AQA GCSE History · AA

Britain: Health and the people: c1000 to the present day

Exam-style questions with answers for AA Britain: Health and the people: c1000 to the present day in AQA GCSE History (spec 8145). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below.

All questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part one
What was the Theory of the Four Humours? [2 marks]
Answer:
The body contained blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile (1); illness was caused by an imbalance between them (1).
Question 2 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part one
State one way Galen developed Hippocrates’ ideas. [1 mark]
Answer:
The Theory of Opposites: treating an imbalance with its opposite, eg pepper for a cold.
Question 3 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part one
State two medieval treatments based on the Four Humours. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: bloodletting (1); purging (1); vomiting (1); treatment by opposites (1).
Question 4 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part one
State two supernatural explanations of disease in the Middle Ages. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: punishment from God for sin (1); astrology and the alignment of the planets (1); evil spirits (1).
Question 5 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part one
Describe how a medieval physician diagnosed illness. [2 marks]
Answer:
By examining urine, using a urine chart (1); by consulting astrological charts (1).
Question 6 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part one
Explain why the Church helped to slow medical progress. [2 marks]
Answer:
It promoted Galen’s ideas because they fitted Christian belief, so challenging them was difficult (1); it discouraged dissection of human bodies (1).
Question 7 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part one
State two ways the Church contributed to medical care. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: monasteries cared for the sick (1); hospitals were founded by the Church (1); monks copied medical texts (1); universities trained doctors (1).
Question 8 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part one
Name two Islamic doctors who contributed to medicine. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Ibn Sina (Avicenna), author of the Canon of Medicine (1); Al-Razi (Rhazes) (1); Ibn al-Nafis (1).
Question 9 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part one
Describe medieval surgery. [2 marks]
Answer:
Barber-surgeons carried out simple operations such as bloodletting and amputations (1); there was no effective anaesthetic or understanding of infection (1).
Question 10 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part one
Explain why monasteries had better public health than towns. [2 marks]
Answer:
They were wealthy and well organised (1); they had fresh water supplies and drainage, and monks valued cleanliness (1).
Question 11 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part one
Describe public health problems in medieval towns. [2 marks]
Answer:
Waste and sewage were thrown into streets and rivers (1); there were few laws, and local authorities had little power or money (1).
Question 12 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part one
When did the Black Death reach Britain? [1 mark]
Answer:
1348.
Question 13 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part one
State two beliefs about the cause of the Black Death. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: God’s punishment (1); miasma or bad air (1); planetary alignment (1); outsiders, such as Jews, were blamed (1).
Question 14 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part one
State two ways people tried to prevent the Black Death. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: prayer and flagellation (1); carrying sweet herbs (1); cleaning streets (1); avoiding the sick (1).
Question 15 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part two
Who was Andreas Vesalius? [2 marks]
Answer:
An anatomist who published The Fabric of the Human Body (1543) (1); he proved Galen had made errors, eg the jawbone is one bone (1).
Question 16 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part two
Who was Ambroise Paré? [2 marks]
Answer:
A French army surgeon who used ointment instead of boiling oil on gunshot wounds (1); he used ligatures to tie arteries during amputations (1).
Question 17 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part two
What did William Harvey discover? [2 marks]
Answer:
That blood circulates around the body (1); pumped by the heart, published in 1628 (1).
Question 18 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part two
Explain why Harvey’s discovery had little immediate impact on treatment. [2 marks]
Answer:
Doctors still used bloodletting and old ideas (1); understanding circulation did not explain the causes of disease (1).
Question 19 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part two
Explain how the printing press helped medical progress. [2 marks]
Answer:
Ideas could be copied accurately and spread quickly (1); eg Vesalius’ accurate drawings reached many doctors (1).
Question 20 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part two
What measures were taken against the Great Plague of 1665? [2 marks]
Answer:
Victims’ houses were shut up and marked with a red cross (1); public gatherings were banned and dogs and cats killed (1).
Question 21 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part two
Who was John Hunter? [2 marks]
Answer:
An 18th-century Scottish surgeon (1); he promoted experiment and observation and trained many surgeons (1).
Question 22 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part two
What was inoculation? [2 marks]
Answer:
Giving a healthy person a small dose of smallpox to cause a mild case (1); it was introduced to Britain by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu in 1721 (1).
Question 23 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part two
How did Jenner develop vaccination? [2 marks]
Answer:
He noticed milkmaids who had cowpox did not catch smallpox (1); in 1796 he infected James Phipps with cowpox and showed he was then immune to smallpox (1).
Question 24 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part two
State two reasons for opposition to vaccination. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Jenner could not explain how it worked (1); inoculators lost income (1); religious objections (1); people feared it was dangerous (1).
