Question

the mystery began the day farmer russ kremers knee was slashed by a boar with a razor - sharp tusk. the missouri pig farmer shrugged off the wound and went back to work. later, his leg became inflamed and ballooned to twice its size. he had contracted an infection that threatened his life - and baffled doctors who wondered why two months of treatment with multiple antibiotics had done little to ease the condition. the answer was flowing in the veins of the boar: kremer had fed the animal slop laced with low doses of an antibiotic, spawning a germ that was resistant to drugs. that drug - resistant germ had passed to kremer.
more and more americans—many of them living far from barns and pastures—are at risk from the widespread practice of feeding antibiotics to pigs and other livestock such as cows and chickens. now, a flurry of new research associates antibiotic use in animals with drug resistance in people. some lawmakers are proposing new laws aimed at banning farmers from administering the drugs to healthy livestock. many people in the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries, however, are devoting large sums of money to defeating the bills.
question 4
the reader can infer from the article that ________.
a. louise slaughter would never support the administering of antibiotics to sick livestock.
b. u.s. trade groups would not be concerned by more bans on meat imports from the u.s.
c. pharmaceutical companies would lose money if antibiotics could not be used on farms.
d. russ kremer would never support a bill aimed at limiting the use of antibiotics on farms.

Explanation:

• Option A: The article does not give any indication that Louise Slaughter would never support administering antibiotics to sick livestock. The text focuses more on the issue of antibiotic use in healthy livestock.
• Option B: It is likely that U.S. trade groups would be concerned about more bans on meat imports as it could affect their business. But this is not directly inferred from the given information about the problem of antibiotic - resistant germs from livestock antibiotic use.
• Option C: Pharmaceutical companies sell antibiotics. If antibiotics could not be used on farms (a large market for antibiotics), they would lose money. This is a reasonable inference as the article mentions that the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries are devoting money to defeating bills that aim to ban antibiotic use in healthy livestock.
• Option D: Russ Kremer's situation was due to antibiotic use in livestock (he got an infection from a drug - resistant germ from a pig that was fed antibiotic - laced slop). But there is no information to suggest he would never support a bill limiting antibiotic use on farms. His personal experience might make him more likely to support such a bill rather than the opposite.

Answer:

C. Pharmaceutical companies would lose money if antibiotics could not be used on farms.