Question

doc, i just cant keep my energy up. normally im really good at taking sugar and oxygen and turning it into atp, but now my energy supply is flatlining. my flagella wont beat, my pumps wont work, and im exhausted. question: which cellular organelle is malfunctioning, and what will happen if it worsens? ribosomes; no proteins will be synthesized. golgi apparatus; proteins wont be packaged. chloroplasts; no glucose will be made. mitochondria; atp production will stop and the cell will die.

Explanation:

The text mentions the inability to turn sugar and oxygen into ATP. Mitochondria are the power - houses of the cell responsible for cellular respiration and ATP production. If mitochondria malfunction, ATP production will stop, and the cell will lack energy to survive. Ribosomes are for protein synthesis, Golgi apparatus for protein packaging, and chloroplasts are for photosynthesis in plant cells to make glucose, which are not related to the described ATP - production issue.

Answer:

D. Mitochondria; ATP production will stop and the cell will die.