Antibiotics have been one of humanity's greatest success stories for over a century, saving millions of lives and enabling major medical advancements. However, this success has come at a cost. The growing resistance of many bacterial strains to the curative effects of antibiotics is such a concern that it has been referred to, in some quarters, as the greatest threat to our continued existence on earth.
Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria evolve mechanisms to survive the drugs designed to kill them. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the human body that becomes resistant, but the bacteria within it [1]. 2. The Mechanisms of Resistance
"The Growing Global Threat of Antibiotic Resistance" IELTS passage outlines how human misuse and reliance on antibiotics have created a critical public health crisis, characterized by the rapid emergence of resistant "superbacteria". The text details key drivers of this crisis, including agricultural use and over-prescription, and emphasizes the need for global, multi-sectoral action to curb resistance. Find the full answer key at ieltsmaterial.com . Global Threat of Antibiotic Resistance | PDF - Scribd Antibiotics have been one of humanity's greatest success
Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria evolve mechanisms to withstand the drugs designed to kill them. This is a natural evolutionary process, but it has been dramatically accelerated by human actions. When a person takes antibiotics, sensitive bacteria are killed, but resistant strains may survive and multiply. These resistant bacteria can then spread to other people, animals, and the environment. The core problem, experts argue, is the overuse and misuse of these vital medicines.
The rise of "superbugs"—bacteria resistant to multiple types of antibiotics—threatens to make common infections fatal once again. Surgeries, chemotherapy, and organ transplants, which rely on prophylactic antibiotics, become high-risk procedures [1]. 5. Potential Solutions and Future Outlook Addressing this threat requires a multi-faceted approach: The Mechanisms of Resistance "The Growing Global Threat
The increased prevalence of antibiotic resistance is an outcome of evolution. Any population of organisms—bacteria included—naturally includes variants with unusual traits; in this case, the ability to withstand an antibiotic’s attack. When a person takes an antibiotic, the drug kills the defenseless bacteria, leaving behind, or “selecting,” those that can resist it. These renegade bacteria then multiply, increasing their numbers a million-fold in a day, becoming the predominant microorganism. As Joe Cranston, Ph.D., director of the department of drug policy and standards at the American Medical Association, notes: “Whenever antibiotics are used, there is selective pressure for resistance to occur. More and more organisms develop resistance to more and more drugs”.
Ella survived — barely. A last-resort experimental phage therapy from a lab in Georgia cleared the infection. But the phage stocks ran out after treating only ten patients nationally. Her doctor whispered to her son: “Next time, there will be nothing.” The most frightening method
Paragraph B discusses how bacteria "share resistance genes through horizontal gene transfer. This mechanism enables completely different species of bacteria to pass defense traits among themselves." The text explicitly outlines the transmission of genetic material (defense traits) across different species. 3. Answer: D
5. Routine hip replacements are now banned in the story’s future.
Understanding these terms is critical for answering IELTS reading questions correctly: A type; a genetic variant of a microorganism. Curative (adj): Healing; medicinal; therapeutic.
Resistance arises through several genetic mechanisms. Bacterial DNA may mutate spontaneously; drug-resistant tuberculosis arises this way. Alternatively, a process called transformation allows one bacterium to take up DNA from another. The most frightening method, however, is through small circles of DNA called plasmids . A single plasmid can flit from one bacterium to another, carrying several different resistance genes at once. At the same time, some resistant microbes alter their cell walls so antibiotics cannot bind, while others produce enzymes that actively dismantle the drug.