Read the following passage.
A. In 1928, Alexander Fleming was studying staphylococcus, a common type of bacteria, at his hospital laboratory in London. Before he left for a two-week holiday, a dish holding a culture of these bacteria was left on a lab bench instead of being placed in the incubator as planned. When he returned, a fungus had begun to grow in the dish, and the growth of the bacteria near it had been blocked. Fleming concluded that the fungus contained a substance that was effective against bacteria. He named it penicillin, although he could not isolate it. His paper on the discovery appeared in June 1929 but drew little notice in the 1930s.
B. At Oxford, Howard Florey became director of the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology in 1936. By 1940 he had about a dozen scientists working on penicillin, including the biochemist Ernst Chain. Chain and another chemist, Edward Abraham, found a way to purify and concentrate the drug, but many gallons of broth produced only enough to cover a fingernail. Their results were published in the Lancet on August 24, 1940. In February 1941, a policeman became the first patient treated with penicillin for an infection. The supply almost ran out, and even penicillin recovered from his urine failed to save him.
C. British drug companies were already busy making other medicines for the war, so in July 1941 Florey and a member of his team flew to the United States. They were put in touch with a Department of Agriculture laboratory in Peoria, Illinois, where large-scale fermentation was being studied. The British and American effort involved thousands of people and some 35 institutions. Chemists also worked to learn the structure of the penicillin molecule, and two different structures were proposed. In 1945, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin used X-ray crystallography to confirm the one that Chain and Abraham had suggested.
D. Antibiotics such as penicillin now face a serious threat. Antimicrobial resistance happens when germs change in ways that make these medicines less effective. The Public Health Agency of Canada says this natural process is made worse when the drugs are overused or used in the wrong way, such as taking antibiotics for a cold, which is caused by a virus. Few new antimicrobials are being developed, so the ones that exist need protecting. In June 2023, the federal health and agriculture ministers released a Pan-Canadian Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance for the years 2023 to 2027. The agency estimates that resistance causes roughly 5,400 deaths a year in Canada.
E. Not given in any of the above paragraphs.
Decide which paragraph, A to D, has the information given in each statement below. Select E if the information is not given in any of the paragraphs.
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Correct Answer: C
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph C. The British and American effort involved some 35 institutions. That is more than thirty organizations from two countries.
Passage Reference: The British and American effort involved thousands of people and some 35 institutions.
Tips: Paragraph B also gives a team size. Look for the number that counts organizations.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about Fleming working alone in his London laboratory. No large project is described.
- B: Paragraph B gives the size of Florey's team, about a dozen scientists. That is one group in one place, not thirty organizations.
- D: Paragraph D talks about governments working on drug resistance today. It gives no number of organizations.
- E: The number of institutions in the joint effort is given in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: When he returned, a fungus had begun to grow in the dish, and the growth of the bacteria near it had been blocked.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph A. When Fleming came back, a fungus was growing in the dish. The paragraph never says who noticed it first. An assistant is not mentioned.
Tips: Look for a name next to the moment of discovery. Is anyone other than Fleming named?
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A tells you what happened to the dish while Fleming was away. It does not say who first spotted the fungus.
- B: Paragraph B is about the team at Oxford purifying the drug. The first look at the dish is not part of it.
- C: Paragraph C covers making penicillin on a large scale. It says nothing about who found the fungus.
- D: Paragraph D is about germs that resist antibiotics today. The discovery is not described there.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: His paper on the discovery appeared in June 1929 but drew little notice in the 1930s.
Why this is correct: The clue is in Paragraph A. Fleming's paper appeared in June 1929 but drew little notice in the 1930s. So for years, few people paid attention to it.
Tips: Two paragraphs mention a published report. Find the one that got little attention.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B tells you about the Florey and Chain report of 1940. That is a different paper, and it is not described as ignored.
- C: Paragraph C talks about the wartime effort and the shape of the molecule. It does not mention Fleming's paper.
- D: Paragraph D is about resistance to antibiotics today. It says nothing about how a report was received.
- E: Paragraph A gives this fact. Fleming's 1929 paper drew little notice in the 1930s.
