Unit 0000

Nouns
There are 20 nouns connected with medicine in the box below. Use them to complete the
sentences - in some cases you will need to make them plural. The first one has been done
for you as an example.

accident allergy ambulance biopsy consent course examination excess

exercise injection intake overdose paroxysm progress rash recurrence
surgery tendency treatment vaccination

1. He developed an allergy to penicillin.

2. paroxysm
He suffered _______________ of coughing in the night.

3. overdose
She went into a coma after an _______________ of heroin.

4. surgery
The patient will need plastic _______________ to remove the scars he received in the accident.

5. course
She took a _______________ of steroid treatment.

6. recurrence
He had a _______________ of a fever which he had caught in the tropics.

7. tendency
There is a _______________ to obesity in her family.

8. examination
From the _______________ of the X-ray photographs, it seems that the tumour has not spread.

9. injection
The doctor gave him an _______________ to relieve the pain.

10. exercise
He doesn't take enough _______________: that's why he's fat.

11. ambulance
The injured man was taken away in an _______________.

12. intake
She was advised to reduce her _______________ of sugar.

13. biopsy
The _______________ of the tissue from the growth showed that it was benign.

14. consent
The parents gave their _______________ for their son's heart to be used in the transplant
operation.

15. progress
The doctors seem pleased that she has made such good _______________ since her operation.

16. treatment
This is a new _______________ for heart disease.

17. excess
Her body could not cope with an _______________ of blood sugar.

18. accident
Three people were injured in the _______________ on the motorway.

19. Vaccination is mainly given against cholera, diphtheria, rabies, smallpox, tuberculosis and
_______________
typhoid.

20. rash
She had a high temperature and then broke out in a _______________ .

10
For reference see A & C Black Dictionary of Medical Terms (0 7136 7603 5).
 Adjectives
Unit 00001
Complete the sentences using the adjectives in the box. Use each adjective once only. The
first one has been done for you as an example.

aware compatible confused delicate depressed hoarse hygienic

inactive inborn incipient infectious inoperable insanitary lethal
motionless poisonous predisposed regular safe severe

1. This is a safe painkiller, with no harmful side-effects.

2. poisonous
Some mushrooms are good to eat and some are ______________ .

3. compatible
The surgeons are trying to find a donor with a ______________ blood group.

4. inoperable
The surgeon decided that the cancer was ______________ .

5. lethal
These fumes are ______________ if inhaled.

6. inborn
The body has an ______________ tendency to reject transplanted organs.

7. incipient
The tests detected ______________ diabetes mellitus.

8. inactive
The serum makes the poison ______________.

9. severe
A ______________ outbreak of whooping cough occurred during the winter.

10. confused
Old people can easily become ______________ if they are moved from their homes.

11. motionless
Catatonic patients can sit ______________ for hours.

12. hygienic
Don't touch food with dirty hands: it isn't ______________.

13. predisposed to vascular diseases.

All the members of the family are ______________

14. aware
She is not ______________ of what is happening around her.

15. delicate
The bones of a baby's skull are very ______________.

16. insanitary
Cholera spread rapidly because of the ______________ conditions in the town.

17. depressed
He was ______________ after his exam results.

18. regular
He was advised to make ______________ visits to the dentist.

19. infectious
This strain of flu is highly ______________.

20. hoarse
He became ______________ after shouting too much.

11
For reference see A & C Black Dictionary of Medical Terms (0 7136 7603 5).
 Unit 0000 2
Adjectives
Complete the sentences using the adjectives in the box. Use each adjective once only. The
first one has been done for you as an example.

acute bedridden critical deaf depressed excessive harmful infirm

inflamed latent lethal mobile obsessive painful persistent premature
severed subjective tender viable

1. These fumes are lethal if inhaled.

2. critical
The report was _______________ of the state of aftercare provision.

3. persistent
She had a _______________ cough.

4. subjective
The psychiatrist gave a _______________ opinion on the patient's problem.

5. infirm
My grandfather is quite _______________ now.

6. inflamed
The skin has become _______________ around the sore.

7. mobile
It is important for elderly patients to remain _______________.

8. painful
His foot is so _______________ he can hardly walk.

9. viable
A fetus is _______________ by about the 28th week of the pregnancy.

10. deaf .
You have to speak slowly and clearly when you speak to Mr Jones because he's quite ________

11. premature
The baby was born five weeks _______________ .

