Viruses can have beneficial effects. For example, some kill more compl

Question

Viruses can have beneficial effects. For example, some kill more complex microorganisms, some of which are deadly to humans. But viruses have such simple structures that replacing just a few of a beneficial virus’s several million atoms can make it deadly to humans. Clearly, since alterations of greater complexity than this are commonly produce by random mutations, any virus could easily become dangerous to humans.

If the statements above are true, then each of the following statements could also be true EXCEPT:

(A) Random mutation makes some deadly viruses beneficial to humans.
(B) Some organisms of greater complexity than viruses are no more likely than viruses to undergo significant alterations through random mutation.
(C) Some microorganisms that are more complex than viruses are beneficial to humans.
(D) Some viruses that fail to kill other viruses that are deadly to humans are nevertheless beneficial to humans.
(E) No virus that is deadly to organisms of greater complexity than itself is beneficial to humans.

chetan2u · Accepted Answer

Viruses can have beneficial effects. For example, some kill more complex microorganisms, some of which are deadly to humans. But viruses have such simple structures that replacing just a few of a beneficial virus’s several million atoms can make it deadly to humans. Clearly, since alterations of greater complexity than this are commonly produce by random mutations, any virus could easily become dangerous to humans.

The para is NOT extreme, that is, it nowhere speaks of terms such as ALL or NONE, and this question is about COULD be true, so in all probability our answer should be something extreme, because otherwise almost everything could be true

If the statements above are true, then each of the following statements could also be true EXCEPT:

(A) Random mutation makes  some deadly viruses  beneficial to humans.
(B)  Some organisms  of greater complexity than viruses are no more likely than viruses to undergo significant alterations through random mutation.
(C)  Some microorganisms  that are more complex than viruses are beneficial to humans.
(D)  Some viruses  that fail to kill other viruses that are deadly to humans are nevertheless beneficial to humans.
(E)  No virus  that is deadly to organisms of greater complexity than itself is beneficial to humans.

If you look at the choices, A to D are using term SOME, so they are NOT extreme.... A to D, therefore, can be true.
E talks of NO virus, so too extreme to fall into ' could be true'..

E

nishthagupta · Answer

In addition to explanation above by chetan2u answer will be e because-
We do not know for a fact that there are some viruses that are not deadly. We are told that some are deadly. This could mean anywhere from 1 virus to all viruses. We do not know that there are viruses that are not deadly from the stimulus.

We do necessarily know that some viruses that are deadly are beneficial to humans.

We know that some viruses are deadly to more-complex microorganisms. Some of these more-complex microorganisms are deadly to humans.

So we do have a case of some deadly viruses that are beneficial to humans. These viruses are killing things that are deadly to humans

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Legallyblond · Answer

i chose c because its visa versa --- how can that be possible? can someone please explain this question to me?

rmahe11 · Answer

How is D not correct " Some viruses that fail to kill other viruses that are deadly to humans are nevertheless beneficial to humans." it basically means that it wont kill viruses that are deadly to human so how can it be beneficial Bunuel

bringrice · Answer

Hi, maybe I can pitch in. The argument says, " Viruses can have beneficial effects. For example, some kill more complex microorganisms, some of which are deadly to humans. " If a virus fails to kill other viruses, it can still kill other microorganisms (such as bacteria maybe?) that are harmful to humans. So this option could be true.

einstein801 · Answer

Answer is wrong as B should not be a correct answer as well... "organisms" -- we are talking about microorganisms and viruses.

A_Nishith · Answer

Argument Summary:
The passage suggests that viruses, despite their simple structures, can mutate easily. Beneficial viruses can become deadly to humans with just a few structural changes. This suggests that viruses, due to their simplicity and susceptibility to random mutations, can potentially become harmful.

Option Analysis:
(A) Random mutation makes some deadly viruses beneficial to humans.
This is possible because mutations can alter viruses. While the passage highlights the danger of mutations, it doesn't rule out the possibility that a harmful virus could mutate in a way that makes it beneficial. So, this could be true.

(B) Some organisms of greater complexity than viruses are no more likely than viruses to undergo significant alterations through random mutation.
This could be true because the passage suggests that random mutations frequently affect viruses due to their simplicity. It doesn't imply that more complex organisms cannot undergo mutations. So, this could be true.

(C) Some microorganisms that are more complex than viruses are beneficial to humans.
This could be true, as the passage mentions that some complex microorganisms can be deadly, which implies others could be beneficial. This could be true.

(D) Some viruses that fail to kill other viruses that are deadly to humans are nevertheless beneficial to humans.
This could be true because a virus might not directly kill other viruses but could still have beneficial effects in other ways. So, this could be true.

(E) No virus that is deadly to organisms of greater complexity than itself is beneficial to humans.
 This is the only option that contradicts the argument. The passage discusses how a virus might kill deadly microorganisms, which could imply that viruses harmful to other organisms could still be beneficial to humans. Thus, this cannot be true based on the given information.

Answer:
The correct answer is (E).

VerbalBot · Answer

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Viruses can have beneficial effects. For example, some kill more compl

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