Advanced Word-Building Practice [1] •

Derivatives & Compounds of ‘Virus’

Task 1.1
 Complete each sentence with a suitable derivative of the base word virus.

1 Corporations are getting in on …………… marketing strategies that also raise

money for charity.

2 In 1918 a particularly …………… strain of flu managed to spread within a few

months to the remotest corners of the world.

3 In light of the …………… racism central to the film’s cosmology, making Kong’s
lover so willing and ‘white’ doesn’t do much to detox the trope.

4 In order for a COVID-19 vaccine and …………… drugs to be developed,

scientists need to understand why the virus invades our bodies with seemingly
little resistance from our immune system.

5 Male-dominated industries including agriculture, mining and manufacturing have

been relatively untouched by the …………… measures.

6 The best way to protect your business against malware is to install good
…………… software on every company device.

7 Treating a/an …………… infection by tamping down the immune system is

especially tricky to balance, because the patient still needs to clear the virus.

Word Origins
A virus was originally the venom of a snake, and was an English borrowing of a Latin
word meaning ‘slimy liquid’ or ‘poison’, that is also the source of virulent (Late Middle
English). Early medical practitioners used the word for a substance produced in the
body as the result of disease. The modern meaning dates from the late 19th century.
The computer virus dates from the early 1970s. (Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins)

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Task 1.2
 Complete the sentences with suitable compounds from the box below.

virus-free virus-induced virus-like

virus-stricken
virus-hit virus-infected virus-related

1 All cruise ships shall be temporarily banned from docking at any ports as a
proactive measure against COVID-19 and to ensure a …………… environment.

2 As capital dries up and the world braces for a long, …………… recession, some
worry conditions for a quick 5G rollout are fading.

3 From the US to France to Australia, rows of empty supermarket shelves where

toilet paper used to be, the result of …………… panic buying.

4 Italians who spent more than two weeks quarantined on a/an …………… cruise
liner in Japan landed at Rome’s military Pratica di Mare airport.

5 Most workers will have to accept the reductions because of poor employment
prospects in the …………… economy.

6 Researchers suggested that diagnostic kits alone would not be able to detect all
the …………… patients.

7 The company has asked workers who experience …………… symptoms to seek
medical attention and not return to its facilities until they are well.

8 The health ministry announced that the toll of …………… passengers has risen
yet again and at least 24 Americans are among the diagnosed.

9 The World Health Organization is advising countries that ease ……………

restrictions to allow some time to pass before easing them further.

10 There will be no huge economic stimulus program as the country faces the
threat of …………… crisis almost certainly unlike any it has seen before.

11 While it is common knowledge that polluted air is one of the major causes of
common respiratory distress syndrome, researchers note that this could be a
cause of …………… deaths, too.

12 Widespread testing is crucial in the fight of …………… countries like South

Korea and Singapore as it allows authorities to isolate and treat infected people.

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