Question

the life of a cell
the universe is unimaginably vast—so vast that our tiny human brains cant even begin to comprehend it. somewhere deep in this space, earth is less than a speck—barely a mote. and yet earth is the only place where the phenomenon we call life occurs.
let that sink in for a minute. as far as we know, earth is the only place in the universe where life exists.
biologists define life as the ability to do two things: 1) take in resources and process them—doing what life scientists term metabolism—and 2) use the products of metabolism to produce offspring. stated another way, a living being—or what biologists call an organism—can use energy from food or sunlight or other sources and do the chemistry that is required to make proteins and other molecules and eventually, reproduce itself.
a second key point: life is cellular, meaning that all organisms consist of the membrane - bound units that life scientists call cells. in fact, the vast majority of organisms on earth, both now and in the past, consist of a single cell. the cell is the fundamental unit of life, just as the atom is the fundamental unit of matter. (matter is the \stuff\ that makes up the universe.)
in the next few class sessions, you will be exploring basic questions about how cells are put together and how they work. lets start by exploring the cell membrane—youll sometimes see this called the plasma membrane—in more detail. it is hard to over - emphasize just how important this structure is. in the single - celled organisms that dominate life on earth, the membrane is the dividing line between life and non - life—life inside, non - life outside.
life scientists point to two interrelated abilities to define life. what are they?
the ability to convert energy from the sun into chemical energy
populations of organisms evolve, meaning that their allele frequencies change over time.
the ability to produce more new individuals
metabolism (taking in resources and processing them into the products needed to sustain activity and grow)

Explanation:

The text states that biologists define life as the ability to take in resources and process them (metabolism) and use the products of metabolism to produce offspring. The options about converting solar - energy and evolution are not the two main defining abilities. The ability to produce new individuals and metabolism are the correct ones as per the given text.

Answer:

C. The ability to produce more new individuals
D. Metabolism (taking in resources and processing them into the products needed to sustain activity and grow)