Correct Answer: C
Passage Reference: In 1945, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin used X-ray crystallography to confirm the one that Chain and Abraham had suggested.
Why this is correct: Paragraph C gives this. In 1945, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin used X-ray crystallography. It confirmed the structure that Chain and Abraham had suggested.
Tips: Chain and Abraham are named twice. Pick the paragraph with X-rays.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A describes Fleming's first observation of the mould. There is no X-ray work in it.
- B: Paragraph B names Chain and Abraham too, but for purifying the drug. It says nothing about the shape of the molecule.
- D: Paragraph D is about drug resistance and a national plan. The structure of penicillin is not discussed.
- E: The X-ray work that confirmed the structure is described in Paragraph C.
Correct Answer: D
Passage Reference: In June 2023, the federal health and agriculture ministers released a Pan-Canadian Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance for the years 2023 to 2027.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph D. In June 2023, ministers released a Pan-Canadian Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance. Resistance means germs stop responding to drugs. The plan covers 2023 to 2027.
Tips: Find Canada's plan about microbes that no longer respond to drugs. Then check the last date it covers.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A takes place in 1928 and 1929. It has no plan and no date near 2027.
- B: Paragraph B describes work at Oxford in 1940 and 1941. There is no national plan in it.
- C: Paragraph C describes the wartime effort in two countries. It is not a plan against resistance.
- E: The action plan and its years, 2023 to 2027, appear in Paragraph D.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: Before he left for a two-week holiday, a dish holding a culture of these bacteria was left on a lab bench instead of being placed in the incubator as planned.
Why this is correct: The clue is in Paragraph A. The dish was left on a lab bench instead of being placed in the incubator as planned. An incubator is a warm box, like a heated cabinet.
Tips: Where was the bacteria sample kept? Check whether it was left out instead of going into the heated cabinet.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B describes growing mould broth at Oxford. It does not mention a dish left out.
- C: Paragraph C talks about a laboratory in Illinois. Nothing about an incubator appears there.
- D: Paragraph D is about antibiotics today. It does not describe any lab dish.
- E: Paragraph A explains this. The dish stayed on the bench instead of going into the incubator.
Correct Answer: E
Passage Reference: The agency estimates that resistance causes roughly 5,400 deaths a year in Canada.
Why this is correct: Paragraph D gives the years of the plan and says resistance causes roughly 5,400 deaths a year. It never says the number of deaths has gone down.
Tips: A plan is not the same as a result. Check if the text says deaths went down.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A is about Fleming's discovery in 1928. It gives no death figures.
- B: Paragraph B tells you one patient died in 1941. It says nothing about a plan or falling deaths.
- C: Paragraph C covers wartime production and the molecule. Deaths from resistance are not mentioned.
- D: Paragraph D does give a yearly death figure and the plan's dates. However, it gives no result for the plan.
Correct Answer: A
Passage Reference: He named it penicillin, although he could not isolate it.
Why this is correct: Look at Paragraph A. Fleming named the substance penicillin, although he could not isolate it. To isolate a substance means to separate it out, or extract it.
Tips: Paragraph B is about purifying the drug. Ask who could not do it, and who named it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- B: Paragraph B says Chain and Abraham found a way to purify the drug. That was later work by other people, not Fleming.
- C: Paragraph C describes large-scale production in two countries. It does not say who named the substance.
- D: Paragraph D is about drug resistance now. Fleming is not mentioned.
- E: Paragraph A gives both facts. Fleming named penicillin but could not isolate it.
Correct Answer: B
Passage Reference: The supply almost ran out, and even penicillin recovered from his urine failed to save him.
Why this is correct: Paragraph B explains this. A policeman was the first patient treated with penicillin for an infection. The supply almost ran out, and even penicillin recovered from his urine failed to save him.
Tips: Paragraph D also mentions deaths. Look for the paragraph about one patient.
Why the other options are wrong:
- A: Paragraph A describes a lab dish, not a patient. No one is treated in it.
- C: Paragraph C tells you how production grew in the war. It does not describe a patient.
- D: Paragraph D also talks about deaths, but these are yearly deaths from resistance. It does not describe the first patient.
- E: The first patient's death, even after penicillin was recovered from his urine, is told in Paragraph B.
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