Reading Comprehension

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 antibiotic-resistant 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 non-therapeutic 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.



The passage is primarily concerned with

advocating the banning of a practice
explaining the mechanism of a process
explaining the practices of a particular industry
describing the history of a phenomenon
weighing the costs versus the benefits of a practice

advocating the banning of a practice
explaining the mechanism of a process
explaining the practices of a particular industry
describing the history of a phenomenon
weighing the costs versus the benefits of a practice

Is it explaining the mechanism of a process

advocating the banning of a practice - Only the end of 3d para suggests to ban a practice, so A is out.

explaining the practices of a particular industry - Although most of the discussion is related with antibiotics (medical field, poultry), the point revolves around the process not towards the practices of one particular field - Out

describing the history of a phenomenon -> No

weighing the costs versus the benefits of a practice -> never talked about any cost

anshumishra wrote:

advocating the banning of a practice
explaining the mechanism of a process
explaining the practices of a particular industry
describing the history of a phenomenon
weighing the costs versus the benefits of a practice

Is it explaining the mechanism of a process

advocating the banning of a practice - Only the end of 3d para suggests to ban a practice, so A is out.

explaining the practices of a particular industry - Although most of the discussion is related with antibiotics (medical field, poultry), the point revolves around the process not towards the practices of one particular field - Out

describing the history of a phenomenon -> No

weighing the costs versus the benefits of a practice -> never talked about any cost

The OA given is A i.e advocating the banning of a practice
Even I had marked B & was not convinced with the explanation given.So I posted on BTG.
Please note below the explanation provided by Manhattan.See if it helps.

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.

(A) CORRECT. This choice reflects the main point, hence, the primary concern, of the passage.

(B) While paragraph two briefly explains the mechanism behind how antibiotic resistance is acquired, it does so in support of the main point and is not the main point itself.

(C) While paragraph three briefly explains a practice of the industrial farming industry, it does so in support of the main point and is not the main point itself.

(D) The passage does not concern itself with the history of antibiotic resistance other than to state that it has become a problem.

(E) The passage does not weigh the costs versus benefits of any particular practice.

I was doing a second read of this passage... got the main point almost immediately.

However this question bugged me a bit...

[spoiler]how is it that the OA for the below is D, C is also possible and if this was an inference question even B could have sufficed![/spoiler]

According to the passage, which of the following describes how bacteria can develop antibiotic resistance?

< Radiation from medical devices such as x-ray machines weaken the immune system in both humansand animals.

< Resistant strains developed through genetic engineering dominate a bacterial population through natural selection.

< Medical practitioners over-prescribe antibiotics in hospitals which encourages bacteria to adapt and form resistant strains.

< Genetic material containing the resistant trait is shared among a bacterial population.

< Many antibiotics lose potency and become ineffective over time.

Well guys .. this is my first post in RC section, so here I go.

As far as question from Prachi is concerned, even I picked up B as an answer.

Coming arora007's question, the picked up D as it is clearly given in,


"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."

Hope it helps.