Question 25 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part three
How did Pasteur prove germ theory? [2 marks]
Answer:
His swan-necked flask experiment (1861) (1); it showed microbes in the air caused decay, not spontaneous generation (1).
Question 26 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part three
Name two discoveries made by Robert Koch. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: the bacterium that causes anthrax (1); the tuberculosis bacterium (1882) (1); the cholera bacterium (1883) (1); a staining technique for bacteria (1).
Question 27 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part three
Define the term ‘magic bullet’. [1 mark]
Answer:
A chemical that kills a specific microbe without harming the body; Ehrlich’s Salvarsan 606 (1909) treated syphilis.
Question 28 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part three
Who first used chloroform as an anaesthetic? [1 mark]
Answer:
James Simpson, in 1847.
Question 29 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part three
State two problems with early anaesthetics. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: it was hard to judge the right dose (1); some patients died (1); deeper operations increased the risk of infection (‘black period’) (1).
Question 30 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part three
How did Lister reduce infection in surgery? [2 marks]
Answer:
He used carbolic acid on wounds, instruments and bandages (1); and sprayed it in the air during operations, from 1867 (1).
Question 31 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part three
Define the term ‘aseptic surgery’. [1 mark]
Answer:
Preventing germs entering the operating area at all, eg by sterilising instruments and wearing gowns and gloves.
Question 32 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part three
State two causes of public health problems in industrial towns. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: overcrowded back-to-back housing (1); no sewers (1); contaminated water (1); rapid population growth (1).
Question 33 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part three
How did John Snow prove that cholera was spread by water? [2 marks]
Answer:
He mapped deaths in Soho in 1854 (1); they clustered around the Broad Street pump, and when its handle was removed deaths fell (1).
Question 34 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part three
Who was Edwin Chadwick? [1 mark]
Answer:
A reformer whose 1842 report linked poor living conditions to disease and the cost of poverty.
Question 35 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part three
What was the Public Health Act of 1848? [1 mark]
Answer:
It allowed towns to set up local boards of health, but it was not compulsory.
Question 36 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part three
What did the Public Health Act of 1875 require? [1 mark]
Answer:
Local councils had to provide clean water, sewers and drainage, and appoint medical officers of health.
Question 37 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part four
How did Fleming discover penicillin? [2 marks]
Answer:
In 1928 he noticed mould had killed bacteria on a culture plate he had left (1); but he could not purify it in large amounts (1).
Question 38 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part four
Explain how penicillin was developed for mass production. [2 marks]
Answer:
Florey and Chain purified it and tested it in 1940–1941 (1); the US government funded mass production during the Second World War (1).
Question 39 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part four
Define the term ‘antibiotic resistance’. [1 mark]
Answer:
When bacteria evolve so that antibiotics no longer kill them, eg MRSA.
Question 40 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part four
Explain how war helped develop plastic surgery. [2 marks]
Answer:
Many soldiers had facial injuries (1); Harold Gillies (First World War) and Archibald McIndoe (Second World War) developed skin graft techniques (1).
Question 41 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part four
Explain how the First World War improved blood transfusions. [2 marks]
Answer:
Blood groups had been discovered in 1901 (1); sodium citrate stopped blood clotting, so blood could be stored and blood banks set up (1).
Question 42 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part four
Who discovered X-rays? [1 mark]
Answer:
Wilhelm Röntgen, in 1895.
Question 43 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part four
Name two modern surgical methods. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: keyhole surgery (1); laser surgery (1); radiation therapy (1); robotic surgery (1).
Question 44 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part four
What did Booth and Rowntree’s surveys show? [2 marks]
Answer:
About 30% of people in London and York lived in poverty (1); poverty was often caused by low wages, illness and old age, not laziness (1).
Question 45 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part four
Explain why the Boer War led to public health reform. [2 marks]
Answer:
About a third of volunteers were unfit to serve (1); the government worried about national efficiency and defence (1).
Question 46 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part four
State three Liberal social reforms (1906–1911). [3 marks]
Answer:
Any three from: free school meals (1906) (1); school medical inspections (1907) (1); old-age pensions (1908) (1); labour exchanges (1909) (1); National Insurance Act (1911) (1).
Question 47 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part four
What did the Beveridge Report (1942) identify? [2 marks]
Answer:
Five ‘giants’: Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness (1); it proposed a welfare state to tackle them (1).
Question 48 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part four
When was the NHS created, and by whom? [2 marks]
Answer:
5 July 1948 (1); by Aneurin Bevan, the Labour Minister of Health (1).
Question 49 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part four
State three principles of the NHS. [3 marks]
Answer:
Free at the point of use (1); available to everyone (1); paid for by taxation (1).
Question 50 · Spec 3.3.1 AA, Part four
State two issues facing the NHS in the 21st century. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: rising costs of new drugs and treatments (1); an ageing population (1); lifestyle illnesses such as obesity (1); staff shortages (1).

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