Read the following passage about the discovery of penicillin.
The discovery of penicillin is attributed to Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming. Fleming recounted that the date of his breakthrough was on the morning of September 28, 1928. It was a lucky accident: in his laboratory in the basement of St. Mary's Hospital in London, Fleming noticed a petri dish containing Staphylococcus culture that he had mistakenly left open. The culture had become contaminated by blue-green mould, and there was a halo of inhibited bacterial growth around the mould. Fleming concluded that the mould was releasing a substance that was repressing the growth of the bacteria. He grew a pure culture and discovered that it was a Penicillium mould, now known to be Penicillium notatum. Fleming coined the term "penicillin" to describe the filtrate of a broth culture of the Penicillium mould.
Fill the gaps in the summary below using words from the passage.
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by ______ on September 28, 1928. He found that the growth of bacteria on a petri dish was ______ by a blue-green mould that had contaminated the culture. He realised that the mould was producing a substance that was responsible for ______ bacterial growth.
accident
repressed
repressed
That's weird
Posted by: Mia | November 26, 2012 at 09:49
accident
inhabited
repressing
Posted by: LEO | November 26, 2012 at 09:51
accident
inhibited
repressing
Posted by: ASD | November 26, 2012 at 09:56
accident
inhibited
repressing
Posted by: Emily | November 26, 2012 at 10:08
accident
inhibited
pure
Posted by: princess K | November 26, 2012 at 10:21
recunting his breakthrough
contaminated
repressing
Posted by: CENET | November 26, 2012 at 10:36
accident
inhibited
repressing
Similar words in passage--
IT WAS AN ACCIDENT
THERE WAS HALLO OF INHIBITED GROWTH OF BACTERIA
FLEMING CONCLUDED----AND THAT WAS REPRESSING THE GROWTH OF BACTERIA.
Posted by: ziaul huda | November 26, 2012 at 10:42
Hi Simon,
my answers are
1)accident
2)inhibited
3)repressing
thank you
Posted by: Rukhsar patel | November 26, 2012 at 11:03
1-accident
2-inhibited
3-repressing
Posted by: Bradly | November 26, 2012 at 11:14
Acccident
Inhibited
Repressing
Posted by: raja | November 26, 2012 at 11:14
Hi simon,
can you give some useful tips for writing task1 and reading to score 8.I am fairly good in listening,writing task2 and speaking to achieve 8.5,7.5 and 7.It would be of great help
thank you
Posted by: Rukhsar patel | November 26, 2012 at 11:17
1. accident
2. inhibited
3. repressing
Posted by: Mohammad Kawsar Manik | November 26, 2012 at 11:50
_accident
-inhibited
-repressing
Posted by: Aleksandra Bucholc | November 26, 2012 at 11:51
Hi Simon,
I like your examples very much. I think you gave this before.
I am waiting for new and a bit lon ones.
Thanks.
Posted by: Sevil | November 26, 2012 at 13:03
Hi simon,
my answers are:
1. accident
2. inhibited
3. repressing
Posted by: Samah | November 26, 2012 at 13:54
accident
inhibited
repressing
Posted by: Alfi | November 26, 2012 at 14:34
accident, inhibited, repressing
Posted by: semenchu | November 26, 2012 at 14:43
Hi Simon,
here are my answers
1. accident
2. inhibited
3. repressing
Thanks for your lesson!
Posted by: Huong | November 26, 2012 at 15:02
accident
inhabited
repressing
Posted by: erdogan | November 26, 2012 at 15:04
1. a lucky accident.
2. inhibited.
3. repressing.
:)
Posted by: Hien | November 26, 2012 at 15:12
Hi Simon,
Great thanks to your efforts. I'd like to ask you that put those readings that candidates find them more critical of have problems with them. again many thanks to you as I've really have learned a lot and boosted my confidence during all these years I've been involving this site.
The second request I'd like to make is to put more idiom and phrasal verbs in your responses and posts in order to we also learn from them. Thanks again,
Posted by: M.S | November 26, 2012 at 15:15
accident
inhibited
repressing
Posted by: Grace | November 26, 2012 at 15:36
1.accident
2.inhibited
3.repressing
Posted by: Tereza | November 26, 2012 at 16:36
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by accident______ on September 28, 1928. He found that the growth of bacteria on a petri dish was _inhibited____ by a blue-green mould that had contaminated the culture. He realised that the mould was producing a substance that was responsible for __repressing____ bacterial growth.
