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TOEFL Reading Complete the Words Practice 002The Discovery of Penicillin
TOEFL Reading Complete the Words Practice #002 - The Discovery of Penicillin
Reveal
Complete the text with the missing letters.
TOEFL Reading Complete the Words Practice #002 - The Discovery of Penicillin
In 1928, a Scottish scientist named Alexander Fleming returned from a summer vacation to find something unusual growing in one of his uncleaned laboratory dishes. A patch of mold had cont a petri dish containing bacteria, and Fleming not that no bacteria were growing anywhere near the mold. Curious about this pattern, he iso the mold and discovered it produced a sub capable of killing a wide range of harm bacteria. Although Fleming pub his findings, he lacked the res to pur the substance into a usable medicine, and his discovery attr little attention for over a decade. It took a team of researchers working during the early years of World War II to figure out how to produce the substance in large enough quan to treat patients effectively.
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Answer Explanations Reveals the correct words
- 1.contaminated
“Contaminated” means made impure or introduced something unwanted into it. The mold had entered the petri dish containing bacteria, so “had contaminated” correctly describes what it had done. The past participle is required after the helping verb “had.”
- 2.noticed
“Noticed” means observed or became aware of something. Fleming saw that bacteria were not growing near the mold. The simple past form matches the passage’s account of events in 1928.
- 3.isolated
“Isolated” means separated something from its surroundings so it could be studied independently. After becoming curious about the pattern, Fleming separated the mold for investigation. The coordinated past-tense verbs “isolated” and “discovered” describe successive research steps.
- 4.substance
“Substance” refers to the material produced by the mold. The following phrase, “capable of killing a wide range of harmful bacteria,” describes this material’s property. The same noun later appears in references to purifying and producing it.
- 5.harmful
“Harmful” is an adjective modifying “bacteria.” It means capable of causing damage or disease, which explains why a substance that kills these bacteria could become useful as medicine.
- 6.published
“Published” means made research findings publicly available, typically in a scientific work. “Published his findings” is a standard verb–noun combination, and the past tense fits the historical narrative.
- 7.resources
“Resources” means the money, equipment, personnel, or other support needed to accomplish a task. Fleming lacked what was necessary to turn the substance into usable medicine. The plural noun follows “the” and serves as the object of “lacked.”
- 8.purify
“Purify” means remove unwanted materials from a substance. After “to,” the base form of the verb is required: “to purify.” This step was necessary to transform the discovered material into a usable medicine.
- 9.attracted
“Attracted” means drew or received. The phrase “attracted little attention” shows that Fleming’s discovery was largely overlooked for more than ten years. Its simple past form continues the historical sequence.
- 10.quantities
“Quantities” means amounts. The expression “in large enough quantities” indicates that researchers had to produce sufficient amounts of the substance to treat patients effectively. The plural form agrees naturally with “large enough” in this quantity expression.