PrepTest 132

Incorrect. The stimulus is about antibiotics currently available. There's no information that would allow a prediction about the future antibiotics.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Must Be True

Stimulus Summary:
not Eliminate bacteria completely → Bacteria develop greater resistance to used antibiotics within a few years
Bacteria X – No single antibiotic powerful enough to eliminate it

Answer Anticipation:
The stimulus establishes a conditional rule ("unless") before providing information about a specific case. When you have a mix of conditional and nonconditional statements, you should always check to see if the conditional applies to the scenario described by the nonconditionals.

Here, if we treat "unless" as "if not," the sufficient condition of the rule is that a bacteria isn't completely eliminated by an antibiotic used against it. And we're told that no single antibiotic will completely eliminate bacteria X. So the conditional does apply!

When a conditional applies and the sufficient condition is validly triggered (be careful—sometimes, they'll provide evidence that just falls short of actually meeting that condition), we can conclude the necessary condition is also present. So for Bacteria X, we can conclude that bacteria X will develop greater resistance to any single antibiotic used against it.

Note that very important word in the nonconditional statement—"single." There might be a cocktail of antibiotics that can take out bacteria X—we expect some trap answers that neglect that word.

Answer Explanation:
This answer highlights the application of the conditional to the scenario at hand. If no antibiotic can eliminate X, and that guarantees greater resistance, then X will develop greater resistance to any bacteria on the market. This answer is justified, so it's correct.

Key Takeaway:
When the stimulus is a mix of conditional and nonconditional statements, your first step after diagramming the conditional is to see if the information presented establishes that the sufficient condition is met. In inference questions, it frequently will be, allowing you to infer the necessary condition. In flaw-based questions, it frequently won't be, and the mismatch will lead to the correct answer.

Incorrect. Tempting! After all, no single antibiotic can eliminate bacteria X. However, there's no indication that antibiotics are the only potential treatment for this bacteria—maybe there's an alternative, such as radiation therapy.

Incorrect. Virulence isn't specifically mentioned, but let's assume for a second that a more resistant bacteria is more virulent. This answer still can't be supported because, while there isn't currently a single antibiotic that can eliminate it, there might be a combination of antibiotics that can, or an antibiotic might soon be developed that can handle it.

Incorrect. Two issues here. First, there's no indication that antibiotics have been used against bacteria X. Second, even if there have been, there's no indication that the requisite amount of time has passed for the resistance to develop—the first antibiotics may have been used against it two weeks ago.