Read the passage and answer the following.
Microbes are organisms that cannot be seen with the naked eye. They include bacteria, archaea, protists, viruses, prions, and fungi. They account for most of the diversity of life on earth. Far more microbes inhabit a single person's body than there are people on the entire planet. Microbes also dominate in terms of their ability to live and thrive in extreme environments, including clouds, deep-sea volcanoes, springs, ice caps, and animal intestines. Most animals, including humans, exhibit numerous associations with microbes. Our "human microbiome" includes our skin, hair, mouth, and gut.
Which of the following statements are correct about microbes?
(A) All microbes are pathogenic
(B) Microbes can grow at 80°C temperature
(C) Microbes can be present at places where no other life-forms possibly exist
(D) All microbes are microscopic
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → (B), (C) and (D) only
(A) All microbes are pathogenic — False. Many microbes are useful.
(B) Microbes can grow at 80°C temperature — True. Some live in thermal vents as hot as 100 °C.
(C) Microbes can be present at places where no other life-forms possibly exist — True.
(D) All microbes are microscopic — True. The passage defines microbes as organisms that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
NCERT Extract:
Microbes as Biofertilisers – “Microbes are present everywhere – in soil, water, air, inside our bodies and that of other animals and plants. They are present even at sites where no other life-form could possibly exist – sites such as deep inside the geysers (thermal vents) where the temperature may be as high as 1000C, deep in the soil, under the layers of snow several metres thick, and in highly acidic environments.”