An American Plague

What is most likely the author’s reason for including the following quote?

“8 or 10 persons buried out of Water St. between Race and Arch Sts.; many sick in our neighborhood, and in ye City generally.”

• He is attempting to give hope to the reader.

• He wants to use poetic language.

• He is foreshadowing that Catherine LeMaigre will eventually recover.

• He is showing how the doctors were faced with a serious situation.

Which of these inferences is best supported by the text?

• Catherine LeMaigre had been a close friend of Dr. Hodge’s daughter.

• Elizabeth Drinker ultimately discovered the cure to yellow fever.

• Dr. Hodge’s family probably lived in the area around Water Street.

• Neither Dr. Hodge nor Dr. Foulke had ever heard of Benjamin Rush.

What does the following paragraph reveal about Dr. Rush?

Rush was forty-seven years old and so highly respected that he was often called in by colleagues when they were baffled by a case. His medical training had been extensive, consisting of five years of apprenticeship with the pre-eminent doctor in the United States, John Redman. After this he had gone to Europe to study under the most skilled surgeons and doctors in the western world.

• Rush was reluctant to help the other doctors.

• Rush was a highly qualified doctor.

• Rush was nearing the age of retirement.

• Rush believed Europe offered superior educational opportunities.

How do the following lines add to the account of the yellow fever epidemic?

“Even bad news could unsettle the humors and cause illness. So it made sense to Rush, Hodge, and Foulke that the putrid-smelling air could upset people enough to cause an outbreak of violent, fatal fevers.”

• It shows how the doctors had to diagnose yellow fever using ideas from long ago.

• It shows the first time that anyone in the medical field rejected the idea of humors.

• It shows how receiving bad news contributed to the spread of the disease.

• It details that yellow fever only affected those in the United States.

What is most closely a central idea from this excerpt of An American Plague?

• Rush himself was suffering from yellow fever at the time.

• Rush had a different way of seeing things than most people of his day.

• Rush was not trusted by his medical colleagues due to his nontraditional ideas.

• Rush believed less in medical research than in his instincts.

Which of these inferences is best supported by the text?

• The LeMaigre household was vulnerable to illness because the couple had a lot of coffee.

• The doctors had a difficult time diagnosing LeMaigre since many medical advancements had not yet been made.

• Dr. Hodge’s experiences inspired him to write a novel.

• The doctors were stumped because Catherine LeMaigre’s humors appeared to be in balance.

Which phrase does NOT describe Dr. Rush?

• “so highly respected that he was often called in by colleagues when they were baffled by a case”

• “he opposed slavery”

• “he worked from early in the morning until late at night”

• “stubborn and crusty in his ways”

Use details from the text to check three symptoms that indicated a patient had yellow fever.

• bloodshot eyes

• gasping for air

• runny nose

• skin turned yellow

• vomiting black bile

Doctors in 1793 didn't know about viruses yet. What did they think was the cause of the disease?

• an imbalance in body fluids

• contact with other sick people

• microscopic organisms

• something they ate or drank

To help Catherine feel better, check two ways the doctors tried to treat her.

• carried her outside

• performed CPR

• gave her drinks

• induced vomiting

• washed her with damp cloths