The Growing Global Threat Of Antibiotic Resistance Ielts Reading Answers Verified -

At its core, antibiotic resistance is a natural evolutionary mechanism. When a population of bacteria is exposed to an antibacterial drug, the weakest microorganisms are eradicated. However, individuals possessing random genetic mutations that grant survival advantages manage to endure. These resilient survivors reproduce rapidly, passing their drug-resistant traits to their offspring. More alarming still is the bacterial capacity for horizontal gene transfer. Through this process, microbes can share resistance genes directly with neighboring bacteria of entirely different species via plasmids. Consequently, a harmless environmental bacterium can transmit a defense mechanism to a highly lethal human pathogen, rendering standard medical treatments useless. Paragraph C

During the 1980s, a dangerous complacency settled over the medical establishment. The perception was that the bacterial infection problem had been solved. Drug companies consequently stopped working on new antibacterial agents, concentrating instead on other areas such as viral infections. As Dr Michael Blum of the FDA explains: “In the meantime, resistance increased to a number of commonly used antibiotics, possibly related to overuse. In the 1990s, we’ve come to a point for certain infections that we don’t have agents available.”

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? Write: if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this At its core, antibiotic resistance is a natural

These answers correspond to common question types associated with this specific passage found in IELTS practice materials and academic preparation sites .

Disease-causing microbes thwart antibiotics by interfering with their mechanism of action. For example, penicillin kills bacteria by attaching to their cell walls, then destroying a key part of the wall. The wall falls apart, and the bacterium dies. Resistant microbes, however, either alter their cell walls so penicillin can't bind or produce enzymes that dismantle the antibiotic. Antibiotic resistance results from gene action. Bacteria acquire genes conferring resistance in different ways. Bacterial DNA may mutate spontaneously. Drug-resistant tuberculosis arises this way. Another way is called transformation where one bacterium may take up DNA from another bacterium. Most frightening, however, is resistance acquired from a small circle of DNA called a plasmid, which can flit from one type of bacterium to another. A single plasmid can provide a slew of different resistances. bacterial resistance development

The narrative of modern medicine was fundamentally rewritten in 1928 with Alexander Fleming’s accidental discovery of penicillin. Before the widespread deployment of antibiotics, minor lacerations, routine surgical interventions, and common respiratory infections carried high mortality rates. The subsequent mid-twentieth century witnessed a "golden era" of antibiotic discovery, during which pharmaceutical innovations successfully suppressed historical scourges such as tuberculosis, syphilis, and streptococcal septicemia.

Many questions regarding the efficacy and usage of antibiotics in this passage are answered as , FALSE , or NOT GIVEN based on specific statements regarding medical practices, bacterial resistance development, and infection control measures. or transduction (viral delivery via bacteriophages).

A process where distinct bacteria share genetic material across species boundaries. HGT occurs via conjugation (direct physical contact), transformation (absorption of naked DNA from the environment), or transduction (viral delivery via bacteriophages).

Found in Section B: "...often administered for viral infections like influenza or the common cold..."

Explanation: The text mentions "phage therapy (using viruses that target and destroy specific bacteria)" as an alternative therapy being researched, but it never states whether this concept was discovered specifically in the 21st century or earlier. Questions 6–10 (Summary Completion)