English Language · English

Read the passage and answer the question that follows: 'The Black Death was a devastating global epidemic of bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s. It arrived in Europe in October 1347, when 12 ships from the Black Sea docked at the Sicilian port of Messina. People gathered on the docks were met with a horrifying surprise: Most sailors aboard the ships were dead, and those still alive were gravely ill and covered in black boils that oozed blood and pus. This event marked the beginning of the first wave of the second plague pandemic, which would go on to wipe out more than 20 million people in Europe.' How does the passage describe the Black Death?