Which of the following behaviours is correctly matched with the corresponding diseases?

Analyze the question: We need the option where the behaviour is correctly linked to diseases it can cause or spread.

Check each option:

• A. Smoking cigarette / liver cirrhosis, lung cancer, AIDS. Smoking causes lung cancer, but AIDS is caused by HIV, which is not spread by smoking. Liver cirrhosis is mainly linked to alcohol, not cigarettes. Wrong.

• B. Multiple sexual partners / liver cirrhosis, syphilis, AIDS. Syphilis and AIDS are sexually transmitted, so those two fit. Liver cirrhosis is mainly caused by excessive alcohol, though hepatitis B/C can also damage the liver. As a list, it is not fully correct. Wrong.

• C. Living near dirty gutter / lung cancer, syphilis, river blindness. Dirty gutters breed mosquitoes and harbour rats and flies, which spread malaria, cholera and similar diseases. Lung cancer and syphilis are not caused by gutters, and river blindness is spread by blackflies that breed in fast-flowing rivers. Wrong.

• D. Eating uncooked meat / dysentery, cholera, food poisoning. Raw or undercooked food can carry bacteria, protozoa and parasites. These can cause dysentery, food poisoning and related gastrointestinal infections. Cholera is more typically spread by contaminated water or food handled in unhygienic conditions, but it is the only option where all the listed diseases are food/water-borne and plausibly linked to the behaviour. Best match.

Conclusion: Option D is the only one in which the behaviour is reasonably matched with the diseases listed. Strictly speaking, cholera is mostly waterborne, but D is clearly the best choice among the four.

Exam tip: When matching behaviours with diseases, ask two questions: "How is each disease transmitted?" and "Does the behaviour expose me to that route?" Quickly eliminate options that contain one obviously wrong disease, such as AIDS from smoking or lung cancer from gutters.