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 machine unable to quench its initial command to grow; and thus transforms into an indestructible, self-propelled automaton.
(Adapted from The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee)
A. It is a reflection of why cancer seems so modern to most of us.
B. It tells us that modern cell biology uses and promotes metaphors of machinery.
C. Modern cell biology describes how cancer can be cured, as the cell is often imagined as a machine.
D. Modern cell biology never uses figurative language, such as metaphors, to describe or explain anything.
GATE 2023 · General Aptitude · Passage Reading · medium
Answer: D. Modern cell biology never uses figurative language, such as metaphors, to describe or explain anything.
Evaluate options A, B, and C against the passage: Option A: The passage says cancer seems modern because its metaphors are modern — A directly follows. Option B: The passage says cell biology uses the machine metaphor — B follows directly. Option C: The passage talks about imagining the cell as a machine, but says nothing about curing cancer. C is slightly off but doesn't flatly contradict the passage.
Evaluate option D — the direct contradiction: Option D states that 'modern cell biology never uses figurative language, such as metaphors'. The passage itself demonstrates that modern cell biology heavily uses figurative/metaphorical language ('cell as machine', 'indestructible self-propelled automaton', 'abyss of no control'). Option D is directly and explicitly contradicted by the passage content. This is the answer.