EigoPro 1級 読解 — The Tragedy of the Antibiotic Commons

Few biomedical achievements rival the antibiotic in its capacity to transform human prospects, yet few are so insidiously self-undermining. The very mechanism that confers an antibiotic's lethality against bacteria simultaneously constitutes the selective pressure that breeds its eventual obsolescence. When a drug culls a susceptible population, it inadvertently clears ecological space for the rare resistant mutant, which proliferates unimpeded; resistance is thus not an accident of misuse but a predictable corollary of use itself. Bacteria, with generation times measured in minutes and a promiscuous capacity to exchange genetic material across species, can recapitulate evolutionary innovation at a tempo that dwarfs pharmaceutical ingenuity. The asymmetry is sobering. Bringing a novel antibiotic to market may consume a decade and a fortune; rendering it impotent may take a season. This temporal mismatch alone would warrant alarm, but the deeper pathology is economic and behavioural. Each prescription confers a private benefit upon the patient while exacting a diffuse, deferred cost borne by everyone—the incremental erosion of a shared therapeutic resource. The structure is paradigmatic of the commons dilemma: rational individual conduct aggregates into collective ruin. No physician contemplating an anxious patient internalises the planetary ledger of resistance, and no pharmaceutical firm finds profit in a drug it is exhorted to withhold. Conventional remedies prove inadequate precisely because the problem transcends jurisdiction. Resistant strains observe neither borders nor formularies; stewardship in one clinic is nullified by profligacy in another, and microbes traffic freely between hospital, farmyard, and watershed. Mitigation therefore demands what markets and sovereign states are constitutionally ill-equipped to furnish: coordinated restraint, subsidised innovation divorced from sales volume, and surveillance that treats the bacterial biosphere as a single, indivisible patient. Absent such concertation, we risk forfeiting the antibiotic age not through any cataclysm, but through the unremarkable accretion of locally sensible choices.

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この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

1級 · 読解 · 全5問

問 1

Which statement best captures the central argument of the passage?

  • The principal obstacle to defeating resistance is the slow pace of pharmaceutical research, which coordinated global funding could readily overcome.
  • Because bacteria evolve faster than humans can innovate, the antibiotic age is destined to end in a sudden and unavoidable medical catastrophe.
  • Antibiotic resistance arises chiefly from the careless misuse of drugs by individual physicians and patients who ignore prescribing guidelines.
  • Antibiotic resistance is an inevitable evolutionary consequence of use that, being a collective-action problem, resists purely individual or market-based solutions.
Phrase

rational individual conduct aggregates into collective ruin

1級読解主旨把握論旨
⚡ひとことで

耐性は使用そのものの予測可能な帰結であり、個人や市場では解けない集団行動問題だ、という二段構えの主張。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Antibiotic resistance is an inevitable evolutionary consequence of use that, being a collective-action problem, resists purely individual or market-based solutions.」

正解

本文は耐性を「misuse の偶然ではなく use 自体の predictable corollary」と位置づけ(第1段)、さらにそれを commons dilemma — 「rational individual conduct aggregates into collective ruin」 — として描く(第2段)。最終段は市場も主権国家もこの問題に「constitutionally ill-equipped」だと結論し、協調的抑制を要請する。よって進化的必然性と集団行動問題の二点を併せて述べた選択肢が主旨に最も合致する。

  • 「Antibiotic resistance arises chiefly from the careless misuse of drugs by individual physicians and patients who ignore prescribing guidelines.」

    = 誤用が主因とする説 ━ 本文は明確に『resistance is thus not an accident of misuse but a predictable corollary of use itself』と述べ、誤用主因説を退けている。。

  • 「The principal obstacle to defeating resistance is the slow pace of pharmaceutical research, which coordinated global funding could readily overcome.」

    = 研究の遅さが主因とする説 ━ 研究の遅さ(temporal mismatch)は『alarm』に値するが『the deeper pathology is economic and behavioural』とされ、主たる論点ではない。。

  • 「Because bacteria evolve faster than humans can innovate, the antibiotic age is destined to end in a sudden and unavoidable medical catastrophe.」

