Lesson Y8-U04-L04

Slums, Disease and Public Health Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 10

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y8-U04-L04, Slums, Disease and Public Health: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 History (National Curriculum), Unit 10: Year 8: Industrial Revolution, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What term describes a crowded, run-down area of cheap housing in industrial towns?

    • Manor
    • Estate
    • Slum
    • Suburb

  2. What is the clean removal of sewage and waste to keep people healthy called?

    • Sanitation
    • Migration
    • Enclosure
    • Pollution

  3. What was the name of the deadly water-borne disease in industrial towns?

    • Influenza
    • Scurvy
    • Cholera
    • Malaria

  4. What is an epidemic?

    • Fast spreading disease
    • Animal plague
    • Local infection
    • Slow illness

  5. What was Manchester's population in 1851?

    • About 25,000
    • Around 100,000
    • Over 350,000
    • Nearly 1 million

  6. What were back-to-back houses?

    • Detached mansions
    • Rural farmhouses
    • Shared-wall slums
    • Factory warehouses

  7. How many families often shared one slum water tap?

    • 2 to 5
    • 500 to 1000
    • 10 to 20
    • 50 to 100

  8. What was a privy in an industrial slum?

    • A shared toilet
    • A coal cellar
    • A factory machine
    • A water well

  9. Why were cesspits next to wells dangerous?

    • Blocked the roads
    • Contaminated drinking water
    • Caused bad smells
    • Attracted stray dogs

  10. What did Edwin Chadwick's 1842 report compare?

    • Coal mine depths
    • Factory wage rates
    • Empire trade routes
    • Town life expectancy

  11. Roughly how old were workers in the worst factory towns when they died?

    • Before they were 20
    • Before they were 60
    • Before they were 70
    • Before they were 40

  12. Which disease finally frightened the government into action?

    • Cholera
    • Smallpox
    • Tuberculosis
    • Influenza

  13. How many people did the 1848-49 cholera epidemic kill in England and Wales?

    • Around 5 million
    • Over 50,000
    • Around 500
    • Around 5,000

  14. In which years did cholera return to Britain?

    • 1901, 1918 and 1939
    • 1800-01, 1815 and 1820
    • 1831-32, 1848-49 and 1854
    • 1760, 1790 and 1812

  15. What was the main cause of disease in industrial slums?

    • Lack of coal fires
    • Small room sizes
    • Contaminated water supply
    • Damp stone floors

  16. What major waterborne disease frequently spread through shared pumps in industrial slums?

    • Influenza
    • Cholera
    • Rickets
    • Scurvy

  17. Which primary factor caused high mortality rates in early industrial towns?

    • Low elevation
    • Poor sanitation
    • Solar radiation
    • Dietary fibre

  18. Why did industrial towns grow so quickly?

    • Beautiful park designs
    • Free government housing
    • Factory job migration
    • Healthy country air

  19. How was most industrial housing built?

    • Cheaply for profit
    • Directly by the Crown
    • Strongly for safety
    • Slowly with care

  20. What was the main problem with shared privies in slums?

    • Frequent flooding
    • Overflowing waste pits
    • Lack of doors
    • Broken locks

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