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10 Jul 2024, 07:01
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Most Strengthen: Streptomycin and oxytetracycline present in livestock further accumulate in humans who consume animal products.
Most Weaken: Vancomycin is effective against a narrower range of bacteria than streptomycin and oxytetracycline are.
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
45%
(medium)
Question Stats:
72% (02:32) correct
28%
(02:50)
wrong
based on 2064
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Organic chemist: Streptomycin and oxytetracycline are two anti-bacterial agents used in commercial farming, and may pose a serious public health risk down the line. These anti-bacterial agents are liberally applied to crops grown for animal feed and, as a result, it is common to find livestock with a build up of the chemicals in their bodies. In fact, levels of the antibiotics in livestock have been found to be up to 100 times what is needed to break down the natural bacterial eco-system of the animal, an outcome that leads to poor health outcomes for the animal and increases the risk of anti-biotic resistant bacterial strains evolving within them.
A disease specialist intends to use the chemist’s observations to argue that vancomycin, a compound that breaks down much faster than streptomycin and oxytetracycline, should replace them in the production of livestock feed, reducing the build-up of anti-biotic agents in livestock. Select the information that, if true, would most strengthen the disease specialists’ position, and that which, if true would most weaken it. Make only two selections, one in each column.
A disease specialist intends to use the chemist’s observations to argue that vancomycin, a compound that breaks down much faster than streptomycin and oxytetracycline, should replace them in the production of livestock feed, reducing the build-up of anti-biotic agents in livestock. Select the information that, if true, would most strengthen the disease specialists’ position, and that which, if true would most weaken it. Make only two selections, one in each column.
|
| Most Strengthen | Most Weaken | |
| A high number of crop failures are attributed to bacterial infections each year. | ||
| Streptomycin and oxytetracycline are fairly cheap to produce. | ||
| Streptomycin and oxytetracycline runoff can damage water bodies. | ||
| Vancomycin is effective against a narrower range of bacteria than streptomycin and oxytetracycline are. | ||
| Streptomycin and oxytetracycline present in livestock further accumulate in humans who consume animal products. |
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Official Answer
Most Strengthen: Streptomycin and oxytetracycline present in livestock further accumulate in humans who consume animal products.
Most Weaken: Vancomycin is effective against a narrower range of bacteria than streptomycin and oxytetracycline are.
10 Jul 2024, 07:10
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Bunuel
Experts' Global Explanation:
We need to select the information that, if true, would most strengthen the disease specialists’ position, and that which, if true would most weaken it.
A.
Even if it is true that a high number of crop failures are attributed to bacterial infections each year, no information is provided in the passage that suggests whether vancomycin is more or less effective than streptomycin and oxytetracycline in preventing crop failures. Hence, this information neither strengthens nor weakens the disease specialists’ position.
B.
Even if it is true that streptomycin and oxytetracycline are fairly cheap to produce, no information is provided regarding the cost of vancomycin. Since it is not possible to determine whether vancomycin is cheaper than streptomycin and oxytetracycline, this information neither strengthens nor weakens the disease specialists’ position.
C.
Even if it is true that streptomycin and oxytetracycline runoff can damage water bodies, no information is provided that suggests whether vancomycin causes comparatively more or less damage to the water bodies. Hence, this information neither strengthens nor weakens the disease specialists’ position.
D.
Since streptomycin and oxytetracycline are primarily used as antibacterial agents in commercial farming, if vancomycin is effective against a narrower range of bacteria than streptomycin and oxytetracycline, then this would imply that vancomycin cannot effectively replace them as antibacterial agents in livestock feed production. This would weaken the disease specialist's position advocating for vancomycin as a replacement for streptomycin and oxytetracycline.
Hence, “Vancomycin is effective against a narrower range of bacteria than streptomycin and oxytetracycline are” is the correct answer choice for the Most Weaken column.
E.
If it is true that streptomycin and oxytetracycline present in livestock accumulate in humans who consume animal products, then this would be another concern related to streptomycin and oxytetracycline. However, the passage mentions that vancomycin breaks down much faster than streptomycin and oxytetracycline, reducing the build-up of antibiotic agents in livestock. This suggests that the adverse health effects on humans due to vancomycin will likely be less significant than those caused by streptomycin and oxytetracycline. Consequently, this strengthens the disease specialist's position in favor of using vancomycin as a replacement for streptomycin and oxytetracycline.
Hence, “Streptomycin and oxytetracycline present in livestock further accumulate in humans who consume animal products” is the correct answer choice for the Most Strengthen column.
Hence, E is the correct answer choice for the “Most Strengthen” column, and D is the correct answer choice for the “Most Weaken” column.
10 Jul 2024, 07:24
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Argument is that vancomycin should be used because it is better than those two listed products. However, if those are consumed in human body which could have adverse effects hence should not be used .
Narrow applicability of new product is a disadvantage hence it weakens the conclusion
Posted from my mobile device
Narrow applicability of new product is a disadvantage hence it weakens the conclusion
Posted from my mobile device
10 Jul 2024, 07:25
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A disease specialist intends to use the chemist’s observations to argue that vancomycin, a compound that breaks down much faster (it would not build-up any longer than other 2) than streptomycin and oxytetracycline, should replace them in the production of livestock feed, reducing the build-up of anti-biotic agents in livestock.
The disease specialist intends to replace streptomycin and oxytetracycline with vancomycin because he is worried about 'build-up'.
Option E gives a reason to use vancomycin based on the same 'build-up' ground.
Option D states a -ve of vancomycin and gives a reason why the use of streptomycin and oxytetracycline should be continued.
Therefore, Part 1 is option E, and Part 2 is option D.
The disease specialist intends to replace streptomycin and oxytetracycline with vancomycin because he is worried about 'build-up'.
Option E gives a reason to use vancomycin based on the same 'build-up' ground.
Option D states a -ve of vancomycin and gives a reason why the use of streptomycin and oxytetracycline should be continued.
Therefore, Part 1 is option E, and Part 2 is option D.