    = 突発的破局で終わるとする説 ━ 最終文は破局(cataclysm)ではなく『the unremarkable accretion of locally sensible choices』による緩慢な喪失を予測しており、突発説と矛盾する。。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
a corollary of XXから論理的に導かれる帰結Soaring rents are a corollary of unchecked urban demand.
aggregate into X集積してXになるCountless minor delays aggregate into systemic gridlock.
transcend jurisdiction管轄を超えるCybercrime transcends jurisdiction, frustrating national prosecutors.
ill-equipped to V～する備えがないThe agency was ill-equipped to handle a crisis of that scale.
forfeit XXを(権利・利益として)失うBy delaying, the firm forfeited its first-mover advantage.
❝例文

  • The blackout was a corollary of years of deferred maintenance, not a freak event.

    停電は突発事故ではなく、長年先送りされた保守の当然の帰結だった。

  • Individually thrifty households can, paradoxically, aggregate into a recession.

    個々に倹約する家計が、逆説的に集積して不況を生むことがある。

  • Climate change transcends jurisdiction, so no single nation can legislate it away.

    気候変動は管轄を超えるため、一国の立法だけでは解決できない。

  • Markets are ill

    equipped to price goods whose costs fall on future generations. — 市場は、費用が将来世代に及ぶ財を値づけする備えがない。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨問題では『not A but B』構文(本文の not misuse but use)が論点の核を示す合図。選択肢のうち、本文が明示的に退けた立場(誤用主因・突発破局)を選ばないこと。

問 2

According to the passage, why does the act of taking an antibiotic itself promote resistance?

  • The drug directly mutates the genetic material of bacteria, converting susceptible cells into resistant ones.
  • Killing the susceptible bacteria clears ecological space in which pre-existing resistant mutants can multiply without competition.
  • Patients who feel better stop taking the drug early, leaving a residue that trains bacteria to resist it.
  • Bacteria detect the chemical and deliberately exchange genes with other species to manufacture a defence.
Phrase

clears ecological space for the rare resistant mutant, which proliferates unimpeded

1級読解詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

薬が感受性菌を一掃すると、もともと存在する稀な耐性変異体が競合なく増殖できる空間が空く。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Killing the susceptible bacteria clears ecological space in which pre-existing resistant mutants can multiply without competition.」

正解

本文は『When a drug culls a susceptible population, it inadvertently clears ecological space for the rare resistant mutant, which proliferates unimpeded』と述べる。耐性体は薬が作るのではなく、もともと稀に存在し、競合相手が消えることで一気に増える(選択圧)。よって生態学的空白と独占的増殖を述べた選択肢が正しい。

  • 「The drug directly mutates the genetic material of bacteria, converting susceptible cells into resistant ones.」

    = 薬が遺伝子を変異させる説 ━ 本文に薬が直接 mutate させる記述はなく、耐性体は『rare resistant mutant』として既に存在する前提で語られる。。

  • 「Patients who feel better stop taking the drug early, leaving a residue that trains bacteria to resist it.」

    = 服用中断・残留物が訓練する説 ━ 服用中断の話は本文に登場せず、『trains bacteria』という機序は述べられていない。。

  • 「Bacteria detect the chemical and deliberately exchange genes with other species to manufacture a defence.」

    = 菌が意図的に遺伝子交換する説 ━ 遺伝子交換(exchange genetic material)は別個に言及されるが、薬を『detect』して『deliberately』行うとは書かれていない。。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
cull a population個体群を間引くRangers culled the overgrown deer population to protect the forest.
clear space for XXのための余地を空けるPruning the canopy cleared space for seedlings to thrive.
proliferate unimpeded妨げられず増殖するMisinformation proliferates unimpeded on unmoderated platforms.
selective pressure淘汰圧Drought imposes a selective pressure favouring deep-rooted plants.
exchange genetic material遺伝物質を交換するBacteria exchange genetic material through tiny rings called plasmids.
❝例文

  • A wildfire culls the undergrowth, clearing space for opportunistic species to dominate.

