The GATE Grind

GATE 2023 EE – Question 8

General Aptitude · Verbal Aptitude: Reading Comprehension and Reasoning · 2 marks · Multiple choice

Which one of the options does NOT describe the passage below or follow from it?

We tend to think of cancer as a ‘modern’ illness because its metaphors are so modern. It is a disease of overproduction, of sudden growth, a growth that is unstoppable, tipped into the abyss of no control. Modern cell biology encourages us to imagine the cell as a molecular machine. Cancer is that machine unable to quench its initial command (to grow) and thus transform into an indestructible, self-propelled automaton.

[Adapted from *The Emperor of All Maladies* by Siddhartha Mukherjee]

  1. It is a reflection of why cancer seems so modern to most of us.
  2. It tells us that modern cell biology uses and promotes metaphors of machinery.
  3. Modern cell biology encourages metaphors of machinery, and cancer is often imagined as a machine.
  4. Modern cell biology never uses figurative language, such as metaphors, to describe or explain anything.

Practise this question in The GATE Grind →

Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: (D) Modern cell biology never uses figurative language, such as metaphors, to describe or explain anything.

Explanation

The passage itself uses metaphors (the cell as a machine), so "never uses figurative language" contradicts it. The other three options describe or follow from the passage.