Directions: Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions as follows:
Passage
Antibiotics are chemical substances that kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria. The success of antibiotics against disease-causing bacteria is one of modern medicine's great achievements. However, many bacteria harmful to humans have developed ways to circumvent the effects of antibiotics, and many infectious diseases are now much more difficult to treat than they were just a few decades ago. Antibiotic resistance is an especially difficult problem for hospitals with critically ill patients who are less able to fight off infections without the help of antibiotics. Bacteria can develop antibiotic resistance because they have the ability to adapt quickly to new environmental conditions. Most commonly, bacteria share with each other genetic material called resistance plasmids; these shared plasmids, which contain the genetic code enabling antibiotic resistance, can spread throughout a bacterial population to create a strain of resistant bacteria. Less commonly, a natural mutation that enables antibiotic resistance takes place within the chromosome of the bacteria, and the resulting strain of bacteria can reproduce and become dominant via natural selection. In the absence of human involvement, however, bacteria in the wild rarely develop resistance to antibiotics. In the United States, animals raised on industrial-scale factory farms are routinely administered low levels of antibiotics in their feed not as a cure for ongoing maladies, but primarily as a growth-enhancing agent to produce more meat and also as a prophylactic measure to compensate for overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. Currently, several antibiotics that are used in human medical treatment are administered non-therapeutically to healthy livestock and poultry. Examples include tetracycline, penicillin and erythromycin. This long-term non-therapeutic feeding of antibiotics to animals creates the ideal conditions for the development of antibioticresistant bacteria, as it kills the susceptible bacteria while leaving the resistant strains to reproduce and flourish. Europe is far ahead of the United States in the responsible use of antibiotics: On January 1, 2006, the European Union banned the feeding of all antibiotics to livestock for nontherapeutic purposes. This sweeping policy follows a 1998 ban on the non-therapeutic use of four medically-important antibiotics on animals. The time has come for the United States to follow Europe's lead.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
Try yourself: Based on the information in the passage, which of the following statements can be inferred?
A
Most industrial farms do not meet the standards for sanitation required by the United States government.
B
If the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics were halted worldwide, there would be no new resistant strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
C
European livestock and poultry are raised in more sanitary conditions than are those in the United States.
D
Hospitals are better learning to cope with the growing spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
E
It is possible for antibiotic-resistant bacteria in animals to be passed on to humans.
Correct Answer: E
In the first paragraph, the passage discusses how antibiotic resistant bacteria are becoming a problem for the treatment of infectious diseases in humans. The third paragraph, however, discusses a practice that promotes the spread of antibiotic resistance in animals, and the conclusion of the passage calls for the ban of this specific practice. In addition, in the third paragraph, the author makes a point to specifically mention that some of those antibiotics are used to treat humans. If it were not possible for the resistant bacteria in animals to infect humans, then there would be no link between the animal bacteria and the author’s concern for human health; the policy that is subsequently advocated would be moot. Hence, it is a reasonable inference that antibiotic resistant bacteria in livestock and poultry can indeed be spread to humans.
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MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
Try yourself: The passage is primarily concerned with
A
advocating the banning of a practice
B
explaining the mechanism of a process
C
explaining the practices of a particular industry
D
describing the history of a phenomenon
E
weighing the costs versus the benefits of a practice
Correct Answer: A
The main point of the passage is that the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics on livestock and poultry should be banned in the United States (as it is in Europe) because the practice promotes the spread of antibiotic resistance. This choice reflects the main point, hence, the primary concern, of the passage.
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MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
Try yourself: Based on the information in the passage, to which of the following practices would the author most likely be opposed?
A
Hospitals are hiring higher numbers of infectious disease specialists than ever before.
B
Many health insurance policies do not or only partially reimburse patients for prescriptions of the newest and most effective antibiotics.
C
The industrial farm industry contributes more than $100 million to incumbent members of Congress each year.
D
Physicians routinely prescribe antibiotics to patients with viral diseases, even though antibiotics have no effect on viruses.
E
Hospitals are enforcing more stringent “hand-hygiene” standards in an effort to reduce infections.
Correct Answer: D
Since antibiotics have no medically curative effect on patients with viral diseases, doctors prescribing such to a patient with a viral illness are administering the drugs in a “non-therapeutic” manner. The author specifically points out that the “non-therapeutic” or non-curative use of antibiotics creates conditionsfavorable for antibiotic-resistant bacteria to develop and implies that such use is not a "responsible" one. Therefore, this is a practice to which the author would very likely be opposed. (Note: Many doctors prescribe antibiotics to patients with viral diseases simply because they are asked to or expected to (do something) by the patient.)
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MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
Try yourself: Which of the following best describes what the phrase “prophylactic measure” in the third paragraph means?
A
a measure to cure the animals of any existing infectious diseases
B
a contraceptive measure to prevent the animals from spreading genetic diseases
C
a pre-emptive measure to kill bacteria in the animals before the animals become ill
D
an antiseptic measure to kill surface bacteria in the surrounding environment
E
a measure that creates a physical barrier that protects the animals from the bacteria in the surrounding environment
Correct Answer: C
Since the use of antibiotics in the farm industry is specifically described to be “non-therapeutic,” it cannot be used as a curative measure and, therefore, is most likely used as a pre-emptive measure in order to prevent or protect the animals from developing infectious diseases.
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MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
Try yourself: According to the passage, which of the following describes how bacteria can develop antibiotic resistance?
A
Radiation from medical devices such as x-ray machines weaken the immune system in both humans and animals.
B
Resistant strains developed through genetic engineering dominate a bacterial population through natural selection.
C
Medical practitioners over-prescribe antibiotics in hospitals which encourages bacteria to adapt and form resistant strains.
D
Genetic material containing the resistant trait is shared among a bacterial population.
E
Many antibiotics lose potency and become ineffective over time.
Correct Answer: D
In paragraph two, the passage specifically states that “bacteria share with each other genetic material called resistance plasmids … [which] … can reproduce and become dominant via natural selection.”
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The document Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 18 is a part of the GMAT Course 100 RCs for GMAT.
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