Question:
The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Zombie cells may contribute to age-related chronic inflammation: this finding could help scientists understand more about the aging process and why the immune system becomes less effective as we get older. Zombie or “senescent” cells are damaged cells that can no longer divide and grow like normal cells. Scientists think that these cells can contribute to chronic health problems when they accumulate in the body. In younger people, the immune system is more effective at clearing senescent cells from the body through a process called apoptosis, but as we age this process becomes less efficient. As a result, there is an accumulation of senescent cells in different organs in the body, either through increased production or reduced clearance by the immune system. The zombie cells continue to use energy though they do not divide, and often secrete chemicals that cause inflammation, which if persistent for longer periods of time can damage healthy cells leading to chronic diseases.
The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Zombie cells may contribute to age-related chronic inflammation: this finding could help scientists understand more about the aging process and why the immune system becomes less effective as we get older. Zombie or “senescent” cells are damaged cells that can no longer divide and grow like normal cells. Scientists think that these cells can contribute to chronic health problems when they accumulate in the body. In younger people, the immune system is more effective at clearing senescent cells from the body through a process called apoptosis, but as we age this process becomes less efficient. As a result, there is an accumulation of senescent cells in different organs in the body, either through increased production or reduced clearance by the immune system. The zombie cells continue to use energy though they do not divide, and often secrete chemicals that cause inflammation, which if persistent for longer periods of time can damage healthy cells leading to chronic diseases.
Zombie cells may contribute to age-related chronic inflammation: this finding could help scientists understand more about the aging process and why the immune system becomes less effective as we get older. Zombie or “senescent” cells are damaged cells that can no longer divide and grow like normal cells. Scientists think that these cells can contribute to chronic health problems when they accumulate in the body. In younger people, the immune system is more effective at clearing senescent cells from the body through a process called apoptosis, but as we age this process becomes less efficient. As a result, there is an accumulation of senescent cells in different organs in the body, either through increased production or reduced clearance by the immune system. The zombie cells continue to use energy though they do not divide, and often secrete chemicals that cause inflammation, which if persistent for longer periods of time can damage healthy cells leading to chronic diseases.
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When selecting summaries, choose the option that captures the full causal sequence presented in the passage without adding new claims or omitting key steps.
Updated On: Nov 2, 2026
- Senescent “zombie” cells are inactive or malfunctioning cells that can be found throughout the body.
- A younger person’s immune system is healthy and is able to clear the damaged cells, but as people age, the zombie cells resist apoptosis, and start accumulating in the body.
- Aging leads to less effective apoptosis, and therefore zombie cells start to accumulate in the body, causing inflammation, which accelerates aging and leads to chronic diseases.
- Dead cells accelerate chronic inflammation weakening the immune system and lead to aging.
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The Correct Option is C
Approach Solution - 1
Approach: A para-summary answer must preserve the passage's full causal chain and its precise vocabulary. Build the chain once, then reject options that drop a link, weaken the verb, or misname the cells.
Step 1: Extract the chain. Aging makes apoptosis less efficient, so senescent ("zombie") cells accumulate, they secrete inflammation-causing chemicals, persistent inflammation damages healthy cells, and that leads to chronic disease and feeds the aging process. Cause and effect must all survive.
Step 2: Reject option 1. "Inactive or malfunctioning cells found throughout the body" is a definition, not a summary. It drops apoptosis, inflammation and disease — the entire causal payload. And "inactive" misreads the text, which stresses these cells "continue to use energy" and actively secrete chemicals.
Step 3: Reject option 2. It stops at "start accumulating in the body" and never reaches inflammation or chronic disease. A summary that ends one link before the conclusion is incomplete. It also adds "resist apoptosis," which the passage does not claim — the passage says clearance becomes less efficient, not that cells actively resist.
Step 4: Reject option 4. It calls them "dead cells," but the passage is explicit that senescent cells are alive — they "can no longer divide" yet "continue to use energy." Wrong premise, so the summary fails at word one.
Step 5: Confirm option 3. "Aging leads to less effective apoptosis, and therefore zombie cells start to accumulate... causing inflammation, which accelerates aging and leads to chronic diseases." Every link of the chain is present in the right order. This is the full essence.
Answer: Option 3.
Step 1: Extract the chain. Aging makes apoptosis less efficient, so senescent ("zombie") cells accumulate, they secrete inflammation-causing chemicals, persistent inflammation damages healthy cells, and that leads to chronic disease and feeds the aging process. Cause and effect must all survive.
Step 2: Reject option 1. "Inactive or malfunctioning cells found throughout the body" is a definition, not a summary. It drops apoptosis, inflammation and disease — the entire causal payload. And "inactive" misreads the text, which stresses these cells "continue to use energy" and actively secrete chemicals.
Step 3: Reject option 2. It stops at "start accumulating in the body" and never reaches inflammation or chronic disease. A summary that ends one link before the conclusion is incomplete. It also adds "resist apoptosis," which the passage does not claim — the passage says clearance becomes less efficient, not that cells actively resist.
Step 4: Reject option 4. It calls them "dead cells," but the passage is explicit that senescent cells are alive — they "can no longer divide" yet "continue to use energy." Wrong premise, so the summary fails at word one.
Step 5: Confirm option 3. "Aging leads to less effective apoptosis, and therefore zombie cells start to accumulate... causing inflammation, which accelerates aging and leads to chronic diseases." Every link of the chain is present in the right order. This is the full essence.
Answer: Option 3.
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Approach Solution -2
Step 1: Identify the main ideas of the passage. & nbsp;
The passage explains:
- What senescent (“zombie”) cells are — damaged, non-dividing cells.
- Young immune systems clear these cells, but aging reduces this ability.
- As a result, zombie cells accumulate.
- These accumulated cells release inflammatory chemicals.
- Chronic inflammation contributes to age-related diseases.
A good summary must integrate all of these points: aging → reduced apoptosis → accumulation → inflammation → chronic disease.
Step 2: Evaluate the options.
- Option (1): Too general. It merely defines zombie cells; it does not capture the mechanism or implications.
- Option (2): Partially correct but incomplete. It mentions aging and accumulation but omits inflammation and chronic disease, which are central to the passage.
- Option (3): Correct. This option captures:
- aging reduces apoptosis,
- accumulation of zombie cells,
- inflammation,
- chronic disease progression.
- Option (4): Incorrect. Zombie cells are not dead cells. The passage also does not say inflammation causes aging; rather, zombie cells contribute to chronic disease.
Conclusion:
Thus, the best summary is Option (3).
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