The role of misuse — Reading Comprehension Aptitude Question
The role of misuse: Antibiotic resistance is not a future risk but a present one. Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Reading Comprehension
- Section: Verbal Ability
- Difficulty: Medium
- Time target: 90 seconds
Question
Antibiotic resistance is not a future risk but a present one. Every course of antibiotics kills the susceptible bacteria and leaves the resistant to multiply, so resistance is the predictable result of use rather than of misuse alone. Misuse merely accelerates it. This is why the response has two halves that are often confused: using existing drugs more sparingly buys time, but only new classes of drug can replace what is being lost.
According to the passage, misuse of antibiotics:
Options
- Is the sole cause of resistance
- Speeds up a process that use alone would cause anyway
- Has no measurable effect
- Only matters in hospitals
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: B. Speeds up a process that use alone would cause anyway
Worked solution
- The passage says resistance results from use rather than misuse alone, and that 'misuse merely accelerates it'.
- So misuse speeds up a process ordinary use would produce regardless.
Answer: Speeds up a process that use alone would cause anyway.
The idea
The word 'merely' is doing the work in that sentence. Small qualifying words often decide between two otherwise similar options.
Shortcut. Translate 'accelerates' as 'speeds up': only one option contains that verb, and its second half matches 'resistance is the predictable result of use'.
Common trap. "Is the sole cause of resistance" — the common belief, which the passage names only to reject: resistance results from use 'rather than of misuse alone'.