: “The decision to make the change was political, not medical or scientific,” says pharmacist Leslie Hendeles of the University of Florida, who co-authored a 2007 paper in the New England Journal of Medicine explaining the withdrawal and transition.
Keywords: political, medical, scientific
Keyword Location: Paragraph B, lines 1-3
Explanation: According to Leslie Hendeles, a pharmacist from the University of Florida and co-author of a 2007 paper in the New England Journal of Medicine. The decision to make the change was based on politics rather than medical or scientific considerations.
- Pointed out that the protocol itself is not concerning the environment.
Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: Gross notes that the decision had nothing to do with the environment. Albuterol inhalers contributed less than 0.1 percent of the CFCs released when the treaty was signed. “It’s a symbolic issue,” Gross remarks.
Keywords: environment, Albuterol
Keyword Location: Paragraph D, lines 1-3
Explanation: According to Gross, the decision to phase out the use of CFCs in albuterol inhalers was not based on environmental concerns. The inhalers accounted for a very small percentage (less than 0.1%) of CFC emissions at the time the treaty was signed. Gross stated that it was more of a symbolic issue.
- Demonstrated that the stop of providing alternatives for CFCs would worsen rather than help with the situation.
Answer: C
Supporting Sentence: The HFA inhalers also have encountered resistance because some asthmatics insist that they do not work as well as the CFC variety.
Keywords: HFA inhalers, CFC
Keyword Location: Paragraph F, lines 1-2
Explanation: Some asthmatics claim that HFA inhalers are not as effective as CFC inhalers, leading to resistance towards using them.
- In public repented of his previous backing up of the prohibition proposal.
Answer: A
Supporting Sentence: Nicholas J. Gross of the Stritch-Loyola School of Medicine, has publicly regretted the decision, recanting his support and requesting that the ban be pushed back until 2010, when the first patent expfres.
Keywords: Gross, regretted
Keyword Location: Paragraph C lines 3-5
Explanation: Dr. Nicholas J. Gross from the Stritch-Loyola School of Medicine has expressed regret for his earlier support of the ban. And has called for a delay until 2010, when the first patent expires.
Questions 6-9:
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 6-9 on your answer sheet,
Choose TRUE if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage
Choose FALSE if the statement contradicts the information, or
Choose NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
- It took almost a decade before the replacement drug for the asthma therapy was ultimately developed by the joint effort of several drug companies.
Answer: TRUE
Supporting Sentence: Generic inhaled albuterol, which is the most commonly prescribed short-acting asthma medication and requires CFCs to propel it into the lungs, will no longer be legally sold after December 31, 2008.
Keywords: albuterol, short-acting, CFCs
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, lines 2-5
Explanation: After December 31, 2008, the sale of generic albuterol, a commonly prescribed short-acting asthma medication was not permitted. Since, it uses CFCs as a propellant.
- One of the FDA committee members had a decisive impact on the implementation of the ban on chlorofluorocarbons.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Explanation: No relevant information has been provided in teh reading passage associated with the question.
- as a matter of fact, the emitted chlorofluorocarbons in asthma treatment took up quite an insignificant amount at the time when the pact was reached.
Answer: TRUE
Supporting Sentence: One study discovered that patients took 30 percent less antiasthma medication when there co-pay doubled. In the case of a chronic disease such as asthma, it is particularly difficult to get people to follow regular treatment plans.
Keywords: 30 percent, antiasthma medication
Keyword Location: Paragraph G, lines 3-5
Explanation: A study found that when the co-pay for medication doubled, patients with asthma reduced their medication usage by 30%. It can be challenging to get individuals with chronic diseases like asthma to consistently follow treatment plans.
- The HFA and CFC inhalers have something different regarding the therapeutic effect.
Answer: FALSE
Supporting Sentence: The HFA inhalers also have encountered resistance because some asthmatics insist that they do not work as well as the CFC variety.
Keywords: HFA inhalers, CFC
Keyword Location: Paragraph F, lines 1-2
Explanation: Some asthmatics claim that HFA inhalers are not as effective as CFC inhalers, leading to resistance towards using them.
Questions 10-14:
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using No More than Three words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 10-14 on your answer sheet.
American people with asthma would be impacted by 10 _______ about chlorofluorocarbons which would consume the ozone layer. The usually used 11_______ would be considered illegal because it needs the propelment of 12 _____. The 13 _______ would cost the patients considerably more money. Impoverished people are far more likely to suffer from asthma and what makes it even worse is that some of them are in 14 _________ condition.
Question 10:
Answer: a federal ban
Supporting Sentence: A federal ban on ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), to conform with the Clean Air Act, is, ironically, affecting 22.9 million people in the U.S. who suffer from asthma.
Keywords: federal ban, ozone-depleting
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, lines 1-2
Explanation: Interestingly, the federal ban on ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which is in line with the Clean Air Act. It has an impact on 22.9 million people suffering from asthma in the United States.
Question 11:
Answer: Generic Inhaled albuterol
Supporting Sentence: Generic inhaled albuterol, which is the most commonly prescribed short-acting asthma medication and requires CFCs to propel it into the lungs, will no longer be legally sold after December 31, 2008.
Keywords: albuterol, short-acting, CFCs
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, lines 2-5
Explanation: After December 31, 2008, the sale of generic albuterol, a commonly prescribed short-acting asthma medication was not permitted. Since, it uses CFCs as a propellant.
Question 12:
Answer: CFCS/ Chlorofluorocarbons
Supporting Sentence: Generic inhaled albuterol, which is the most commonly prescribed short-acting asthma medication and requires CFCs to propel it into the lungs, will no longer be legally sold after December 31, 2008.
Keywords: albuterol, short-acting, CFCs
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, lines 2-5
Explanation: After December 31, 2008, the sale of generic albuterol, a commonly prescribed short-acting asthma medication was not permitted. Since, it uses CFCs as a propellant.
Question 13:
Answer: Reformulated brand-name alternatives
Supporting Sentence: Physicians and patients are questioning the wisdom of the ban, which will have an insignificant effect on ozone but a measurable impact on wallets: the reformulated brand-name alternatives can be three times as expensive, raising the cost to about $40 per inhaler.
Keywords: Physicians, reformulated brand-name
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, lines 5-7
Explanation: The ban on CFCs is being questioned by both physicians and patients, as it will have a minimal impact on ozone but a significant financial impact. The new brand-name alternatives, which are formulated differently. Further, can cost three times more than the original, leading to an increase in cost to around $40 per inhaler.
Question 14:
Answer: Uninsured
Supporting Sentence: The issue is even more disconcerting considering that asthma disproportionately affects the poor and that, according to recent surveys, an estimated 20 percent of asthma patients are uninsured.
Keywords: uninsured, asthma patients
Keyword Location: Paragraph A, lines 8-11
Explanation: This is particularly concerning as asthma disproportionately affects individuals who are financially disadvantaged. And as per recent surveys, 20% of asthma patients do not have insurance covers.
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