Posted by: maher | November 26, 2012 at 19:04
Hi Simon
can we write YES and NO instead of True and False in these type of questions,and can we use abbreviation like T,F,NG.
Thanks
Posted by: Surrayya | November 26, 2012 at 20:26
Just a reminder, in IELTS, spelling mistakes are marked wrong and points will be taken off.
It is hard to believe, but several students still make lots of spelling mistakes even when they are copying or using words from the text/question.
Try to be more careful and attentive, especially when practising and doing homework!!!
Posted by: Martin | November 26, 2012 at 20:58
accident
inhibited
repressing
Posted by: HIBA | November 26, 2012 at 21:44
Hi dear all,
1-accident
2-inhibited
3-repressing
Posted by: Nafiseh | November 26, 2012 at 21:46
Hi Martin,
Yes I do agree with you.I am very good at listening but always make silly spelling mistakes.For example, last time I made the following mistaes:
1-I wrote soup instead of saop
2-boiller instead of boiler
3-safe instead of save
4-I wrote darkroom instead of dark room
so,everybody must be very careful about it.
Posted by: Nafiseh | November 26, 2012 at 21:54
1-Accident
2-Inhibited
3-Repressing
Posted by: Rashida Perveen | November 27, 2012 at 09:36
Hi Simon,
1. accident;
2. contaminated;
3. pure.
Posted by: roshavbg | November 27, 2012 at 09:46
CORRECT ANSWERS FROM SIMON:
accident
inhibited
repressing
Posted by: Simon | November 27, 2012 at 11:08
accident
contaminated
repressing
Posted by: Olimpia | November 27, 2012 at 14:54
1)accident
2)inhibited
3)represing
Posted by: rambod | December 04, 2012 at 05:04
1.chance
2.inhibited
3.suppressing
Posted by: Angie | December 15, 2012 at 19:09
Hi Simon ,
1.accident
2.inhabiting
3.repressing
Posted by: Mahsa | December 16, 2012 at 11:22
HI SAIMON I SAW ND READ UR READING MATERIAL THAT HELP ME IN SAOLVING SO MANY PROBLUM PLZ GIV ME SOME TRICKS AND TIPS FOR WRITNG COMPREHENSIV WRITING IN TASK ONE.FOR THE FIRST TIME I AM WRITING IN COMENTS ON ANY TUTER G
Posted by: SAJIDA | December 25, 2012 at 18:20
Hi Simon,
this is my answers
1. accident
2. inhibited
3. repressing
Posted by: Mystica | December 27, 2012 at 03:02
I have a qustion: when I hear in tape "sport center". How can I write in answer sheet: "sportcenter" or " sport center"
Thanks
Posted by: Wind | January 04, 2013 at 06:06
1)accident
2)contaminated
3)repressing
Posted by: soude | January 13, 2013 at 08:01
lucky accident
inhibited
repressing
Posted by: Arm | February 06, 2013 at 08:41
accident
inhabited
repressing
Posted by: Umair Zafar | February 08, 2013 at 22:22
1. a lucky accident
2. inhibited
3. repressing
Posted by: Inna | February 14, 2013 at 11:35
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by ACCIDENT on September 28, 1928. He found that the growth of bacteria on a petri dish was INHIBITED by a blue-green mould that had contaminated the culture. He realised that the mould was producing a substance that was responsible for REPRESSING bacterial growth.
Posted by: edz | March 12, 2013 at 11:15
Lucky Accident
Inhibited
Repressing
Posted by: Sheena | June 04, 2013 at 21:39
accident
contaminated
inhibited
what are the answers ?
Posted by: Refat Ahmed | July 05, 2013 at 07:40
in the first blank ,I think a lucky accident is also right because the question don'i limit the word.
Posted by: Ngo Thi Bao Ngoc | August 08, 2013 at 14:44
Hi Simon,
For the first gap,
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by ______ on September 28, 1928.
Would the answer ''luck'' be accepted?
In the passage, it says,
''It was a lucky accident'' So, I thought he discovered penicillin ''by luck''.
Can we make small alterations when we fill in the gaps, such as ''lucky'' being ''luck''
Thank you in advance.
Posted by: Burak | September 30, 2019 at 15:04