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GATE 2023 XH2 (English) – Question 8

General Aptitude · Verbal Aptitude: Grammar and Vocabulary · 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 intial 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.

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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 says that cell biology itself encourages the metaphor of a machine, so it does use figurative language. D says the opposite and does not follow.