Bacteria do not become resistant to an antibiotic because they were exposed to it. Resistance appears first as a chance variation in a few individuals, long before any drug arrives. What the drug does is remove the competition. Kill the susceptible bacteria and the resistant few, which were previously a negligible fraction, inherit the whole environment and multiply freely. This is why finishing a prescribed course matters, and why using antibiotics where they can do no good, as with a viral infection, is not merely useless but actively harmful.
The author's attitude toward unnecessary antibiotic use is best described as
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Correct answer to question 39 (Paragraph Comprehension): clearly disapproving and giving a reason
Method
The closing phrase, not merely useless but actively harmful, is a plain judgment backed by the mechanism the passage has just explained. Nothing in the passage is hedged or uncertain.
Updated: November 2026
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