a4esl.org The Internet TESL Journal's Self-Study Quizzes for ESL Students

Is it Difficult to Catch HIV/AIDS?

Take the quiz. How did you do? Next read the story at the bottom of the page and take the quiz again. Was your score better this time? How do people get the HIV virus? Is it difficult to catch AIDS?

True or False

HIV is a virus that weakens the body's power to fight disease.
After six months to ten years after the HIV virus gets into a person's body, they get a disease called AIDS.
You can catch AIDS from a mosquito bite.
You can get AIDS from swimming in the same swimming pool with someone who has HIV or AIDS.
You can catch AIDS from a cough or sneeze from someone who has HIV.
You can catch AIDS from using a public toilet.
It's safe to hug or kiss a friend who has HIV or AIDS.
You can get the HIV virus from blood from an infected person (a person who has the HIV virus in their body).
You can catch HIV through having unprotected sex with a person who has HIV.
A mother who has HIV in her body can give the virus to her baby before it is born.
Everyone who has HIV looks sick.
People who have the HIV virus will be infected for the rest of their lives or until there is a cure.

Your body has some power to fight disease. This is called your body's immune system. HIV is a virus that weakens the body's immune system or power to fight disease. HIV can pass from one person to another through body fluids like blood, semen, vaginal secretions, or a mother's breast milk.

HIV causes AIDS but not everyone who has HIV looks sick. It can take from two to ten or more years before someone who is HIV+ becomes sick with AIDS. The only way to find out if someone has HIV is for them to get tested for the virus.

HIV can pass from one person to another through unprotected sex with someone who is infected with HIV. HIV can pass from one person to another through sharing needles for drugs. HIV can also pass from a mother to her baby during pregnancy (before the baby is born) or through breast feeding, from the mother's milk. But only about 1/3 of babies of HIV+ mothers are infected this way.

Right now, there is no way to cure AIDS. People who become infected with HIV, become sick with AIDS after six months to ten years. Eventually, they die. There are some medicines to fight AIDS, but nothing yet that cures it. Scientists around the world are trying to find a cure for AIDS.

The main way that HIV is passed from person to person is through unprotected sex with a person who is HIV infected. Thinking carefully about sex, discussing sex with your partner and trying to have safe sex (for example using a condom during sex) are some ways that HIV infection can be reduced.

You cannot catch AIDS from visiting or talking to a friend who is sick with AIDS.
You cannot catch AIDS from hugging or kissing a friend who has HIV/AIDS.
You cannot catch AIDS from mosquito bites or insect bites.
You cannot catch AIDS from a toilet seat in a public restroom.
You cannot catch AIDS from going to the same school with someone who is sick with AIDS.
You cannot catch AIDS from being kind to someone who has AIDS.

AIDS is an international problem which touches people in every country of the world. People with AIDS need our support and encouragement. Let's think about how we can support them!

Copyright (C) 1996 by Bob Gettings
This quiz is part of the HTML-Only Self-Study Quizzes which is part of Activities for ESL Students, a project by The Internet TESL Journal.