Multiple choice

All of the following can be inferred about the reproduction of viruses from the passage, except:

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

One of the theories that have been under the serious consideration of the scientists and immunologists is that viruses have evolved from bacteria. Although viruses do not exist in fossilized form, and all our knowledge about the life form comes only from what we have come to know of them in the twentieth century, the view is not without merit. The bacteria origin theory, which states that the viruses evolved from bacteria that did not need to survive outside the host cell, and hence lost much of the genetic material needed for the same,  fills in some of the unexplained blanks in human knowledge.  Another theory states that viruses may have evolved from the ‘escaped bits and pieces of’ the DNA and the RNA of larger organisms.
Once a virus attaches itself to a specific molecule on the surface of the host cell, it penetrates the host cell by fusing with it or by another technique called endocytosis. Since a virus needs specific molecules to attach itself to, it means that its host selection is very specific. Once inside the host cell, the virus loses its capsid, or the outer shell, either by self generated enzymes or by enzymes secreted by the host and exposes its core viral nucleic acid. Since living cells produce all the necessary proteins from the various amino acids that are a part of the food supply, viruses take the host cell hostage and force it to synthesize proteins that the host cell does not need. Once synthesized, these new proteins come together later to form new virus cells. Once an army of invasive viruses is ready, enzymes produced by them usually burst the cell wall of the host cell, and the viruses release themselves into the body of the organism. Usually, the host cell death in cases of infections takes place by a process called apoptosis or cell suicide in which the phagocytic bodies produced by the immune system of the host organism are able to engulf the fragments of the host cell before the damage spreads to surrounding cells. However, some cells seemingly remain healthy and carry latent viruses and show few or no signs of infection for months or even years.

  1. Viruses mutate the metabolic process of the host cell.

  2. Getting infected by a virus does not always annihilate the host cell.

  3. The virus undergoes metamorphosis once inside the host cell.

  4. Viruses reproduce by dividing themselves over and over.

  5. Viruses cannot replicate themselves unless inside a host cell.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

(1) Incorrect; the passage states that viruses force the host cell into manufacturing proteins that it does not need to survive. It means that viruses alter the natural metabolic process of the host cells. (2) Incorrect; the passage mentions that sometimes, the host cell survives for years after being infected. (3) Incorrect; the passage mentions that the virus loses its outer cell wall once inside the host cell. (4)Correct; the passage mentions that viruses reproduce by getting the host cell to produce proteins that it does not need and that these proteins later coalesce to form new virus cells. This information rules out the possibility of viruses reproducing by dividing themselves. (5) Incorrect; the passage mentions that viruses reproduce by getting inside the host cell.  

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