17. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with
(A) discovering methods of eliminating harmful microorganisms without subsequently generation drug-resistant bacterial
(B) explaining reasons for congressional inac- tion on the regulation of gene transplant experiments
(C) describing a problematic agricultural prac- tice and its serious genetic consequences
(D) verifying the therapeutic ineffectiveness of anti-infective drugs
(E) evaluating recently proposed restrictions intended to promote the growth of meat animals
18. According to the passage, the exchange of plas- mids between different bacteria can result in which of the following?
(A) Microorganisms resistant to drugs
(B) Therapeutically useful circlets of genes.
(C) Anti-infective drugs like penicillin
(D) Viruses for use by molecular biologists
(E) Vehicles for performing gene transplant experiments
19. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes that those in favor of stiffening the restrictions on gene transplant research should logically also
(A) encourage experiments with any plasmids except those bearing genes for antibiotic resistance
(B) question the addition of anti-infective drugs to livestock feeds
(C) resist the use of penicillin and tetracyclines to kill microorganisms
(D) agree to the development of meatier live- stock through the use of antibiotics
(E) favor congressional debate and discussion of all science and health issues
20. The author's attitude toward the development of bacterial strains that render antibiotic drugs ineffective can best be described as
(A) indifferent
(B) perplexed
(C) pretentious
(D) insincere
(E) apprehensive
During adolescence, the development of polit- ical ideology becomes apparent in the individual; ideology here is defined as the presence of roughly consistent attitudes, more or less orga- (5) nized in reference to a more encompassing, though perhaps tacit, set of general principles. As such, political ideology is dim or absent at the beginning of adolescence. Its acquisition by the adolescent, in even the most modest sense, (10)requires the acquisition of relatively sophisticated cognitive skills: the ability to manage abstract- ness to synthesize and generalize, to imagine the future. These are accompanied by a steady advance in the ability to understand principles. (15) The child's rapid acquisition of political knowledge also promotes the growth of political ideology during adolescence. By knowledge I mean more than the dreary "facts," such as the composition of county government that the child (20)is exposed to in the conventional ninth-grade civics course. Nor do I mean only information on current political realities. These are facets of knowledge, but they are less critical than the adolescents absorption, often unwitting, of a (25)feeling for those many unspoken assumptions about the political system that comprise the common ground of understanding-for example, what the state can "appropriately" demand of its citizens, and vice versa, or the "proper" relation- (30)ship of government to subsidiary social institu- tions, such as the schools and churches. Thus, political knowledge is the awareness of social assumptions and relationships as well as of objective facts. Much of the naivete that charac- (35)terizes the younger adolescent's grasp of politics stems not from an ignorance of "fact" but from an incomplete comprehension of the common conventions of the system, of what is and is not customarily done, and of how and why it is or is (40)not done.
Yet I do not want to overemphasize the sig- nificance of increased political knowledge in forming adolescent ideology. Over the years I have become progressively disenchan