ACT Writing

Antibiotic Resistance

According to the World Health Organization, “Antibiotics are medicines used to prevent and treat bacterial infections. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in response to the use of these medicines. Bacteria, not humans or animals, become antibiotic-resistant. These bacteria may infect humans and animals, and the infections they cause are harder to treat than those caused by non-resistant bacteria. Antibiotic resistance leads to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays, and increased mortality” (who. int)

Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about antibiotic resistance.

Perspective #1

Antibiotic resistance is one of the most urgent threats to the public’s health. Antibiotic resistant bacteria can cause illnesses that were once easily treatable with antibiotics to become untreatable, leading to dangerous infections. Antibiotics are not effective against viral infections like the common cold, flu, most sore throats, bronchitis, and many sinus and ear infections. Widespread use of antibiotics for these illnesses is an example of how overuse of antibiotics can promote the spread of antibiotic resistance. Smart use of antibiotics is key to controlling the spread of resistance. (cdc. gov)

Perspective #2

The rapid emergence of resistant bacteria is occurring worldwide, endangering the efficacy of antibiotics, which have transformed medicine and saved millions of lives. Many decades after the first patients were treated with antibiotics, bacterial infections have again become a threat. The antibiotic resistance crisis has been attributed to the overuse and misuse of these medications, as well as a lack of new drug development by the pharmaceutical industry due to reduced economic incentives and challenging regulatory requirements. (nih. gov)

Perspective #3

Another source of antibiotic resistance originates with the way we raise livestock, fish, and orchard crops. About 80 percent of all of the antibiotics produced in the United States are added to animal feeds—not to fend off disease but to boost growth. While many of these drugs are not specifically used to treat people, these non-therapeutic uses of antibiotics are a perfect way to cultivate resistant organisms, including Campylobacter and Salmonella, bacteria that can sicken people who eat meat and poultry products. (nas. edu)

Essay Task

Write a unified, coherent essay about the increasing threat of antibiotic resistance. In your essay, be sure to:

• clearly state your own perspective on the issue and analyze the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective

• develop and support your ideas with reasoning and examples

• organize your ideas clearly and logically

• communicate your ideas effectively in standard written English

Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of those given, in partial agreement, or completely different.

Planning Your Essay

Your work on these prewriting pages will not be scored. Use the space below and on the back cover to generate ideas and plan your essay. You may wish to consider the following as you think critically about the task:

Strengths and weaknesses of different perspectives on the issue

• What insights do they offer, and what do they fail to consider?

• Why might they be persuasive to others, or why might they fail to persuade?

Your own knowledge, experience, and values

• What is your perspective on this issue, and what are its strengths and weaknesses?

• How will you support your perspective in your essay?

put the wrong amount of points but will give when answered