12. excessive
The patient was passing _______________ quantities of urine.

13. acute
He felt _______________ chest pains.

14. bedridden
He is _______________ and has to be looked after by a nurse.

15. latent
The children were tested for _______________ viral infection.

16. obsessive
He has an _______________ desire to steal small objects.

17. tender
Her shoulders are still _______________ where she got sunburnt.

18. severed
Surgeons tried to sew the _______________ finger back onto the patient's hand.

19. depressed
She was _______________ for weeks after the death of her husband.

20. harmful
Bright light can be _______________ to your eyes.

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For reference see A & C Black Dictionary of Medical Terms (0 7136 7603 5).
 Unit
Verbs
0000
1
The sentences in Column A contain examples of useful verbs in medicine. In Column B
there are definitions of the verbs. Read the examples and match the verbs (in italics) with
the definitions. Then write the infinitive forms into the spaces in the definitions in Column
B. The first one has been done for you as an example.

Column A: Examples Column B: Definitions

1. After the accident the passengers a) diagnose means to identify a

were treated in hospital for cuts. condition or illness, by examining the
person and noting symptoms

2. Nurses dressed the wounds of the b) treat

_________ means to to use medical
accident victims. methods to cure a disease or help a
sick or injured person to recover

3. He specialises in children with c) cure

_________ means to make someone
breathing problems. healthy

d) endanger means to put someone or

_________
4. She suffers from headaches. something at risk

e) prescribe means to give instructions

_________
5. She was vaccinated against smallpox for a person to get a specific dosage
as a child. of a drug or a specific form of
therapeutic treatment

6. Some forms of cancer cannot be f) specialise means to study or treat

_________
cured. one particular disease or one
particular type of patient

7. The calamine lotion will soothe the g) suffer means to have an illness
_________
rash. for a long period of time

h) operate means to treat a person

_________
8. The doctor diagnosed appendicitis. for a condition by cutting open the
body and removing a part which is
diseased or repairing a part which is
9. The doctor prescribed a course of not functioning correctly
antibiotics.
i) vaccinate means to introduce
_________
vaccine into a person's body in order
10. The drug suppresses the body's to make the body create its own
natural instinct to reject the antibodies, so making the person
transplanted tissue. immune to the disease

j) soothe means to relieve pain

_________
11. The operation may endanger the life
of the patient. k) dress means to clean a wound
_________
and put a covering over it

12. The surgeons decided to operate as l) suppress means to reduce the

_________
the only way of saving the baby's action of something completely, e.g.
life. to remove a symptom or to stop the
release of a hormone

13
For reference see A & C Black Dictionary of Medical Terms (0 7136 7603 5).
 Unit 0000
Verbs 2
The sentences in Column A contain examples of useful verbs in medicine. In Column B
there are definitions of the verbs. Read the examples and match the verbs (in italics) with
the definitions. Then write the infinitive forms into the spaces in the definitions in Column
B. The first one has been done for you as an example.

Column A: Examples Column B: Definitions

1. He was admitted this morning. a) transfer means to pass from one

_________
place to another
2. The cancer is not responding to
drugs. b) harm means to damage or hurt
_________
someone or something
3. He was still limping three weeks after
the accident. c) penetrate means to go through or
_________
into something
4. The doctors saved the little boy from
dying of cancer. d) perforate means to make a hole
_________
through something
5. The end of the broken bone has
penetrated the liver. e) probe means to investigate the
_________
inside of something
6. The new heart has performed very
well. f) save means to stop someone
_________
from being hurt or killed
7. The patient was transferred to a
special unit. g) limp
_________ means to walk awkwardly
because of pain, stiffness or
8. She fainted when she saw the blood. malformation of a leg or foot

9. The surgeon probed the wound with

a scalpel. h) admit means to register a
patient in a hospital
10. Walking to work every day won't
harm you. i) prevent means to stop something
_________
from happening
11. The treatment is given to prevent the
patient's condition from getting j) respond means to react to
_________
worse. something or to begin to get better
because of a treatment
12. The ulcer perforated the duodenum.
k) faint
_________ means to stop being
conscious for a short time and,
usually, fall down

l) perform means to work

_________

14
For reference see A & C Black Dictionary of Medical Terms (0 7136 7603 5).