Chapter 3 of the 12th grade English curriculum, called “Sir Alexander Fleming,” has short questions and answers that are clear and helpful. This chapter talks about Sir Alexander Fleming, a well-known person in the field of medicine, and his life and work. Students can learn more about Fleming’s great finding of penicillin and how it changed medicine by focusing on this chapter. The short answers to the questions give important information about what Fleming did and how important his work was. “12th Class English Ch 3 Sir Alexander Fleming” is a great resource for learning and exploring, whether you’re studying for a test or just want to learn more.
Sir Alexander Fleming 2nd Year Summary
This article by Patrick Pringle is very helpful. The author says that Pasteur found germs and Lister got rid of them. They both changed the way people thought about and did health. Luis Pasteur found out that germs cause that disease. Lister came up with the first way to keep germs from getting into a patient’s skin while they were being operated on. He used carbolic acid to kill germs on his hands and on the skin of his patients. He also used carbolic acid to clean his instruments. We call this the “antiseptic method.”
The cleaning method couldn’t work because it hurt living cells as well. Later, leucocytes, which are part of the body’s defense system, were found. The problem was to find something that would kill the germs without hurting the leucocytes.
Sir Alexander Fleming joined the staff of St. Mary’s Hospital’s Inoculation Department. Then, for eight years, he worked in Wright’s lab. He tried to find a way to help the leukocytes fight germs that were getting into the body. By 1914, the aseptic method had taken the place of Lister’s sterile method.
Chemical antiseptics were the only way medical staff knew how to treat cuts that were getting worse. People tried out different drugs, and each one became popular for a while before giving way to the next.
At age 37, Fleming went back to St. Mary’s and continued his study. He found penicillin, which is a natural antibiotic and not a drug like carbolic acid.
The trouble was getting the penicillin to work better so that it could be used to treat the disease. The Oxford team did this job and did it well. In 1945, Fleming was given the Nobel Prize for what he had found.
Fleming was thanked a lot for this finding, but he said in a humble way that the thanks were not his. He said it was a gift from God. He said that penicillin was made by nature and that I had been blamed for making it.
12th Class English Ch 3 Sir Alexander Fleming Short Question Answer
1.What are antiseptics and what is the antiseptic method?
The antiseptics are the substances that kill germs. The use of these substances to kill germs is called an antiseptic method.
2.What was the chief defect of antiseptic method?
The antiseptic method killed germs. But it also destroyed the white cells of the body. This was the chief defect of antiseptic method.
3.What part is played by the white cells in the blood of a human body?
White cells are the defense system of a body. When germs enter a body with cells attack them. Diseases is in fact a fight between them. When the white cells kill the germs the patient is recovered.
4.Give an account of the early life of Fleming?
Fleming was born on farm near Darvel on August 6,1881. He got his early education in the village school. At ten he went to Darvel School. At twelve he joined Kilmarnock academy. At fourteen he went to London and studied at the Regent street polytechnic. At sixteen he tool a job as a clerk in a shipping firm. At twenty he joined St. Mary a medical school.
5.Describe how Fleming discovered penicillin?
In 1928 Fleming was growing colonies of gems on plates. A piece of fungus came flying from the window. It dropped on the plate. At once the germs around the fungus began to disappear. Fleming called it penicillin.
6.In what respect is penicillin better than the chemical antiseptics?
Carbolic acid and other chemical antiseptics harm the white cells of the body; while penicillin does not harm them. Therefore it is better than other chemical antiseptics.
7.What do you know of the Oxford team?
At Oxford a team headed by professor Howard Florey and Dr. E.B. Chain worked for the concentration of penicillin. They succeeded in producing a practical concentration of penicillin.
8.How did the Oxford team make penicillin more effective?
In its crude form penicillin could not be used in the treatment of disease. The Oxford team made penicillin more effective by concentrating it.
9.Write a note on penicillin as a wonder drug?
Penicillin proved to be a wonder drug. It saved countless lives. It proved to be the strongest weapon against disease.
10.Was Fleming proud of his discovery?
Fleming never felt proud of his discovery. He said that penicillin was not a man made drug.
11.Why couldn’t penicillin have been discovered in the research laboratories of America?
The American laboratories were dustless. Penicillin could not be discovered there because there was no way for a mould spore to dome in and drop on the culture plate.
12.Fleming’s achievement paved the way for other discoveries in the medical field. What are they?
