Read the paragraph from The Hot Zone and the summary
that follows it.
Which changes should be made to improve this summary
of the paragraph's central idea? Check all that apply.
Remove the phrase "It is petrifying" because it expresses
a personal feeling.
Include the detail that there was a dead virus living inside
the monkey
Once the cells in a biological machine stop working, it can
never be started again. It goes into a cascade of decay,
falling toward disorder and randomness. Except in the case
of viruses. They can turn off and go dead. Then, if they
come in contact with a living system, they switch on and
multiply. The only thing that "lived" inside this monkey was
the unknown agent, and it was dead, for the time being. It
was not multiplying or doing anything, since the monkey's
cells were dead. But if the agent touched living cells,
Nancy's cells, it would come alive and begin to amplify
itself. In theory, it could amplify itself around the world in
the human species.
Summary of central idea. It is petrifying that even if viruses
are dead, they have the potential to "come alive."
O Remove the detail that viruses can come alive even if
they are dead.
Add the phrase "and spread throughout the human
species" to the end of the statement to more fully
express the central idea.
Add a personal opinion about what may happen if the
virus does “come alive."