Logical Reasoning

PT147 · S1 · Q12 Ampicillin and other modern antibiotics

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Ampicillin and other modern antibiotics kill a much wider variety of bacteria than penicillin does.

Conclusion (Thus)

Newer antibiotics are likely to result in an outbreak of diseases caused by drug-resistant bacteria.

Evidence

Newer antibiotics (like ampicillin) kill a much wider variety of bacteria than penicillin does, and since they make drug companies more money, we could see a situation in which there isn't as much penicillin available and doctors have to prescribe these more powerful antibiotics even when that would otherwise be unnecessary.

Evaluate

The blank is prefaced by a Support Indicator, "since" (fabs = for, after all, because, since), so we know we're trying to pick an answer that would support the previous claim.

Why would newer antibiotics, which kill a much wider variety of bacteria than penicillin make us more likely to have an outbreak of diseases caused by drug-resistant bacteria?

(If we have real-world knowledge about the fear of over-prescribing antibiotics, then we probably understand that the concern is that when you kill off all the bacteria that antibiotics CAN kill, you leave only the bacteria that antibiotics CAN'T kill to survive / thrive / replicate. Soon the dominant strains of bacteria are the ones that resist our drugs.)

Goal

If we don't already have that anticipated sense of where this is heading, then we just need to look for an idea that connects to the emergence of "drug-resistant bacteria".

12.

The conclusion of the argument is most strongly supported if which one of the following completes the passage?

  1. Correct

    drug-resistant bacteria flourish in the

    Why this is right

    This connects "newer antibiotics / killing a much wider variety of bacteria" to the emergence of "drug-resistant bacteria". People use the newer antibiotics more, which means that a much wider variety of bacteria are killed off. Drug-resistant bacteria flourish when there isn't competition from a wide variety of other bacteria. So by killing off a wide variety of bacteria, we're creating conditions for drug-resistant bacteria to flourish.

    Skill tested: Strengthen · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    79% picked this

  2. older antibiotics like penicillin have

    No Impact

    This has nothing to do with connecting "newer antibiotics / killing a much wider variety of bacteria" to the emergence of "drug-resistant bacteria". It doesn't talk about newer antibiotics or drug-resistant bacteria.

    2% picked this

  3. a shortage of penicillin would

    No Impact

    This has nothing to do with connecting "newer antibiotics / killing a much wider variety of bacteria" to the emergence of "drug-resistant bacteria". It doesn't talk about newer antibiotics or drug-resistant bacteria.

    1% picked this

  4. treatment of diseases with the

    No Impact

    This has nothing to do with connecting "newer antibiotics / killing a much wider variety of bacteria" to the emergence of "drug-resistant bacteria". It tells us that we'll have to spend a lot more money if we start treating people more and more with the newer antibiotics, but how do we get from "spending more money on treatments" to outbreaks of diseases caused by drug-resistant bacteria?

    4% picked this

  5. most bacteria that are resistant

    No Impact

    This answer is saying "most of what penicillin can't kill CAN be killed by the newer antibiotics". So if we start using the newer antibiotics more, then we'll be killing some bacteria that previously wasn't being killed by penicillin. It feels like we already kind of knew this, since we were told that the newer antibiotics can kill a much wider variety of bacteria than can penicillin. We can't strengthen by reiterating something we already know.

    14% picked this

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