Complete the Words: How Vaccines Train the Body
B2 Intermediate Complete the Words
Complete the Words: each question shows a sentence from the passage with one word partly hidden. Type the complete word exactly as it appears in the passage.
Vaccines train the immune system to recognize a threat before a real infection occurs. A vaccine usually contains a weakened or inactive form of a germ, or a small piece of it, such as a protein from its surface. This first meeting is safe, because the material in the vaccine cannot cause the real disease. When it enters the body, immune cells examine it carefully and begin building defenses against it. Special cells produce antibodies, tiny markers that attach to the germ and signal other cells to destroy it. The body also creates memory cells, which can survive inside us for many years. Later, if the actual germ invades, these memory cells react within hours instead of days. Because this second response is faster and stronger, the person may feel only mild symptoms or none at all. In this way, vaccines prepare the body for a battle it has never truly fought, turning a dangerous first meeting into a familiar one.
📦 Study pack — paragraph map & vocabulary (open after answering)
Paragraph map
- One paragraph explaining how vaccines use a harmless form of a germ to teach the immune system to respond faster when the real germ arrives.
Difficult vocabulary
| recognize | to identify something as a known thing or threat |
| weakened | made less strong or less dangerous |
| protein | a substance in living cells that performs many essential jobs |
| antibodies | proteins produced by the immune system that attach to germs and mark them for destruction |
| symptoms | signs that a disease is present in the body, such as fever or pain |