Module 1 Reading Comprehension Assessment 1: Life's Blood

Vocabulary terms and key concepts covering literal and figurative meanings, the root 'circ-', and historical discoveries about the circulatory system by Galen and William Harvey.

Figurative language

Words and phrases whose meanings are different from their ordinary or dictionary meaning.

Literal language

Words and phrases that mean exactly what they say in their ordinary sense, such as describing the heart as an organ that pumps blood.

Root 'circ-'

A root word meaning 'round', as found in words like 'circulatory'.

Galen

A Greek doctor ($129\text{–}200$\,CE) who studied wounded gladiators and incorrectly believed blood vessels pulsed on their own and that the liver made new blood from food.

William Harvey

An English doctor in the $1600\text{s}$ who used mathematical calculations and experiments to prove that the heart continuously pumps the same blood around the body in a circle.

Harvey's blood circulation calculation

A mathematical proof showing that if a heart pumps $2$\,ounces per beat ($9$\,pounds per minute at $72$ beats per minute), a person's liver would impossibly need to produce $540$\,pounds of blood every hour from food if blood was used up.

Heart

The most powerful muscle in the human body, about the size of a fist, responsible for pumping blood around the body about once every minute.

Oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange

The process in the circulatory system where blood picks up oxygen in the lungs and gets rid of carbon dioxide.