Question

The author characterizes the relationship between
cowpox and smallpox as one that:
A. represents the reliance of medical researchers on
common traditions and myths.
B. led to a new understanding of viruses and a
breakthrough in vaccination research.
C. demonstrates the danger of how viruses can evolve
and render vaccines ineffective.
D. is neither important to historians nor relevant to
modern medical practices.

Answer 1

In 2010, the world celebrated the 30th anniversary
of smallpox eradication. Named for its telltale red
spots, this virus was passed mainly through respiration;
as an infected person coughed, sneezed, or talked, he
5 or she transmitted the illness to others in the vicinity.
When introduced to those with no immunity, smallpox
could decimate entire populations and leave survivors’
bodies marked with deep, pitted scars.
It took mankind more than a millennium to rid the
10 world of this ailment. In that time, smallpox played a
crucial role in human history. In particular, the virus
had a large effect on European colonialism, as it was
spread from explorers to native populations, such as
the Aztecs, Incas, and Aborigines. It is even surmised
15 that, due to the pockmarks on his mummy, King
Ramesses V of Egypt may have died of this illness in
1142 B.C. Even before there existed an established
scientific method, people around the world noticed that
those who survived this illness, while often marked by
20 vicious scars, never caught it again. In 430 B.C.,
Athenian historian Thucydides wrote of an outbreak in
Greece: “The sick and the dying were tended by the
pitying care of those who had recovered, because they
knew the course of the disease and were themselves
25 free from apprehensions. For no one was ever attacked
a second time, or not with a fatal result.” This
observation led to centuries of experimentation, with
one main goal: to induce a less dangerous form of
smallpox in order to induce immunity.
30 Early attempts to immunize were risky, as the
virus samples used were often at full strength. In
ancient China, physicians used a method called
insufflation; a powder made from the scabs of healing
smallpox was inhaled by healthy people. In India,
35 healthy people wore the clothes of infected persons in
order to “protect themselves.” In 17th century Europe,
it was common practice for parents to purposefully
expose their children to smallpox; sometimes, they
would require healthy boys and girls to sleep next to an
40 infected person. Also, children would be sent to “buy
the smallpox,” a practice of visiting the home of a
recovering patient to purchase crusts of bread, in the
hope that the children would contract a mild case of the
illness. Unfortunately, these methods could lead to full
45 infections, which were often fatal.
In the early 1700s, when smallpox was the leading
cause of death in Europe, there were finally significant
breakthroughs in smallpox prevention. People found
that subcutaneous inoculation, achieved by inserting a
50 needle with viral material into a healthy patient’s vein,
was even less likely to cause a full-blown case of the
sickness than other methods; most who underwent this
treatment had a reaction at the infection site, but it did
not spread to the entire body.
55 The most important discovery of that century,
however, is attributed to English physician Edward
Jenner. In 1796, Jenner treated a milkmaid who had
contracted a virus on her hands. Called “cowpox,” this
affliction caused those who touched sores on an
60 infected cow to get smallpox-like marks on their hands.
The milkmaid noted that peasants who caught cowpox
never seemed to catch the more serious smallpox.
Jenner, who had survived a traumatic immunization as
a child, used this information to create the first
65 smallpox vaccination; he conducted his first trial by
infecting his gardener’s son with cowpox, then
following with smallpox. Fortunately, the boy
remained healthy even after several deliberate
infections. While Jenner’s vaccine was not perfect, the
70 cowpox virus was close enough to smallpox to offer a
degree of immunity. He chose not to patent his
discovery, in order to make it accessible to all.
Vaccinations with cowpox became common practice
around the world for hundreds of years and saved
75 millions of lives. The term “vaccination,” including the
Latin root vacca, or “cow,” pays homage to the role
that Jenner’s discovery played in medical history.
In 1967, while the smallpox virus had been
eliminated from the United States, it still existed in less
80 developed nations around the world, and so the World
Health Organization (WHO) enacted a plan to rid the
world of this affliction. Through selected vaccination
and containment, the goal was reached in little more
than a decade. In 1980, the WHO declared “the world
85 and its people” free from naturally-occurring smallpox.
Today, the smallpox vaccination stands as a symbol of
the crucial role of scientific research. The government
of the United States does retain a stockpile of the virus,
just in case; if smallpox were to somehow resurface,
90 naturally or through a bioterrorism attack, researchers
would be able to make vaccinations to keep it at bay.

Answer 2

We are going to eliminate option C. This is because it doesn't say that the vaccine created was ineffective. I'd also say we can get rid of option D because the relationship between cowpox and smallpox WAS important in history because it was killing so many people, and they found a way to cure it. So, I'd say it was important.

With that, we are left with options A and B. Any thoughts?