Antibiotics and similar drugs, together called antimicrobial agents,

Antibiotics and similar drugs, together called antimicrobial agents, have been used for the last 70 years to treat patients who have infectious diseases. Since the 1940s, these drugs have greatly reduced illness and death from infectious diseases. Antibiotics have been beneficial and, when prescribed and taken correctly, their value in patient care is enormous. However, these drugs have been used so widely and for so long that the infectious organisms the antibiotics are designed to kill have adapted to them, making the drugs less effective. Many fungi, viruses, and parasites have done the same. Some microorganisms may develop resistance to a single antimicrobial agent (or related class of agent), while others develop resistance to several antimicrobial agents or classes. These organisms are often referred to as multidrug-resistant or MDR strains. In some cases, the microorganisms have become so resistant that no available antibiotics are effective against them.

Antimicrobial drug resistance occurs everywhere in the world and is not limited to industrialized nations. Hospitals and other healthcare ettings are battling drug-resistant organisms that spread inside these institutions. Drug-resistant infections also spread in the community at large. Examples include drug-resistant pneumonias, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and skin and soft tissue infections.

People infected with drug-resistant organisms are more likely to have longer and more expensive hospital stays, and may be more likely to die as a result of the infection. When the drug of choice for treating their infection doesn’t work, they require treatment with second- or third-choice drugs that may be less effective, more toxic, and more expensive. This means that patients with an antimicrobial-resistant infection may suffer more and pay more for treatment.

1. Which of the following would the author be most likely to recommend regarding this passage?

a. A stronger focus in research should be implemented to combat multidrug-resistant strains.
b. An increase in funding should be given to third world countries in an effort to both treat and research new MDR strains.
c. Staph and MRSA should be listed as deadly diseases.
d. Safe sex education should be reprioritized as paramount, as it’s a controllable variable whereas the spreading of soft tissue infections isn’t.
e. Healthcare professionals should lower their fees for people who suffer from MDR strains.


2. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?

a. Drug-resistant infections are causing an increase in hospital and medical fees.
b. Drug-resistant pneumonia and fierce STDs are on their way to becoming a global epidemic unless preparedness action is aggressively taken.
c. The longtime use of certain antibiotics has rendered them ineffective against the ever-adapting viruses they combat.
d. The value of antibiotics has been underestimated; hence, its continuing development has been neglected.
e. Antibiotics are frequently not taken correctly, weakening the immune system against MDR strains.


3. Of the following situations, which most resembles the information regarding antibiotics in the passage?

a. a superhero who has lost his invisibility powers
b. a cucumber in a salt solution halfway on a course to being a pickle
c. a sixteenth-century castle surrounded by a giant moat hosting a kingdom that is being attacked by a rival empire that has canoes
d. two apple pies entered in a bake-off, one made with Granny Smith apples and one made with Red Delicious
e. Buying tickets to a sold-out show on the street outside the venue rather than on the Internet through an overinflated third-party source


4. What is most likely the structural purpose of the fourth sentence?

a. to report more data regarding the author’s interest in the study
b. to begin a comparison between two different ideas
c. to introduce a rebuttal to a widely accepted opinion
d. to vehemently denounce an institution’s stance
e. to appeal to the reader’s sense of compassion


5. Based on the information in the passage, which of these statements is true?

a. As infectious organisms evolve, less effective and more expensive drugs will have to be used for treatment.
b. Hospitals are the only institutions that benefit from the inefficacy of antibiotics since they’re likely to reap more capital with increased hospital stays.
c. People who live in industrialized areas are more prone to contracting an MDR strain.
d. If antibiotics were taken as prescribed more often, the viruses being fought would never have had the chance to adapt to them.
e. We can expect a rise in sexually transmitted diseases in our society since we’ve lost the power to treat them.


6. The tone of this passage could be described as:

a. critical
b. sarcastic
c. admonishing
d. infuriated
e. resentful