Fleming stimulated new research. Then new drugs were discovered by man. At present the best among these drugs is streptomycin.
13.Who was Louis Pasteur and what did he discover?
Louis Pasteur was a French chemist. He found that disease is caused by living organisms. They are called the micro-organisms or microbes or bacteria or germs.
14.How did Lister kill germs? OR How did Lister utilize carbolic acid?
Lister sterilized his instruments with carbolic acid and used it to kill them germs on his hands on the skin of patient and in the air in the operating theatre.
15.Carbolic acid could kill germs inside human body. Why was it not injected into humans then?
Certainly carbolic acid could kill germs inside human body, but it also destroyed the cells of body. It was more harmful than useful. So it was stopped from being injected into human body.
16.Who was Metchnikoff and what did he discover? OR What are leucocytes and who discovered them? OR What is the function of white blood cells?
He was a bacteriologist a pupil of Pasteur. He discovered the leucocytes or white cells of blood. They are natural defense of body. Disease is a fight between germs and leucocytes which results in the death of either.
17.When and where was Alexander Fleming born? Or What was the family of Alexander Fleming?
He was born on a farm near Darvel in Ayrshire on August 6,1881. He was the youngest of a family of eight. His father died when he was seven year old.
18.How did Fleming’s family become a medical family?
ne of his brothers became a qualified oculist. Two others became opticians. One of his sisters married a Darvel doctor. The other sister married a veterinary surgeon. They became a medical family.
19.When did Fleming get a share from legacy?
He got a share at the age of twenty. It was enough for him to be trained for a career with better prospects. His brother Thomas pushed him into medicine.
20.For how much time did Fleming work in Wright’s laboratory and what was his field of search there?
He worked there for eight year. There he sought to find a means to aid the leucocytes in their fight against the invading bacteria.
21.What are antiseptic method? OR What is the chief defect of antiseptic method? OR who introduced antiseptic method?
Antiseptics are certain chemicals to kill germs. Antiseptic method means the use of these chemicals. Lister introduced this method. But its chief defect is that it also kills the leucocytes.
22.What is aseptic method?
Aseptic method is the use of heat to kill germs. It is used to sterilize instruments. Clothing and other operating theatre equipments.
23.Why was the aseptic method not successful especially in 1914?
The purpose of aseptic method was to prevent germs from getting into body. But during the period of First World War in 1914 the wound in every case was infected before treatment could be begun.
24.What is Lysozyme and how Fleming discovered it?
Fleming was suffering from catarrh. He was examining his nasal secretions. In them he found a substance that killed germs on the plate. He called it Lysozyme.
25.How did Fleming discover penicillin?
In 1928 Fleming was growing colonies of germs on culture plates spread with agar. A piece of fungus came flying from the window and dropped on the plate. It began to grow. Almost at once the germs around it began to disappear. Fleming called it penicillin.
26.How did Fleming discover penicillin?
Fleming placed mould on a meat broth. It grew into touchable mass. After a week’s growth it was filtered and tested against bacteria. The result was success. Fleming called it penicillin.
27.Why did Sir Almroth Wright write a letter to The Times?
penicillin was hailed as a wonder drug. But many people did not know the discoverer of it. Sir almroth Wright wrote a letter to The times telling the world about the discoverer. Thus , Fleming became famous.
28.How did a man in Italy express his thanks for Fleming?
In Italy at amedical gathering a man with his three children pushed forward and said that his children owed their lives to him. He asked his childred to pray for Fleming in their prayers.
29.What was the greatest benefit of penicillin according to Fleming?
He said that the greatest benefit penicillin had brought was that its discovery had stimulated new researchers to find something better.
30.What was the major problem during the warfare?
In Warfare high explosives were used. The wounds were already infected before the treatment began. The doctors were helpless to cure the infected war wounds. Both antiseptic and aseptic methods had failed to cure infection.
31.Why and when was Fleming Knighted?
Fleming discovered penicillin and did a lot of medical research. The world honoured him for his sevices. Then he was knighted in 1944.
32.How did Fleming fight against infected wounds before discovering penicillin?
He started his fight against the infected wounds by applying various chemicals. But the results proved to be total failure. Then in 1922 he discovered lysozyme a natural antiseptic substance. Then at last in 1928 he discovered penicillin.
You Can Learn and Gain more Knowledge through our Online Quiz and Testing system Just Search your desired Preparation subject at Gotest.
Gud effect and good wishes