The Growing Global Threat Of Antibiotic Resistance Ielts Reading Answers Top ~repack~ Now
To perform well on this passage, you should recognize these high-level terms often tested in synonyms: : Healing or medicinal. Horizontal Gene Transfer : The process of passing resistance genes between bacteria. : Inborn or natural.
: Paragraph C mentions: "...in many developing regions, over-the-counter access to antibiotics remains entirely unregulated." 10. Answer: diagnostic technologies
(Justification: Paragraph B explicitly details "horizontal gene transfer, where bacteria share resistance genes directly with neighboring microbes.")
Paragraph C attributes the problem to human medical misuse, specifically when patients fail to complete their full course of medication.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? In boxes 8–11 on your answer sheet, write: if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this To perform well on this passage, you should
Intended to prevent disease (e.g., using antibiotics before surgery).
A prediction regarding the future financial toll of drug-resistant bacteria.
The economic and human toll of this crisis is already staggering and is projected to worsen exponentially. Microorganisms resistant to multiple drugs, such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, complicate hospital stays and escalate healthcare costs. When first-line antibiotics fail, physicians must resort to second- or third-line therapies, which are often significantly more expensive, require longer hospitalization, and carry a higher risk of toxic side effects. Organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) warn that if left unchecked, antimicrobial resistance could claim up to 10 million lives annually by 2050, matching the global toll of cancer and plunging modern healthcare back into the dark ages.
While human misuse is a massive concern, the agricultural sector represents an even larger volumetric threat. Globally, a staggering percentage of medically important antibiotics are administered to livestock. Rather than treating sick animals, subtherapeutic doses are routinely mixed into animal feed and water to promote faster growth and prevent diseases caused by crowded, unsanitary farming conditions. This practice turns industrial farms into massive breeding grounds for resistant bacteria. These superbugs ultimately enter the human ecosystem through contaminated meat products, direct contact with agricultural workers, and runoff water that pollutes local crops and vital water supplies. : Paragraph C mentions: "
Paragraph G directly contradicts the statement, noting that the One Health strategy "recognizes that human, animal, and environmental health are deeply interconnected," rather than isolated.
Examples of regional differences in how patients obtain antibiotics. Questions 6–9
: Paragraph A states: "...surgical procedures, organ transplantations, and cancer chemotherapies, which all rely heavily on prophylactic antimicrobial cover, became standard clinical practice." The term "prophylactic" means preventative. 8. Answer: natural selection
1. Which Paragraph Contains the Following Information? (Matching Information) In boxes 8–11 on your answer sheet, write:
Bacteria have the ability to pass resistance genes to entirely different species of bacteria.
Compounding this biological threat is a systemic failure within the pharmaceutical industry. The pipeline for developing novel antibiotics has effectively run dry. Pharmaceutical conglomerates have largely abandoned antibiotic research and development (R&D) in favor of far more lucrative drugs targeting chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, or mental health disorders. Unlike chronic medications that patients must take daily for decades, antibiotics are typically prescribed for short courses of one to two weeks. Furthermore, any genuinely novel antibiotic discovered today would be strictly rationed by doctors as a "last-line defense," drastically limiting its sales volume and ensuring that companies cannot recoup their multi-billion-dollar R&D expenditures under current market models.
🔹 Unprecedented: Never done or known before. 🔹 Misuse/Overuse: Key causes of resistance mentioned in the text. 🔹 Pipeline: Often refers to the development of new drugs.
growing global threat of antibiotic resistance is a key reading passage frequently found in IELTS preparation materials like IELTS Training Online IELTS Material
(Justification: Paragraph F highlights the "economic bottleneck" and explains that pharmaceutical companies lack financial incentives because antibiotics are short-duration drugs.)
| Number Correct | IELTS Reading Band Score (Academic) | | :--- | :--- | | 13/13 | 9.0 | | 11–12 | 7.5 – 8.0 | | 9–10 | 6.5 – 7.0 | | 7–8 | 5.5 – 6.0 | | 5–6 | 4.5 – 5.0 |