Directions: In this section, you have a short passage. After the passage, you will find some items based on the passage. Read the passage carefully and answer the items based on it. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and the opinion of author only. We live in a time when globalisation is rapidly encompassing travel, information, trade and investment. The internet ties people together in ways unimagined a few years ago. The globalisation of health, however, remains an elusive goal, similar to the globalisation of economic well-being. Laurie Garrett, in The Coming Plague, describes an unwelcome form of globalisation: the globalisation of disease. Garrett examines the recent history of emerging diseases such as AIDS, Ebola, Hantavirus, Rift Valley Fever, Legionnaires' disease, and others. She also explains the resurgence of familiar diseases like tuberculosis, cholera, and pneumonia as a consequence of the widespread and unwise use of antibiotics. Many of the new diseases are clearly linked to changes in land use, which brings humans into close contacts with rodents or other animals that harbour viruses previously unknown to medicine and often deadly to humans. Resurgent diseases, by contrast, are a creation of our medical practice. By treating people with antibiotics without restraint, we unknowingly select strains that are immune to the antibiotics and that pass on their resistant genes to unrelated bacteria by way of plasmid transfer. The heroes of her book are the women and men on the frontlines of epidemiology. Garrett makes a plea for a greater commitment from our universities, medical schools, and government agencies to train workers who will be capable of recognizing new diseases and who will be able to move about equally well in the laboratory, the hospital and the field in pursuit of knowledge and public-health intervention around the world.
1. Medical practices
2. Overuse of antibiotics
3. Emergence of new strains
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Passage Analysis: Resurgent Diseases and Contributing Factors
This section provides a detailed examination of the provided passage to identify the key factors influencing the spread and impact of resurgent diseases, as presented by the author.
Key Factors in Resurgent Diseases
The passage contrasts emerging diseases with resurgent diseases. While emerging diseases are often linked to environmental changes and human interaction with animal hosts, resurgent diseases are specifically identified as a consequence of human medical interventions and practices.
Factors Affecting Resurgent Diseases Explained
Let's evaluate each statement based on the information given in the passage:
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1. Medical practices:
The passage explicitly states, "Resurgent diseases, by contrast, are a creation of our medical practice." This confirms that medical practices are a primary driver behind the resurgence of diseases.
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2. Overuse of antibiotics:
This factor is directly linked to medical practices mentioned in the passage. The text highlights the "widespread and unwise use of antibiotics" as a reason for the resurgence of diseases like tuberculosis and cholera. It further explains that treating infections "without restraint" leads to the development of resistant strains.
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3. Emergence of new strains:
The passage details how the continued and unrestrained use of antibiotics results in the selection of bacterial strains that are no longer susceptible to these drugs. It mentions, "...we unknowingly select strains that are immune to the antibiotics and that pass on their resistant genes to unrelated bacteria...". The development and spread of these antibiotic-resistant strains constitute the "emergence of new strains" in this context, which fuels the resurgence of diseases.
Summary of Resurgent Disease Causes
Based on the passage's content:
- Statement 1 is directly supported as a cause of resurgent diseases.
- Statement 2 is explained as a specific manifestation of problematic medical practices leading to resurgent diseases.
- Statement 3 describes the biological outcome (resistant strains) resulting from antibiotic overuse, which is central to the concept of resurgent diseases discussed.
Therefore, according to the passage, medical practices, the overuse of antibiotics, and the emergence of new (resistant) strains are all factors affecting resurgent diseases.
Similar Questions
- What pushes farmers into places unsuited for agriculture?
- Which one of the following is NOT true, according to the passage, for ecological degradation ?
- What is the conclusion of the author in the passage about the prospects of agriculture in the world?
- Which one of the following words means 'incursion'?
Which one of the following is a way to establish the discovery of a new language?
Which one of the following statements is correct?
“The people may be known, but the identity of their language may not be”, means:
Which one of the following words from the passage means “come to be known”?
- What according to the passage is the 'unwelcome form of the globalization'?
1. Globalization of the diseases
2. Elusive goal of globalization
3. History of fatal diseases
4. Selective use of antibiotics
Select the correct answer using the code given below : - According to the passage, many new diseases are emerging due to change in land use because
Important Questions from Reading Comprehension
What is the meaning of ‘intrigued’?
What are ice shelves?
What are icebergs?
When the iceberg turns upside down, it appears ________.
The use of science in its simple form has helped man to ____________
