PSAT Writing and Language Practice Question 92

Question: 92

Gimme Fever…Actually, Please Don't
Medical science has created some modern miracles, but it can be difficult to appreciate just how miraculous some of them are. The Spanish Flu hit the United States in the 1910s, and 12 polio rocked the foundations of America in the 1930s and 1940s, but it is difficult to imagine an epidemic like the Philadelphia Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. The official register listed over 5,000 deaths between August 1st and November 9th of that year. These figures are staggering when we consider that Philadelphia city, 13 the largest city in the country today, had a population of over 1.5 million, and its surrounding areas had only about 50,000.
Rank
Place
Population
1
New York city, NY *
33,131
2
Philadelphia city, PA*
28,522
3
Boston town, MA*
18,320
4
Charleston city, SC
16,359
5
Baltimore town, MD
13,503
6
Northern Liberties township, PA*
9,913
7
Salem town, MA
7,921
8
Newport town, RI
6,716
9
Providence town, RI*
6,380
10
Marblehead town, MA
5,661
10
Southwark district, PA*
5,661
12
Gloucester town, MA
5,317
13
Newbury town, MA
4,837
14
Portsmouth town, NH
4,720
15
Sherburne town (Nantucket), MA*
4,620
16
Middleborough town, MA
4,526
17
New Haven city, CT*
4,487
18
Richmond city, VA
3,761
19
Albany city, NY
3,498
20
Norfolk borough, VA
2,959
21
Petersburg town, VA
2,828
22
Alexandria town, VA*
2,748
23
Hartford city, CT*
2,683
24
Hudson city, NY
2,584
* See Notes for Individual Places.
Source: U.S. Bureau of the CensusInternet Release date: June 15, 1998
Population of the 24 Urban Places: 1790
It was not ultimately medical science that saved the day during this epidemic. Doctors tried various 14 things, but they were stalled by their inability to figure out both how the disease originated and how 15 it was spreading. It therefore seemed a godsend when the frost came in November, and the number of deaths tapered off. Medical historians now know that the disease was spread by mosquitoes, but this was 16 pretty shady until nearly a century after the disease had come and gone.
[1] In 1793, Philadelphia was the second largest city in the new nation of the United States. [2] As a result, all of the quarantine and curfew measures that 17 they tried to impose had failed. [3] Panicked politicians blamed immigration. [4] The city's College of Physicians published a letter in the city newspapers that spoke to the confusion. [5] They recognized the epidemic for what it was, but their eleven measures for prevention were haphazard and confused and included the avoidance of alcohol, 18 hot sun, and night air. [6] Philadelphia didn't know what had hit it. [7] Dr. Benjamin Rush, one of the earliest and most brilliant physicians in all of American history, blamed a rotten shipment of coffee that had come into Philadelphia's port. 19
It's difficult to imagine an epidemic on this kind of scale today. Moreover, Philadelphia's relative prominence and sophistication in that era should give us pause. The medical establishment sat back 20 helplessly: as the disease ravaged the city. The recent outbreak of the Ebola 21 virus, in West Africa, provides a terrifying reminder, of just how deadly certain diseases can be, when they are unchecked or inadequately understood. 22 By the same token, the Yellow Fever Epidemic provides a remarkable instance of a city's resilience in the face of adversity. As the population of the city was literally decimated, and other yellow-fever epidemics continued to ravage the city, Philadelphia persisted, and with it, the new nation grew stronger, just as it has in the face of crisis ever since.

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