    山火事は下生えを間引き、日和見的な種が優占する余地を空ける。

  • Once the rivals withdrew, the firm proliferated unimpeded across the region.

    競合が撤退すると、その企業は妨げられず地域全体に拡大した。

  • Selective pressure, not chance alone, sculpts the traits a lineage retains.

    系統が保持する形質を彫り上げるのは偶然だけでなく淘汰圧だ。

  • Antibiotics do not create resistance; they merely reward the resistant that survive.

    抗生物質は耐性を作るのではなく、生き残った耐性体に有利に働くだけだ。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

因果の方向に注意。『薬が変異させる』は典型的な誤解で、正しくは『薬が感受性菌を除去 → 既存の耐性体が選択的に残る』。選択圧の概念を押さえる。

問 3

What does the passage identify as 'the deeper pathology' underlying the resistance crisis?

  • The temporal mismatch between the decade needed to develop a drug and the season needed to defeat it.
  • The extraordinarily short generation times that allow bacteria to out-evolve human researchers.
  • The inability of surveillance systems to track resistant strains as they cross national borders.
  • An economic and behavioural structure in which a private benefit is gained while a diffuse, deferred cost is imposed on everyone.
Phrase

the deeper pathology is economic and behavioural

1級読解詳細把握
⚡ひとことで

より根深い病理は時間差ではなく、私的便益と拡散・先送りされる費用から成る経済的・行動的構造。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「An economic and behavioural structure in which a private benefit is gained while a diffuse, deferred cost is imposed on everyone.」

正解

本文は temporal mismatch を『would warrant alarm』としつつ、『the deeper pathology is economic and behavioural』と明言する。その内実は『Each prescription confers a private benefit... while exacting a diffuse, deferred cost borne by everyone』であり、共有資源の漸進的浸食という commons dilemma だ。よって経済的・行動的構造を述べた選択肢が正しい。

  • 「The temporal mismatch between the decade needed to develop a new drug and the single season needed to defeat it.」

    = 時間差こそ根本とする説 ━ 時間差(temporal mismatch)は『This temporal mismatch alone would warrant alarm, but the deeper pathology is...』と対比され、より深い病理ではないと明示される。。

  • 「The extraordinarily short generation times that allow bacteria to out-evolve human researchers.」

    = 短い世代時間が根本とする説 ━ 短い世代時間は第1段の進化的事実で、第2段が言う『deeper pathology』(経済・行動)とは別の論点。。

  • 「The inability of surveillance systems to track resistant strains as they cross national borders.」

    = 監視の越境不能が根本とする説 ━ 監視・越境の話題は最終段の対策論で扱われ、第2段の『deeper pathology』の定義には含まれない。。

▦Collocation
パターン意味例
confer a benefit on XXに便益を与えるThe treaty conferred trading privileges on its signatories.
exact a cost代償を強いるChronic overwork exacts a heavy cost on the body.
borne by everyone全員が負担するThe cleanup expense was ultimately borne by everyone through taxes.
warrant alarm警戒に値するA single anomaly need not warrant alarm, but a pattern does.
a deferred cost先送りされた費用Cheap construction often hides a deferred cost in future repairs.
❝例文

  • Overfishing confers an immediate catch on each boat while exacting a collapse borne by all.

    乱獲は各船に目先の漁獲を与える一方、全員が負う資源崩壊という代償を強いる。

  • The bonus scheme rewarded private gain and externalised a deferred cost onto shareholders.

    そのボーナス制度は私的利得に報い、先送りの費用を株主に転嫁した。

  • A symptom may warrant alarm even when the underlying disease is silent.

    原因の病が無症状でも、ある徴候が警戒に値することはある。

  • When costs are diffuse and benefits concentrated, restraint rarely emerges spontaneously.

    費用が拡散し便益が集中するとき、抑制が自発的に生まれることは稀だ。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

『X alone would warrant alarm, but the deeper Y...』は対比構文。表面的要因(時間差)と本質的要因(経済・行動)を取り違えないこと。設問語『deeper pathology』の直後を精読する。

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